Opinion
Happiness and Its Discontents
Guest Opinion
By Greg Holmes | Dec. 21, 2024
How happy were you this year? 2024 was a difficult year for many of us to feel good about, as there were a plethora of difficult things that impacted our lives. Think about what we went through last year. Take climate change as an example. Images of forest fires, flooding, and severe weather offered dramatic evidence of the devastating impact of changing climate. To make the situation worse, the leaders of the … Read More >>
Celebrating However We Choose
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Dec. 21, 2024
Christmas can be a solemn symbolic celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, or it can bea purely secular event, or it can be a combination of both. The real beauty of Christmas is we can celebrate however we choose or not at all. It was commonly believed the first Christmas celebrations occurred in 336 CE, a holiday declared by Emperor Constantine, the first Christian head of state, who had declared Christianity … Read More >>
Spaced Out
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Dec. 14, 2024
The Space Race began way back in 1957 when the old Soviet Union launched little Sputnik, the first human-made object placed in earth orbit. It didn’t do anything but blink and beep, but it was a very big deal at the time. The U.S. responded in 1958 with Explorer I, and the race was on. Since then, tens of thousands of satellites have been launched (including two very special American satellites we’ll … Read More >>
Embracing the Season
Guest Opinion
By Kate Lewis | Dec. 14, 2024
How lucky are we to be greeted by this early winter wonderland in northern Michigan! The short shoulder season has made way for full-blown winter, unveiling all its gleaming glory. Now we are in the season of shovels, skis, and snowshoes. Just when the gray days seemed to limit outdoor options, the snow has transformed the landscape into a playground of opportunity—a reminder that a new season can spark new adventures. I’ll … Read More >>
Keep Going
Guest Opinion
By Cathye Williams | Dec. 7, 2024
No one who knows (or reads) me will be surprised by my disappointment in the 2024 election results. It was just months ago that this column laid out the very real concerns that many people had about Project 2025, the extreme right wing plan which, if implemented, would be a disaster for the future of clean energy and a sustainable planet. Now we are poised on the brink of those Project 2025 … Read More >>
Leave Them Alone
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Dec. 7, 2024
Cryptozoologists, those who study and search for animals whose existence is disputed and cannot be substantiated, are very busy these days as we “discover” more and more unusual critters. Or at least we think we do. Alabama, for example, has some kind of albino Bigfoot they call the White Thang. Connecticut has what they call Melon Heads that some claim are the mutant, cannibalistic progeny of escapees from a long shuttered mental … Read More >>
Wrecking Balls and Wedding Rings
Guest Columnist
By Mary Keyes Rogers | Nov. 30, 2024
Where do a couple of billionaire businessmen intend to aim a wrecking ball on behalf of the Department of Government Efficiency? Sorry, that’s not a joke. It is an honest question. Let me tell you a story. Little Jimmy was playing ball in the yard when he saw a giant bug on the outside glass of the kitchen window. He didn’t know what kind of bug it was, but it was huge … Read More >>
They Already Know
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Nov. 30, 2024
It’s been another year of efforts to ban books from public or school libraries or, at the very least, move them to a place that makes it harder to find them. All in the name of protecting our delicate children from the ravages of literature with controversial topics and language. We recently had a reminder in Bellaire where some were complaining about the presence of a graphic novel (basically a novel in … Read More >>
Opportunities in Manufactured and Modular Housing
Guest Opinion
By Yarrow Brown | Nov. 23, 2024
A home is a home—no matter its shape, size, or how it was built. And we need a lot of homes for both seasonal and year-round people in northern Michigan. We have a 0.7% vacancy rate in our region, which means there is very little housing stock available for those who live and work here. We have a huge need for housing that is affordable and a huge opportunity to solve this … Read More >>
Election Redux
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | Nov. 16, 2024
The post mortem—and for Democrats that always involves finger pointing and blame—started as the votes were still being counted. This year they were way better at finding reasons they lost than they were at finding ways to win. Senator Bernie Sanders, who seems to get crankier by the day, says Democrats lost because they abandoned working men and women and replaced them with show business elites. Seems a bit of a stretch; … Read More >>
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