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Letters to the Editor

Be yourself

EDITOR: Years ago, when I was 16 or 17 at the time, it was on a Saturday night that I decided I was going to go down to the Teen Center, the current YMCA, and play basketball, instead of going to the usual weekend party. I had more fun that night than any party I have ever been to and believe me I have been to a few. The reason is very simple. I was being myself. When a child is 7, 8 years old that child begins to show a natural inclination towards interests. Myself, it was sports, especially basketball. For some, it will be music, the arts, books, etc. No child says, “I want to be a ...

True story of the iced road

Read this. In the late ’50s-early ’60s we got a freezing rain long after winter had started on County Road 577 in Faithorn Township. The road was especially bad from the railroad tracks north past the cemetery and the fishing site to the county line; it looked like a mirror. I called the Menominee road office and said send a salt and sand truck. The reply was, “OK, we have some sand but what is road salt?” After pushing them, they said they would send a sand truck. Well, I was outside when I heard the truck coming a mile away. It was a single-axle International with no ...

Greatness in disguise

As I watched my daughters perform in “The Nutcracker” earlier this month, my mind wandered to a time when my high school classmate represented my home state of Oregon in the Miss America pageant. I was lucky enough to know two women who would wear the Miss Oregon crown and while these women were extremely talented, they also had a secret weapon: the power of living in a small town. Small towns like Iron Mountain offer children the opportunity to try various activities like dance, art, sports or drama without the pressure to specialize in only one activity. People in small towns ...

Thoughts on ‘Right-To-Work’

Why buy a cow? Twice now we’ve been treated to editorials from the Detroit News priming us with praise for Michigan’s Right-to-Work law. Incidentally, “right-to-work,” in my humble opinion, is the worst misnomer since the Red Delicious apple. Here are some facts to bear in mind when you read that former Gov. Rick Snyder saved us from the evil of mandatory union membership. 1. A “closed shop” is one in which a worker MUST join a union to work in that shop. It has been illegal in all 50 states since 1947. The Wagner Act of 1935 established the National Labor Relations Board ...

Clips of police need more fairness

All over the internet there are clips of police officers overextending their authority and crossing the line with citizens, infringing on their rights. To be forthright, a badge and a gun are symbols of power in our society. Then we have these imbeciles that walk around intentionally antagonizing the police with their intent being to make officers look bad as the idiots read off their constitutional rights, all the while recording the situation so it can be posted online. Fine, go ahead and post the clips. Nothing illegal about it and it is their right to do so. However, for every ...

Light at the Inn starts 7th season

Light at the Inn had its annual membership meeting to prepare for the beginning of its seventh season of service to the homeless of the Dickinson-Iron County area. The purpose of Light at the Inn is to provide support for those in this area who are struggling to find and maintain stable and secure shelter for themselves and their families through the cooperative efforts of an interfaith coalition. Light at the Inn is a 501(c)(3) organization. From November 2016 until spring 2020, Light at the Inn operated as a rotating shelter between eight different churches in Iron Mountain, ...