Columns
A trip to the ‘Hills’ turns into another divine experience
September 03 ,2026
As someone who grew up in Ann Arbor, I am always astonished when other Michiganders look lost when mention is made of the Irish Hills, the nearby area that includes such towns as “Brooklyn” and “Napoleon,” two names with few if any links to the Emerald Isle.
As the label suggests, the Irish Hills was named after the wave of Irish immigrants who settled there in the mid-19th century primarily because of the Great Potato Famine that devastated their homeland overseas. While many Irish came earlier due to economic hardship, the famine served as the catalyst for the largest influx of Irish into the United States.
Part of the appeal to settlers of the southern Michigan location, according to local historians, were the area’s rolling green hills and numerous kettle lakes that reminded them nostalgically of home. As a bonus for Irish settlers, the area also became a key stop on the early stagecoach route between Detroit and Chicago, providing opportunity for agriculture and small businesses to flourish.
After World War II, the area also became home to more than its share of quirky travel stops along U.S. 12, which at one point was the main artery between the Motor City and the Windy City. Among the roadside attractions was a “Prehistoric Forest” that featured a series of animatronic dinosaurs scattered throughout the park, along with a waterfall, a volcano, and a “Safari Train.” A “Mystery Hill” and the eye-catching “Irish Towers” were other traps for tourists.
Years later, after I-94 was fully built and became the main east-west thoroughfare through southern Michigan, the Irish Hills lost a bit of its allure for tourists, although it remained a summer hot spot for boating, fishing, and other recreational pursuits.
One of which is visiting Hidden Lake Gardens, a 755-acre feast for the eyes operated by Michigan State University near the tiny town of Tipton, some 70 miles south of MSU’s main campus.
Hidden Lake’s presence, like the Irish Hills itself, is equally mystifying to most Michiganders it would seem, as whenever I mention it as a must-see destination, more puzzled looks invariably appear.
The arboretum was donated by Adrian businessman Harry A. Fee to MSU in 1945 and forever will serve as his “dream as you go development.”
Fee, according to the “Brief History” of Hidden Lake Gardens provided by MSU, purchased the lake and 200 acres surrounding it upon his retirement in 1926. Years later he began planting nursery stock on the property in an effort to create a “series of pictures” visible from various vistas scattered throughout the parcel. It was his wish, according to MSU officials, that the “Gardens be for the benefit and education of the public” and he reportedly was actively involved in such decision-making until his death in 1955.
A substantial portion of the property, which through subsequent land purchases has more than tripled in size, is a magnificent collection of trees and shrubs, including flowering crabapples, beeches, lindens, maples, oaks, and a variety of evergreens. An incredible Bonsai Collection is an added treat, as is “Hosta Hillside,” which features more than 700 varieties of the shade-loving plants.
Several years ago, a “Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk” was added to the attractions, treating visitors to a 65-foot high and 726-foot walk through the treetops.
Perhaps the real gem at Hidden Lake is the Justin “Chub” Harper Collection of Dwarf and Rare Conifers, which is widely regarded as one of finest and “most extensive” collections of conifers in the United States. Located near the Nature Conservatory, the collection spills across a 5-acre site and includes more than 600 specimens, cultivars of pines, firs, spruces, larches, hemlocks, false cypress, arborvitae, and junipers.
Harper, who died in 2009, was a renowned horticulturist, and formerly was the grounds maintenance supervisor for John Deere at its corporate headquarters in Moline, Ill. In 1981, Harper donated the bulk of his collection to Hidden Lake, a gift that involved a mammoth undertaking of digging, transporting, and transplanting.
In following years, Harper regularly made the 400-mile trek from Moline to Hidden Lake to check on the status of his beloved conifers, including a particularly memorable trip in 2004.
That year, after his wife Anna passed away following a battle with cancer, Harper and several friends spread her ashes throughout the conifer collection in accordance with her wishes. As the group was about to leave, they reportedly “sensed a presence among them,” according to Dr. Bert Cregg, author of a 2007 story on Harper that appeared in The Michigan Landscape magazine.
