Alpena

April through October of every year is "kitten season," and shelters in Michigan and seeing the effects as space fills up. Second Chance Animal Shelter in Alpena comments on how the flood of kittens is impacting them.

Great Lakes Great Responsibility, a cleanup group based in northeast Michigan with work extending throughout the Great Lakes basin, just surpassed collecting 333,000 pieces of trash. This is a third of their goal to collecting one million pieces of trash through the #GreatLakes1Million challenge.

Community members are helping researchers in northeast Michigan collect data on salamander populations.

The theatre's warehouse burned down in December and was torn down last week, marking the beginning of a path towards reconstruction of the space that housed the theatre's equipment.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has awarded a total of $3 million to organizations in the city to help renovate the Culligan Plaza and Sanctuary Cinema.

The Decorative Panels International factory that closed last month and laid off nearly 200 workers was recently toured by two potential buyers. The Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce Buyers said the buyers expressed concern that without the factory's long-time employees, the factory would not be able to reopen and run efficiently.

Workers at the Decorative Panels International plant were unaware the company was on the verge of closing and that mass layoffs were on the horizon.

The city's downtown district authority recently accepted a $400,000 federal grant to fix storefronts in need of repair. City officials say they hope it will lead to a bump in tourism.

For both WCMU News and The Alpena News, interviews were conducted with residents and visitors of Alpena to gauge the uniqueness and misconceptions of the town they love.

It's the third threat in a week law enforcement have investigated violent threats in the Alpena Public School district.