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Concerned new laws will hurt UP

Last month “Governor Whitmer signed historic clean energy legislation making Michigan a national leader in the fight against climate change,” according to a news release from her office Nov. 28. By signing these laws Whitmer is admitting that climate change is real and therefore the need for legislation is necessary. What cannot be known is how these bills will impact the Upper Peninsula. Perhaps these bills will help bring the U.P. a level of prosperity it has never known. Or perhaps these laws will bring negative economic consequences, like the spotted owl fiasco in ...

Model train event Saturday

For those of you who do not know, my wife and I, we are the Train People! Each year on the second Saturday of December we host a “train show” at the Florence County Library. This will be our 15th year. We bring a small train table, run some old-time Lionel type trains, tell the attendees something about the train collecting hobby and then let the kids play with the trains we bring. Even though some have considerable value, we have never had a train broken by the kids. We then give away a bunch of trains and train sets geared to various age groups. Anyone can attend but you must ...

Some perspective on US inflation

How have prices changed from 2000 to 2023? The buying power of $1 in 2000 equals the buying power of $1.79 today, meaning we lost about 3 cents each year on average. Inflation rates compare the year to the previous year of cost on products and services. The average inflation rate for 2000 was 3.36%. The rate for September was 3.7%. The lowest inflation rate for a four-year presidential period was during the Obama presidency, with one month almost 0% and leaving the Trump presidency with around a 1.5% rate and a strong economy to start with. The Biden presidency inherited a ...

True story about school bus rides

Just a little about the rides from Faithorn to the Norway school, about 1955 to 1960. Faithorn, being at the far end of Menominee County, the plows and sanders very seldom got the roads open ahead of the school bus runs. Most of us kids had long driveways, 200 feet or so. Because of this, we had to walk out and wait for the bus — not knowing just when it would come — otherwise it kept going. With the strong wind blowing snow, sleet and sometimes half rain, we would be frozen long before the Red, White and Blue bus came. Now the heater (if you can call it that) was just ...

Recognizing role of caregivers

November is Family Caregivers Month in the great state of Michigan, which is home to an estimated 1.4 million family caregivers, with 1 in 5 (21.4%) Michigan adults currently providing care to family members or friends. One in five. Which means no matter how old you are or where you live, you most likely know at least one caregiver. And they need our support. I know that you’re thinking of someone right now — a friend or family member — that has stepped up and made space in their life to care for someone who needs help. Reach out to them. Tell them you see them. And ...

‘The Tab Man’ at 1.5M toward goal

The aluminum Tab Toss in May 2022 in Milwaukee collected 4,700 pounds to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. This past May, they collected 6,300 pounds, 10,246,500 tabs. With donations from corporations, foundations and individuals, they were able to add on a new long-term wing with 14 spacious guest rooms to keep families together during their loved one’s treatments. Tidbits: Dominic, son of Jessica (Podnar) and Robert Nijildo, was born with HLHS, or left-heart syndrome — basically half a heart. Years ago he would not have survived. At 5 days old, he had his first open-heart ...