“As they turned around,” wrote Cregg, “they noticed the weeping Norway spruce behind them formed the perfect silhouette of an angel, complete with halo and wings. Several newspapers picked up the story and the legend of the ‘Angel of Hidden Lake Gardens’ was born.”
It’s a story, no doubt, that nature lovers across Michigan would fully appreciate, perhaps serving as further validation of how trees speak to the mind, tell us many good things, and teach us many valuable lessons in assorted divine ways.
A trip to the ‘Hills’ turns into another divine experience
A trip to the ‘Hills’ turns into another divine experience
August 27 ,2026
As someone who grew up in Ann Arbor, I am always astonished when other Michiganders look lost when mention is made of the Irish Hills, the nearby area that includes such towns as “Brooklyn” and “Napoleon,” two names with few if any links to the Emerald Isle.
As the label suggests, the Irish Hills was named after the wave of Irish immigrants who settled there in the mid-19th century primarily because of the Great Potato Famine that devastated their homeland overseas. While many Irish came earlier due to economic hardship, the famine served as the catalyst for the largest influx of Irish into the United States.
Part of the appeal to settlers of the southern Michigan location, according to local historians, were the area’s rolling green hills and numerous kettle lakes that reminded them nostalgically of home. As a bonus for Irish settlers, the area also became a key stop on the early stagecoach route between Detroit and Chicago, providing opportunity for agriculture and small businesses to flourish.
After World War II, the area also became home to more than its share of quirky travel stops along U.S. 12, which at one point was the main artery between the Motor City and the Windy City. Among the roadside attractions was a “Prehistoric Forest” that featured a series of animatronic dinosaurs scattered throughout the park, along with a waterfall, a volcano, and a “Safari Train.” A “Mystery Hill” and the eye-catching “Irish Towers” were other traps for tourists.
Years later, after I-94 was fully built and became the main east-west thoroughfare through southern Michigan, the Irish Hills lost a bit of its allure for tourists, although it remained a summer hot spot for boating, fishing, and other recreational pursuits.
One of which is visiting Hidden Lake Gardens, a 755-acre feast for the eyes operated by Michigan State University near the tiny town of Tipton, some 70 miles south of MSU’s main campus.
Hidden Lake’s presence, like the Irish Hills itself, is equally mystifying to most Michiganders it would seem, as whenever I mention it as a must-see destination, more puzzled looks invariably appear.
The arboretum was donated by Adrian businessman Harry A. Fee to MSU in 1945 and forever will serve as his “dream as you go development.”
Fee, according to the “Brief History” of Hidden Lake Gardens provided by MSU, purchased the lake and 200 acres surrounding it upon his retirement in 1926. Years later he began planting nursery stock on the property in an effort to create a “series of pictures” visible from various vistas scattered throughout the parcel. It was his wish, according to MSU officials, that the “Gardens be for the benefit and education of the public” and he reportedly was actively involved in such decision-making until his death in 1955.
A substantial portion of the property, which through subsequent land purchases has more than tripled in size, is a magnificent collection of trees and shrubs, including flowering crabapples, beeches, lindens, maples, oaks, and a variety of evergreens. An incredible Bonsai Collection is an added treat, as is “Hosta Hillside,” which features more than 700 varieties of the shade-loving plants.
Several years ago, a “Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk” was added to the attractions, treating visitors to a 65-foot high and 726-foot walk through the treetops.
Perhaps the real gem at Hidden Lake is the Justin “Chub” Harper Collection of Dwarf and Rare Conifers, which is widely regarded as one of finest and “most extensive” collections of conifers in the United States. Located near the Nature Conservatory, the collection spills across a 5-acre site and includes more than 600 specimens, cultivars of pines, firs, spruces, larches, hemlocks, false cypress, arborvitae, and junipers.
