The city's contracted wastewater treatment plant operator is embroiled in a lawsuit stemming from a criminal racketeering case that sent East Cleveland, Ohio's mayor to prison. Officials last month sued CH2M Hill OMI, alleging the firm was part of a conspiracy to improperly secure a multimillion dollar, no-bid contract. Longtime Traverse City Manager Richard Lewis is slated to leave this month to work for CH2M Hill OMI.

Thanks to plenty of warm, sunny weather, the region's summer tourism season turned out to be of the better-late-than-never variety. Northern Michigan businesses and tourism draws reported a surge in activity from mid-July through the Labor Day holiday to salvage a decent tourism season.

Stuart Rogers contends local officials illegally forced him to leave a public meeting. He intends to prove it in court. Rogers, of rural Kalkaska, filed suit against the Kalkaska County Road Commission and two of its members, alleging they violated the state's Open Meetings Act by ejecting him from a February meeting.

The female bald eagle launched itself into the air, brown feathers rustling with each flap of its 7-foot wingspan. Rebecca Lessard swiveled her eyes as she watched it swoop between perches, her mouth stretching into a grin. The bird is now strong and healthy, but little more than a month ago, the weeks-old eagle was barely alive, battling what Lessard believes was the West Nile virus.

Authorities continue to search for a Mesick man believed to have drowned in the Manistee River.

Go to a food pantry, and you're likely to leave with bags full of canned and boxed groceries. But food that comes from cans and boxes -- heavily processed and often full of preservatives -- isn't as nutritious. A group of area community leaders is working to change things.

Vicki Hihnala's son died during an argument with his wife last year, and Hihnala isn't quite sure what to expect from her daughter-in-law's murder trial. Authorities believe Michelle Hihnala stabbed Alan Hihnala with a kitchen knife, but Michelle Hihnala told police he ran into the knife as she held it out to defend herself from his drunken assaults.