Area sites offer options for more recycling

January 10, 2020

Have you noticed Iron Mountain is a city that has many alleys? On garbage day, many of the garbage containers in these numerous alleys are full. Having conquered the elusive science of weights and measures, the results are concerning: 55% of the volume of material put into and around these garbage containers is recyclable. This percentage is ridiculous. These are several local places residents can take their recyclable material: 1. City of Iron Mountain Public Works Department: No. 1 and No. 2 plastic year-round; and metal in warmer months. 2. Trico Industries in Kingsford: ...

Bergman vote supports Trump, Putin, not allies

January 6, 2020

Recent reporting on Congressman Jack Bergman has omitted his votes in the U.S. House on two issues. The impeachment votes cast on Dec. 18 saw First District Congressman Jack Bergman in lockstep with the Trumpist Party — formerly the Republicans — that said, in effect, “it’s OK to strong-arm an ally to provide dirt on a domestic rival (abusing the power of the office); it’s OK to ignore subpoenas (obstruct Congress); and it’s OK to give ‘aid and comfort’ to our enemy” (that would be Russia) by delaying funds approved by Congress for weapons the Ukraine needs to fight ...

Education in life should never stop

January 2, 2020

I am always surprised when I am out and about and someone recognizes me as a person who writes letters to this forum. How DO they know? In any case, the response I get is pretty much positive, so I shall persist. I had to send this letter today because of a response I got to a comment on the internet. I had mentioned that there were more than 275 bipartisan bills that had passed the House of Representatives and were now in limbo on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s desk. One of these concerns a new national minimum wage. This brought a reply from a man that did not want to ...

The possible future of the UP wood industry

December 24, 2019

Many Yoopers are employed by the wood product industry. Companies such as Verso and LP help sustain our economy and provide us with products we use in our everyday life. One way to help an industry thrive is through new innovations and the wood product industry may have just that on the horizon. Cross-laminated timber, or CLT for short, is a wood product that has only recently started to be adopted in the United States. CLT is popular in Europe and Canada as a building material. CLT is a wood panel made from gluing layers of solid wood together for a lightweight and sturdy panel. ...

Deer proved scarce during hunting season

December 17, 2019

This year was the 60th deer season that I have hunted. It was by far the worst ever! I do not know where to put the blame, just would like to see some input from others. I hunt in northern Menominee County. It was in the “no baiting” area. The first four days, I saw five deer, one spike horn. The last 10 days, I did not see a single deer and never heard a shot. The first four days, I heard 26 shots from my blind — you can hear shots from miles away while hunting. Something was very wrong with this. For a month before the season, I would go check my cameras and deer movement ...

Please consider other trail users

December 12, 2019

I ride the area roads and trails by bike. After an advanced scientific and mathematical analysis of the amount of litter that has been discarded on the sides of area roads, I found that the litter consists mostly of beverage containers and that Busch Light is the most prolifically discarded container. The most littered areas are: 1. Lake Antoine Loop; 2. Hydraulic Falls Road Loop; 3. Quinnesec-Lake Antoine Road; 4. Pine Mountain Road. Litterers, please be considerate of the people who live or travel in our locale, and refrain from tossing empties out the window. Also, ...