Harper, who died in 2009, was a renowned horticulturist, and formerly was the grounds maintenance supervisor for John Deere at its corporate headquarters in Moline, Ill. In 1981, Harper donated the bulk of his collection to Hidden Lake, a gift that involved a mammoth undertaking of digging, transporting, and transplanting.
In following years, Harper regularly made the 400-mile trek from Moline to Hidden Lake to check on the status of his beloved conifers, including a particularly memorable trip in 2004.
That year, after his wife Anna passed away following a battle with cancer, Harper and several friends spread her ashes throughout the conifer collection in accordance with her wishes. As the group was about to leave, they reportedly “sensed a presence among them,” according to Dr. Bert Cregg, author of a 2007 story on Harper that appeared in The Michigan Landscape magazine.
“As they turned around,” wrote Cregg, “they noticed the weeping Norway spruce behind them formed the perfect silhouette of an angel, complete with halo and wings. Several newspapers picked up the story and the legend of the ‘Angel of Hidden Lake Gardens’ was born.”
It’s a story, no doubt, that nature lovers across Michigan would fully appreciate, perhaps serving as further validation of how trees speak to the mind, tell us many good things, and teach us many valuable lessons in assorted divine ways.
A trip to the ‘Hills’ turns into another divine experience
August 20 ,2026
LEGAL NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
As someone who grew up in Ann Arbor, I am always astonished when other Michiganders look lost when mention is made of the Irish Hills, the nearby area that includes such towns as “Brooklyn” and “Napoleon,” two names with few if any links to the Emerald Isle.
As the label suggests, the Irish Hills was named after the wave of Irish immigrants who settled there in the mid-19th century primarily because of the Great Potato Famine that devastated their homeland overseas. While many Irish came earlier due to economic hardship, the famine served as the catalyst for the largest influx of Irish into the United States.
Part of the appeal to settlers of the southern Michigan location, according to local historians, were the area’s rolling green hills and numerous kettle lakes that reminded them nostalgically of home. As a bonus for Irish settlers, the area also became a key stop on the early stagecoach route between Detroit and Chicago, providing opportunity for agriculture and small businesses to flourish.
After World War II, the area also became home to more than its share of quirky travel stops along U.S. 12, which at one point was the main artery between the Motor City and the Windy City. Among the roadside attractions was a “Prehistoric Forest” that featured a series of animatronic dinosaurs scattered throughout the park, along with a waterfall, a volcano, and a “Safari Train.” A “Mystery Hill” and the eye-catching “Irish Towers” were other traps for tourists.
Years later, after I-94 was fully built and became the main east-west thoroughfare through southern Michigan, the Irish Hills lost a bit of its allure for tourists, although it remained a summer hot spot for boating, fishing, and other recreational pursuits.
One of which is visiting Hidden Lake Gardens, a 755-acre feast for the eyes operated by Michigan State University near the tiny town of Tipton, some 70 miles south of MSU’s main campus.
Hidden Lake’s presence, like the Irish Hills itself, is equally mystifying to most Michiganders it would seem, as whenever I mention it as a must-see destination, more puzzled looks invariably appear.
The arboretum was donated by Adrian businessman Harry A. Fee to MSU in 1945 and forever will serve as his “dream as you go development.”
Fee, according to the “Brief History” of Hidden Lake Gardens provided by MSU, purchased the lake and 200 acres surrounding it upon his retirement in 1926. Years later he began planting nursery stock on the property in an effort to create a “series of pictures”
visible from various vistas scattered throughout the parcel. It was his wish, according to MSU officials, that the “Gardens be for the benefit and education of the public” and he reportedly was actively involved in such decision-making until his death in 1955.
A substantial portion of the property, which through subsequent land purchases has more than tripled in size, is a magnificent collection of trees and shrubs, including flowering crabapples, beeches, lindens, maples, oaks, and a variety of evergreens. An incredible Bonsai Collection is an added treat, as is “Hosta Hillside,” which features more than 700 varieties of the shade-loving plants.
