Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared this to be Manufacturing Week to recognize Michigan’s more than 11,386 unique manufacturing firms, which account for 626,000 jobs and $98.64 billion of total output annually. “Michigan is home to hundreds of thousands of hardworking men and women who are ...

Saturday was National Public Lands Day, which is observed each year on the fourth Saturday of September. Since National Public Lands Day was established in 1994, it’s been marked by volunteers going out to restore and improve public lands throughout the nation. And although the COVID-19 ...

While fewer motorists may be on the roads due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the number of road and work zone fatalities in Michigan is on the rise, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. As of September, 730 people have died on Michigan roads, an increase of 58 deaths ...

Bouquet: Kudos to the Dickinson-Iron Community Services Agency on Sept. 9 for distributing commodities to 600 vehicles from their warehouse in Kingsford. Employees from different departments within the agency came together to form a well-oiled machine team to pull this huge endeavor off. Thank ...

Bouquet and barb: Driving through the Iron Mountain cemetery in the ‘93 blue-green Ford Escort to pick up the flowers before the fall clean-up. Some of the roads in the cemetery are still in bad condition. Ideal for car repairs. Walkers and bikers use the roadways and when able for memorial ...

These things are always important, but September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time set aside to remember those we’ve lost to self-harm, to think about those among us struggling with depression, to check in on our own emotional well-being and to refresh our box of tools for combating mental ...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proclaimed Sept. 21 through 27 as Pollution Prevention Week to serve as a time to reaffirm Michiganders’ commitments to protecting the state’s environment and natural resources. “Michigan’s natural resources are important to our families, our ...

Michiganders seeking their 10-cent deposit on bottles and cans will soon have more options for redeeming their deposits, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury. With the beginning of Phase 2 on Oct. 5, all grocery stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations and other ...

It’s with regret that we report that a handful of sites in the state of Michigan — including several in the Upper Peninsula — have been removed from the National Register of Historic Places because, literally, they no longer exist. Specifically, the U.P. locations include the Beechwood ...

Today through Friday is Fall Prevention Awareness Week. Each year, one in four older adults falls. Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for people age 65 and older. Even falls without a major injury can cause an older adult to become fearful or depressed. The good ...

Bouquet: I was fortunate Sept. 11 to be able to enjoy the Friday night Kingsford High School marching band’s performance at the Breitung Township Schools’ football field. Only a certain number of tickets were distributed to the band members in order to follow the governor’s COVID-19 ...

School buses are considered the safest mode of transportation for getting children back and forth to school. Riding in a school bus is safer than walking, riding a bicycle or being driven to school in private vehicles. Today’s school buses are built with safety in mind. According to the ...

Back in the day, schools taught the three Rs — reading, (w)riting and ‘rithmetic. We’d like to add three Ts to this year’s lesson plans — transparency, testing and tolerance. Traverse City Area Public School students logged on Sept. 8 for their first day of school, opening the ...

Production agriculture and the entire associated agricultural industry are key to our nation’s stability and way of life. However, agriculture is also a dangerous occupation. Farming, mining, and construction are the three most dangerous occupations and have been for decades. In particular, ...

While the world grapples with a pandemic that forces people to keep their distance from each other, youth community service opportunities may look different but are still an important part of development. The Michigan 4-H Youth Development Guiding Principles highlights the importance of youth ...

Better late than never seems to be the best state health officials can do when it comes to providing basic information to Michiganders about COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. Unfortunately, their late arrival means hundreds of thousands of Michigan families made decisions about returning to ...

Bouquet: Hi. I am from Orange, Texas. We are recovering from Hurricane Laura. The other day, riding around with my niece looking for food, we passed a lot of electric trucks helping our local energy company. The trucks are from Iron Mountain and some from Port Huron. My niece, Abby, asked why ...

It has been said that desperate times call for desperate measures. Well, 2020 certainly qualifies, and state lawmakers are looking to address absentee ballot processing before it could become a major issue. A bill that would allow Michigan clerks to start processing absentee ballots before ...

While the coronavirus pandemic has understandably dominated the headlines, health experts are warning not to neglect the other main contagion that looms on the horizon this time of year: flu. Concerns already have been raised about the threat of a “twindemic” — a severe flu season ...

What unites Upper Peninsula residents? A love of plaid and pasties? A passion for euchre and cribbage? Maybe. But perhaps the most inclusive and obvious answer involves three digits: 906. These three numbers make up the area code that serves the entire Upper Peninsula, giving all of ...