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Letters to the Editor

Funding for nursing facilities among Whitmer budget vetoes

For several weeks now, everyone has heard of the substantial cuts and vetoes made by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as part of her rejection of the budget. One thing you might not have heard is more than $35 million in Medicaid cuts to nursing homes could begin to take effect at any time due to a proposed policy issued by the state. Twelve Upper Peninsula nursing facilities would lose a combined estimated $1.8 million. Pinecrest Medical Care Facility is estimated to lose approximately $175,000. Together, 27 nursing facilities in the Upper Peninsula urge the governor to rescind this ...

Response to wolf column by Rep. Markkanen

EDITOR: Thank you for publishing “It’s time for feds to let Michigan manage its own wolf population” I am writing to point out an error: The very definition of an apex predator is an animal who is at the top of the food chain. That means other factors than someone else killing them control apex predators’ numbers: factors such as starvation, the difficulty of their lives, intraspecific aggression. Mr. Markkanen states: “Without management (read: hunting), its (wolves) population could reach numbers that will be detrimental to other species” No, sir. This is not how ...

Natural ways to draw in deer

It’s hunting season and everyone wants deer on their land. From baiting to food plots, people will do whatever they can to get a big buck. One of the best ways to entice deer to your hunting grounds is creating more habitat through forest management. Forest management is cost effective and doesn’t require constant maintenance every hunting season. To attract deer and keep them on your land year-round, you have to provide them with the five things deer want: — Thermal cover: Conifer trees like cedar and white pine that provide refuge during the winter; — Hard mast: ...

IM doesn’t need recreational pot

If we have good businesses, people will come. Recreational marijuana is not needed or wanted in my town. We don’t need that kind of business so a few people can get richer. I grew up in a good town and I want to see it stay that way. You know we will have people coming in from everywhere to get high. Cigarettes are bad enough to smell and marijuana is worse. Also, they bought a police dog to catch people who had marijuana. Now they want to give the police more work. If you want more businesses in this town, have a nice Marshalls or Meijer store, like Escanaba. Or good ...

Looking for the 90K Yoopers who don’t know they have prediabetes

November is National Diabetes Awareness month and we have teamed up with the Lions Clubs of the U.P. to find the 90,000 Yoopers who are living with prediabetes and don’t even know it. An estimated 1 in 3 adults and 50% of seniors have prediabetes and 90% are unaware that they are on the path to developing Type 2 diabetes. If prediabetes is detected early and treated, Type 2 diabetes can be prevented. This month, we encourage all U.P. adults to find out if they have prediabetes or undiagnosed diabetes — about 7,000 Yoopers are in this category. Go to the web site ...

Need to not overreact to CWD in deer

EDITOR: When managing Michigan’s deer population, we need to look at the big picture, not just one issue such as chronic wasting disease. Did you know there are 1.75 million deer in Michigan and that 53,464 died in vehicle accidents last year? An additional 40,000 deer starved to death in the U.P. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, as of October 18, 2019, 6,032 deer have been tested for CWD and only 17 tested positive. And these deer did not die from CWD. They were either killed by hunters or from car-deer accidents. They only tested positive after they died ...