ALPENA, MICHIGAN

'Alpena' is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 11,304. It is the county seat of Alpena County⁶. The city is on the shore of Lake Huron's Thunder Bay, with Alpena Township surrounding it on land. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is located offshore near the city.
Despite its small population, it is by far the largest city in sparsely-populated Northeast Michigan, serving as its commercial and cultural hub. It is considered to be one of the two anchor cities of Northern Michigan, along with Traverse City.
The region, known as the "Sunrise Side" from its location on the east shoreline of Michigan, was first a site of commercial fishing activity and is still home to extensive commercial fishing activities. Later the region, like much of Michigan, was shaped by the logging era of the 1800s. Today, Alpena is known for its limestone quarry, one of the largest in the world, owned and operated by the Lafarge corporation and is a major cement manufacturer and exporter. Alpena is also the world headquarters of Besser Company, a manufacturer of concrete block machines. Tourism (fishing, hunting, camping and a variety of water sports) is also important to Alpena's economy. Alpena is also home to the NAHL's Alpena IceDiggers.
In February 2007 Bizjournals ranked Alpena as the hottest retirement destination in the Great Lakes area^[1] and #44 nationally.^[2]

Contents

Education

Media

Print

Radio

Television

Alpena in popular culture

Notable residents

Transportation

Geography

Demographics

See also

Reverences

External links

Education

Alpena, along with the rest of Alpena County and portions of Presque Isle County, is served by Alpena Public Schools. Alpena Public Schools was established as the first county-wide school district in the state of Michigan. The district has one high school, a junior high, an alternative/adult high school, and eight elementary schools.
Alpena is also home to Alpena Community College. ACC is a two-year associates program that has partnerships with Spring Arbor University (MI) and several other Michigan institutions.
Within Alpena Community College is the World Center for Concrete Technology (WCCT). The WCCT draws a worldwide audience of students for classes in Concrete Technology unparalleled anywhere else, and even rewards with a Master Blockmakers Degree for 5-class-accomplished students.

Media

Print

''The Alpena News'' is the daily newspaper of record for much of Northeast Michigan. Daily editions of the ''Detroit Free Press'', ''The Detroit News'', and other newspapers are also available throughout the area.

Radio

Alpena is home to several radio stations.

AM

★ WHAK (960 AM) (Rogers City) - simulcast of WWTH 100.7 FM

★ WATZ (1450 AM) - news, talk and sports

FM

★ WKKM (88.5 FM) (Alpena) contemporary Christian, "Smile-FM" (from WLGH Lansing)

★ WPHN (90.5 FM) (Gaylord) contemporary Christian - "Northern Christian Radio"

★ WCML (91.7 FM) (Alpena) "CMU Public Radio" (from WCMU-FM Mt. Pleasant) also airs on WCMB (95.7 FM) from Oscoda

★ WFDX (92.5 FM) (Atlanta) classic hits, "The Fox" (from WFCX Leland-Traverse City)

★ WKJZ (94.9 FM) (Alpena) classic hits, "Hits Fm" also airs on 98.1 FM translator in Alpena (from WQLB 103.3 Tawas City)

★ WATZ (99.3 FM) (Alpena) country music, also airs on WRGZ (96.7 FM) Rogers City

★ WHAK (99.9 FM) (Rogers City) oldies, "99-9 The Wave"

★ WWTH (100.7 FM) (Oscoda) country music, "Thunder Country 94.1 & 100.7" also airs on 94.1 FM translator in Alpena

★ WKJC (104.7 FM) (Tawas City) country music

★ WSRT (106.7 FM) (Gaylord) adult contemporary, also airs on 102.3 FM translator in Alpena

★ WHSB (107.7 FM) (Alpena) hot adult contemporary, "107-7 The Bay"

Television

Alpena is the third smallest (208) Nielsen Designated Market Area (DMA) in the United States.
There is only one VHF Television station located within the :

★ Channel 11: WBKB-TV - (CBS).
Rebroadcasts of other television stations include:

★ Channel 6: WCML-TV - (PBS) - feed of WCMU-TV

★ Channel 18: W18BT - (TBN) - national feed
Cable only television:

★ Channel 3: Alpena Community College educational television.

