April 2025

With the April issue of LAKE magazine lakefront residents will note a slight diversion from our often mentioned editorial focus of just addressing primarily issues related to the waterways, especially in Oakland County.

Our followers will still find a couple of longform stories specifically directed at lake issues.

First, contributing writer Mike Scott takes readers through the Michigan government’s testing of fish in the lakes and streams of the state, looking at the health of what may be caught for consumption.

Contributing writer Mark Stowers takes a look at algae formation in the waterways of Oakland. While a natural occurrence both in waterways and on land, lakeside residents can have an impact on algae development.

We break ever so slightly from lake-related storytelling with a longform piece by Stowers that first appeared in our sister publication, Downtown Newsmagazine, which serves each month the communities of Birmingham, Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills. This particular piece deals with the issue of food safety in the restaurants of Oakland County.

Studies tell us that 60 percent of Oakland residents over the age of 18 eat out at least once each week – either dining out in person or take-out from the many establishments in the county. Think Doordash, Grubhub or Uber Eats, if you will.

Slightly off the beaten path from what we present each month in LAKE magazine, we think the issue of restaurant inspections and the safety of the food we consume will prove of interest to those living on the waterfronts of Oakland, a segment of the population that for the most part has increased disposable income and may well eat out more often.

Rough estimates from the county health department, which runs the inspections, tell us that there are over 4,700 restaurants and food establishments in Oakland, which includes food trucks, institutions like schools, and festivals and events. That number seems to grow with each passing month.

Readers will learn from the longform article a great deal about how the county assures us that health standards are met when we eat out or order takeout meals. This longform story is also a good example of how we as journalists approach such topics on a regular basis.

It would have been easy to just talk to Oakland County Health Department officials about restaurant inspections in general, and most readers would have been satisfied with what we presented. But the writer talked with multiple sources and gave a comparative look at how restaurant inspections are also handled in Macomb County (2,600 food establishments), Washtenaw County (1,285), Detroit (1,900), Manhattan, New York (17,000) and the state of Illinois.

This piece is a good example of the effort and serious approach we take with longform storytelling. I hope our readers will find this of interest. I know I learned a lot.

As a side note, the restaurant longform was just submitted to the annual contest sponsored by the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Judges from around the country have recognized our storytelling efforts in past years in the categories of environment, health, education, personal columns, along with story layout and cover design.

OUR FRONT COVER: This month our front cover was from a photo submitted by Catherine Dixon of Long Lake in Orion Township. Yes, we are still accepting photo contributions for the cover of LAKE magazine. In return we will send a check for $100 if we select a photo for one of our covers. So please keep sending us your work. We just ask that the photos you send be high resolution. When you send in your photos (lakephotos@downtownpublications.com), please include your home mail address so we can send a check if your photo is selected.

David Hohendorf

Publisher

DavidHohendorf@DowntownPublications.com