Several years ago, a “Reach for the Sky Canopy Walk” was added to the attractions, treating visitors to a 65-foot high and 726-foot walk through the treetops.
Perhaps the real gem at Hidden Lake is the Justin “Chub” Harper Collection of Dwarf and Rare Conifers, which is widely regarded as one of finest and “most extensive” collections of conifers in the United States. Located near the Nature Conservatory, the collection spills across a 5-acre site and includes more than 600 specimens, cultivars of pines, firs, spruces, larches, hemlocks, false cypress, arborvitae, and junipers.
Harper, who died in 2009, was a renowned horticulturist, and formerly was the grounds maintenance supervisor for John Deere at its corporate headquarters in Moline, Ill. In 1981, Harper donated the bulk of his collection to Hidden Lake, a gift that involved a mammoth undertaking of digging, transporting, and transplanting.
In following years, Harper regularly made the 400-mile trek from Moline to Hidden Lake to check on the status of his beloved conifers, including a particularly memorable trip in 2004.
That year, after his wife Anna passed away following a battle with cancer, Harper and several friends spread her ashes throughout the conifer collection in accordance with her wishes. As the group was about to leave, they reportedly “sensed a presence among them,” according to Dr. Bert Cregg, author of a 2007 story on Harper that appeared in The Michigan Landscape magazine.
“As they turned around,” wrote Cregg, “they noticed the weeping Norway spruce behind them formed the perfect silhouette of an angel, complete with halo and wings. Several newspapers picked up the story and the legend of the ‘Angel of Hidden Lake Gardens’ was born.”
It’s a story, no doubt, that nature lovers across Michigan would fully appreciate, perhaps serving as further validation of how trees speak to the mind, tell us many good things, and teach us many valuable lessons in assorted divine ways.
Michigan Supreme Court punts on abuse of emergency powers during pandemic
March 13 ,2025
The rationale for dismissing these cases is weak. The court notes in its order that a case with “public significance that is likely to recur” should not be considered moot. It’s hard to imagine a public policy more significant to the public than these pandemic mandates. Many of them directly affected the daily lives of the entire state population.
But the Michigan Supreme Court thinks these orders are not likely to be issued again. Here’s hoping they’re correct, but predicting the future is hard. It is important to remember that there is nothing preventing government officials, if they wanted to, from issuing these exact orders tomorrow. There are virtually no restrictions in state law on when these emergency powers may be used.
State law says that the state health director can grant herself unilateral authority to issue mandates anytime she “determines that control of an epidemic is necessary to protect the public health.” The statute does not define these terms or provide any other guidance on when this authority may be used. All the health director has to do to get these powers is declare there’s an epidemic that needs controlling. It was with this authority during Covid that Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel forced toddlers to wear masks, subjected teenage athletes to weekly testing, shuttered entire industries and restricted whom you could invite into your own home.
The ease with which these powers can be invoked makes them likely to occur again. It just takes the stroke of a pen. The majority on the court did not explain how the justices know that another pandemic will not emerge or that the state director will not issue similar orders to the ones in question.
Granting unchecked power to an unelected bureaucrat to issue orders that could impact the daily lives of 10 million people violates the separation of powers principle in the Michigan Constitution. The Legislature cannot hand over its lawmaking authority to to the executive branch carte blanche. The Michigan Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss these cases sweeps this massive question under the rug.
Another major problem that will go unaddressed is the duration of these emergency powers. The statute that permits the governor to take emergency actions limits her power to 28 days. After that, the Legislature must get involved. This is what a government of checks and balances requires. There is no limit in law, however, to the health director’s emergency powers. She can issue orders unilaterally for as long as she wants, since she alone determines when they are necessary. Legislators — the people voters elected to represent their interests — can do nothing about it.