★ Channel 21: "WBAE" - (The CW)
Canadian television available on cable only:

★ Channel 2: CBMT - (CBC)
Northeast Michigan is also served by major network affiliates in the and DMAs. Cable television service is provided within Alpena and many outlying communities by Charter Communications.

Alpena in popular culture

The 1991 feature film ''Not Without My Daughter'' starring Sally Field and Alfred Molina was based upon the true story of Betty Mahmoody who was living in Alpena in 1984 during the events surrounding the film and novel of the same name. Bruce Willis and the film crew of ''Die Hard 2'' used Alpena's airport to shoot several scenes of the film. The location was ideal due to the unusually high amount of snowfall received in that area compared to the rest of the country that year.
Alpena is mentioned a few times on episodes of the TV show ''Home Improvement'', which is set in Metro Detroit.
The independent film ''Birthday Boy'' was also written and filmed in Alpena by the now cult favorite Potrykus Brothers in their parent's basement and surrounding factories.
The Midwest-based neo-soul band Zoozersadd recorded their third album, ''The Gates of Hell'', in a small studio in downtown Alpena during the spring of 2006. The band now known as Mason Proper was formed here.
The nearby novelty attraction in Ossineke features "Dinosaur Gardens" a handmade collection of prehistoric animals and dinosaurs was featured in the book ''Roadside America''.[1] A sequel to the book ''Weird Michigan'' announced that it plans to include a section on Grubba Road - a dead-end road on the outskirts of town, long shrouded in mystery and occult myth.

Notable residents

Several notable people were born in, or have lived in, Alpena:

★ William Comstock, 33rd governor of Michigan, also buried there.

★ Bob Devaney former football coach for several college and highschool football teams

★ News reporters Andy Dominianni and Paola Giangiacomo, both former WBKB anchors

★ Robert L. Emerson, politician

★ Tait Fletcher, contestant on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter

★ Stanley Grenz, Christian theologian

★ Betty Mahmoody, author of "Not Without My Daughter"

★ MLB players Dan Rohn and Kevin Young

★ Michael Bailey Smith, actor

★ Fox News correspondent Dan Springer began his journalism career at WBKB

★ K.J. Stevens, writer

★ The indie band, Mason Proper hails from this town

Transportation

US 23 serves Alpena on its way along the Lake Huron shoreline, while M-32, the main east-west highway serving Northern Michigan, begins its cross-peninsula routing from downtown Alpena.
Alpena County Regional Airport (APN) is Northeast Michigan's main commercial airport and handles daily Northwest Airlink flights to Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie operated by Mesaba Airlines. The airfield is co-utilized by the Michigan Air National Guard Combat Rediness Training Center.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.5 km² (9.1 mi²). 21.7 km² (8.4 mi²) of it is land and 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²) of it (7.71%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 11,304 people, 4,874 households, and 2,865 families residing in the city. The population density was 520.8/km² (1,348.9/mi²). There were 5,200 housing units at an average density of 239.6/km² (620.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.66% White, 0.42% African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.09% from other races, and 0.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 4,874 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 26.5% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,353, and the median income for a family was $40,056. Males had a median income of $34,534 versus $21,951 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,476. About 10.4% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.5% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

See also

★ Alpena Power Company

Reverences

1. http://www.bizjournals.com/edit_special/48.html?page=2
2. http://www.bizjournals.com/specials/pages/64.html

External links

★ City of Alpena's official website

★ Chamber of Commerce

★ Convention and Visitors Bureau

★ Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

★ Website of Besser Co.

★ Alpena Regional Medical Center

★ NAHL's Alpena Ice Diggers