Fight to vote went on for some women

September 8, 2020

I am writing to say thank you, Lynne Wilson, for your guest column celebrating the 19th Amendment, a whole century of women being able to vote in America. You reminded us that protests, lobbying, arrests, prison time, beatings and even force feedings are not unique to our generation or to this century. I am grateful for the women of history who were strong enough and relentless enough to keep pushing for America to truly live out our ideals of justice among equals and equality for all. But wait — did ALL women gain the right to vote? No! The reality is that women of color do NOT ...

Communities can apply for rural broadband

September 4, 2020

EDITOR: We are in the midst of a renaissance in rural Michigan infrastructure investment. Since the invention of the internet, each administration — both state and federal — have promised more resources to help connect rural areas, but it is only now that these promises are being kept. As a lifelong rural resident active in every level of government, I have never seen a time when more federal resources were being dedicated to building water, sewer, electrical and critical facilities for Michigan’s small towns and villages. Just in the past year, rural Michigan electric ...

Trust facts, not politicians, when it comes to virus

August 31, 2020

I’m an engineer, project manager, general manager and senior executive and I have utilized facts and data to make informed decisions to increase the productivity, results and profits for the companies that I have worked for. What I am not is a scientist, although I have extensive education in the sciences. Science is the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. If a “novel” virus shows up on earth, science loses one of its most important legs (structure) of a three-legged stool and the stool falls over. ...

Johnson misleads on USPS, DeJoy

August 28, 2020

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Senator Ron Johnson’s opening statement at the Aug. 21 hearing on the U.S. Postal Service contains several false or misleading claims. Sen. Johnson stated, “The bipartisan Postal Board of Governors engaged a professional search firm that identified Louis DeJoy as an outstanding candidate with the necessary background and skill set to tackle the enormous challenges of the postal system.” This is false. Robert M. Duncan, chairman of the Postal Service’s Board of Governors, has admitted that DeJoy was not included in the ...

Bergman vote on House postal bill wrong stance

August 27, 2020

EDITOR: U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman voted against the “Delivering for America Act,” the bill that passed the U.S. House on Saturday. It prohibited the U.S. Postal Service from making changes to operations or levels of service from those that were in effect on Jan. 1. In short during the COVID-19 emergency, the Post Office is prohibited from: changes in the nature of the service that would affect service on a nationwide basis; revisions of service standards; closures or consolidations of post offices or reduction of facility hours; prohibitions of overtime pay; changes that would prevent ...

Too much speed on Park Avenue

August 26, 2020

EDITOR: There is a growing concern about the traffic on Park Avenue in Iron Mountain. This street is used as a bypass for the downtown by drivers who want to “make up time” by avoiding the traffic lights on Stephenson Avenue. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a marked increase in pedestrian traffic on Park. More dog walkers, families with children and strollers, couples, joggers and bicyclists are using Park Avenue. Most drivers are considerate of the increased “people presence” but a certain percentage are not. Those drivers speed from stop sign to stop ...