The Michigan Supreme Court’s decision to brush aside these important questions means the state government may never need to defend its unprecedented restriction of some our basic rights during the Covid pandemic. Convincing the court that the issue is moot — the only argument the state has had to make — allows government officials to evade legal scrutiny of their actions.
The Supreme Court’s dismissal of these cases is all the more disappointing because the state’s response to Covid-19 was a failure on many levels. State officials threw out theexisting plans for responding to a pandemic and just made up their roles on the fly. They promised to “eradicate” Covid and “beat the damn virus.” They bribed us with our own freedom in an attempt to get 70% of the population to take the vaccine.
But the disease remains. And most people stopped listening to public health officials about the vaccine: Only 7% of Michigan residents are currently up-to-date with the latest Covid shot.
The court’s decision announces to public officials that they will not be held accountable for actions taken under a declared emergency. Lawsuits challenging their emergency mandates can be slow-walked until they become moot. There aredozens of emergency powers in Michigan law, so government officials have lots to choose from if they want to avoid accountability for policies they fear will be unpopular or legally dubious. Unchecked government power like this is always a recipe for disaster.
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.
My Turn: Concept of courage needs to find path into divided nation
August 31 ,2023In 1956, a book was published that contained a volume of short biographies describing various acts of bravery and integrity by eight U.S. senators. :
By Tom Kirvan
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
In 1956, a book was published that contained a volume of short biographies describing various acts of bravery and integrity by eight U.S. senators.
The book became a bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1957, and heralded the coming of a future U.S president in 1960.
The author, of course, was John F. Kennedy, although the book later was confirmed as a collaboration with his speechwriter, Ted Sorenson.
Regardless, the book profiles such senators as John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster from Massachusetts and Sam Houston from Texas for defying “the opinions of their party and constituents to do what they felt was right and suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity because of their actions,” according to a promotional description of the bestseller.
If someone set out now to write a modern-day sequel, he or she would be hard-pressed to find few if any members of Congress worth profiling.
In marked contrast, earlier this year, in a special ceremony at the White House, a true American hero was saluted – albeit very belatedly – for his courage and valor during combat nearly 60 years ago in the Vietnam War.
His name is Col. Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers in the U.S. Army’s Special Forces unit, who received the Medal of Honor on March 3 for the multiple acts of courage and sacrifice he exhibited June 18, 1965 when he saved three of his fellow soldiers that had been wounded during a nighttime raid against a heavily armed Viet Cong camp.
The acts of heroism displayed by Col. Davis were recounted in vivid detail by President Biden during the White House ceremony that was attended by five other Medal of Honor recipients. Despite being wounded several times during the attack, including from a hand grenade explosion, Col. Davis refused to leave his comrades behind, sprinting back through heavy enemy fire to conduct three separate successful rescue missions. One of the soldiers had suffered a shattered kneecap from a sniper’s bullet, while another was knocked unconscious by a mortar blast. A third was shot in the head, seemingly left for dead until a miracle arrived in the form of Col. Davis.
When word was received of Col. Davis’s gallantry, he was immediately nominated for the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest award. Mysteriously, the Army somehow lost the paperwork related to his nomination – not just once, but twice – thereby delaying his national recognition for 58 years. Some suspect it was because of his race and the military’s troubled history of acknowledging the contributions made by men and women of color.
Whatever the case, the courage he displayed that fateful day was finally brought to light, earning the 83-year-old Virginia man the right to enjoy lasting praise from a grateful nation.
“Brave and big-hearted. Determined and devoted,” President Biden said of Col. Davis. “Selfless and steadfast. American.”
That final word, delivered in the context of a magnificent tribute to one of our nation’s greatest heroes, is descriptive of someone who places country above self, personifying a willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty while demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the common good.
Much like someone who is regarded by historians as perhaps our greatest president, Abraham Lincoln.
