From the bankruptcy of a popular wedding venue to the arrival of a new summertime tourist destination all the way to a major election reporting mix-up, the Leelanau Ticker broke some big news in 2024. We’re casting one last look back through these stories and other major 2024 highlights in a countdown of our splashiest and most-read reporting of the past 366 days.

8. Two Empire Restaurants Hit The Market, Other Leelanau Business News

Our business news roundups tend to be among our most-read stories of the year, and that was certainly true of this roundup from May 24. The story looked at a pair of Empire restaurants that had gone up for sale – Joe’s Friendly Tavern and the Empire Village Inn – among other notable business news tidbits from the lead-up to summer.

7. Old Debates Resurface Around Sleeping Bear Dunes Heritage Trail Construction

One of the biggest ongoing stories of 2024 in Leelanau County was the debate over whether the National Park Service (NPS) should proceed with a 4.25-mile extension of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail. The Leelanau Ticker tracked the action closely, from this March 6 overview of the debate’s opposing sides to November 13, when we broke the news that the NPS was putting the extension – called Segment 9 – on indefinite hold.

6. Sheriff's Office Adds Second K-9 Unit

Leelanau Ticker readers love their dogs, and they showed their love with this feature from January 5. A look at the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Department’s brand-new K-9 unit – and Keno, the young German shepherd that made it possible – this story clocked a reach of more than 30,000 people on social media and tallied some 400 likes.

5. 2024 Cedar Polka Fest Could Be Cancelled Over Solon Township Fees

Cedar Polka Fest organizers have said it was thanks in part to this Leelanau Ticker story from June 26 that the beloved event was able to avoid cancellation in 2024. As Solon Township officials considered park usage fees that could have cost the Polka Fest up to $20,000, The Ticker alerted locals to a June 28 special meeting where township board members would decide how to proceed. The story racked up dozens of comments and more than 100 shares on Facebook, ultimately reaching 43,700 people. On June 28, a packed meeting – and more than 90 minutes of public comment – persuaded township officials to back down on big fee increases.

4. Meet Peninsula Housing's First Homebuyers

We’ve been following Larry Mawby’s Peninsula Housing nonprofit since it launched in 2021. In January, the organization – which seeks to make housing in Leelanau County more affordable through a unique Community Land Trust model – got its first homeowners in Kelly and John Kehl. We sat down with that pair of Northport natives just days after they closed on their new home. Their story proved resonant to our readers, reaching nearly 70,000 people and notching 640 reactions on Facebook.

3. Vote Reporting Mixup Drastically Changes Apparent Results

It was a whirlwind election week in Leelanau County. On election night, we reported a surprising outcome: Democrats appeared to have won six of the county’s seven Board of Commissioners seats. The other shoe dropped on Friday, November 8, when the Leelanau Ticker got a tip that the county clerk’s office had identified a batch of unreported votes during canvassing that would swing several local elections, including a trio of county commission seats. We broke the story that evening, and it was quickly picked up statewide by the likes of the Detroit Free Press and MLive.

2. 'Putt, Party, Eat, Repeat': A Sneak Peek At Glen Arbor's New Mini Golf Course And Hangout Hub

Leelanau’s biggest new business debut of 2024 was probably River Club Glen Arbor (RCGA), the new miniature golf course, bar, restaurant, live music venue, and hangout spot that opened this summer on the banks of the Crystal River. We shared this sneak peek of the then-still-under-construction venue on May 6, more than a month and a half ahead of RCGA's June 24 grand opening. To say our readers were excited would be an understatement, as the story ended up getting more pageviews on our website than anything else we wrote this year. The interest was a preview of the demand RCGA would see in the summer: Owner Mike Sheldon told us in August that the business “had many days with over 2,500 guests.”

1. Maple City Wedding Venue Bankruptcy Spells Trouble For Local Brides And Grooms

This March 4 story, about the bankruptcy and closure of the Maple City property and event center known as “Nature,” quickly became our most viral article of the year. For the story, the Leelanau Ticker sat down with one of five couples who were set to get married at Nature this year. The couples were all informed in the late winter that they would not be able to use the site for their weddings and would also not be getting their sizable deposits back. The story was huge on social media, with our Facebook post reaching more than 85,000 people and generating significant discussion, including responses from local wedding venues and vendors that offered to discount their rates for the affected couples. Fortunately, the couple we interviewed were able to find a new venue and have a happy wedding day in June!