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Letters to the Editor

Seeking people to write to inmates

It only takes 45 minutes or less per month to help change the direction of a man in need. My name is Mike Olson and I am the director of In Your Cell jail/prison outreach ministry based out of Wellspring Community Church and First Methodist Church, both in Escanaba. We provide a Christian-based outreach in Dickinson, Delta, Menominee and Marquette counties so far, and to all of Michigan’s 27 male prisons and some federal facilities. For jails, we offer phone calls, U.S. mail, visits and go to court with inmates desiring that option. Our goal is to offer support, encouragement, a ...

Explaining ‘Bidenomics’

What does “Bidenomics” mean? Bidenomics is a significant change in the approach to trickle-down policies of the past. It is a much more aggressive approach to economic development and job creation than past presidents. The program emphasizes long-term development and job creation. It also considers long-term energy security and national security, such as electronic chip manufacturing in this country. It is the idea around industrial policy and the power of fiscal policy to solve what needs solving. The idea is to stimulate solutions to present needs, such as rural broadband and ...

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 ...