The 16th President of the United States was a wordsmith and diplomat who was credited with bringing an end to the curse of slavery and to forging a team that preserved a nation reeling from the impact of the Civil War.
Lincoln’s genius was principally his political shrewdness and devotion to duty coupled with an enormous capacity for empathy and moral courage. His place in history may have been stated best by Leo Tolstoy, one of the greatest authors of all time, when he wrote:
“His example is universal and will last thousands of years ... He was bigger than his country – bigger than all the Presidents together ... and as a great character, he will live as long as the world lives.”
Of similar fiber was another legendary political figure, Great Britain’s iconic war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whose leadership took his country from the brink of defeat to eventual victory over the Nazi military machine.
Like Lincoln, Churchill set heroic standards of leadership through his mastery of the language, using words to inspire a nation to overcome the rise of totalitarianism.
“We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your wicked will,” Churchill said as the world faced a fascist menace. “You do your worst and we will do our best.”
Churchill’s message is one for the ages, and hopefully will inspire leaders from both sides of the aisle to change the current narrative, instead working collaboratively with those of all persuasions to forge a new national identity, this time by harnessing the enormous power of political unity.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/subscriptions
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
Dog dreams may be dashed by a Florida bill
April 13 ,2023If you thought things couldn’t get crazier in Florida, think again. Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book has sponsored a bill that forbids dogs from doing the most dog thing ever – sticking their heads out of car windows. :
By Marie E. Matyjaszek
If you thought things couldn’t get crazier in Florida, think again.
Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book has sponsored a bill that forbids dogs from doing the most dog thing ever – sticking their heads out of car windows. It includes other provisions relative to animal welfare, like declawing, cosmetic animal testing, and animal abuser registration, but the doggy joy ride provision appears to have taken the cake (off the counter when your back was turned).
Senate Bill 932 provides for a variety of canine transportation “do’s and don’ts,” like not holding your dog on your lap or in “such a position as to interfere with the person’s control over the driving mechanism ... while the person is operating the motor vehicle on a public roadway.” That one makes sense, especially given the increase in distracted driver laws. The common sense continues with not allowing a dog to ride in front of you on your motorcycle, or transport a pup on your roof, hood, fender, running board, trunk or cargo space. After that, it gets a little hairy.
The proposed bill states that a person may not “[a]llow a dog to extend its head or any other body part outside a motor vehicle window while the person is operating the motor vehicle on a public roadway.” I think everyone agrees that a dog (or anything else) should not be dangling out of a window, but taking away Fido’s ability to live his best dog life, his ears flapping in the wind, smelling all the smells, seems pawsitively crazy.
Yes, there are risks to Fido sticking his head out of a window, like accidentally stepping on the automatic window button, but the window locks can be engaged. Things may fly in his face and eyes, which can cause harm, but there are doggy goggles he could wear. If there is an accident, the dog may be launched from the vehicle, but most people do not secure their dog inside of their car, so this can happen anyway. A person who is found to have violated that portion of the proposed law would be issued a non-criminal traffic infraction.
Not surprisingly, people have a bone to pick with Senator Book for supporting the bill. Riding in a car with their head out of the window is something that is intrinsically linked to being a dog, their mouths gaping wide with excitement and thrill. Their lives are so much shorter than ours, and because of that, we want to give them the freedom to experience things before they cross rainbow bridge. Forbidding this pleasure would be too ruff to handle.
—————
The author is an Attorney Referee at the Washtenaw County Friend of the Court, the views expressed in this column are her own. Email her at matyjasz@hotmail.com.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/subscriptions
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
headlines Jackson County
headlines National
- Legal writers can benefit from a Zen writing approach and some Hemingway—and so can their readers
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Why the next competitive advantage in the AI era is partnership, not just technology
- Things I wish my spouse had told me before they died
- Troutman Pepper Locke associate files discrimination lawsuit against firm
- Jay-Z’s extortion suit against lawyer in withdrawn rape case faces skepticism from judge
