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Water safety

IRON MOUNTAIN - The Northern Lights YMCA Dickinson Center in Iron Mountain is helpingarea third graders learn swimming and water safety skills before school is out for the summer. With a $4,625 grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and the Dickinson Area Community Foundation, the YMCA has been able to offer free lessons to every third-grade student in Dickinson County.Six area schools are participating in the program, which started April 18 and lasts for five weeks, said John Leech, the center's aquatics director."The focus is general swimming safety, with each student practicing ...

An everyday hero: Sibling provides much inspiration to sister

MARQUETTE - Heroes walk among us every day. Sometimes they're clearly visible, like police officers, firefighters or active military personnel.Oftentimes, they're not. They're mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters or friends.They're the kind of people who usually don't ask for recognition, but don't hesitate for a moment when an opportunity arises to do something great.Per Merriam-Webster, a hero is defined as a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.Although he might not associate himself with the word "hero," my brother is exactly that to me.For ...

Finnish culture taught in Copper Country School

SOUTH RANGE - Third-grade students at South Range Elementary School enjoy learning about Finnish culture from a native Finn, as part of a program sponsored by Finlandia University."Our area, and our school in general, is very rich in the Finnish culture, so the relevance is very real for our students," said Principal Kim Harris.Their teacher, 26-year-old Kaisa-Marie Poikela, has come all the way from Rovaniemi in northern Finland, near Lapland University, where she is pursuing an education degree. Oddly enough, she is learning a lot about her own culture in the process."I don't get to ...

Poverty, consumerism: Society suffering from identity crisis

MARQUETTE - In a world where everything is a sales pitch, who do you trust?Truth has become a matter for debate, and any claim is given merit whether it's factual or not.The constant barrage of advertising wears down our resistance and increases our tolerance for lies and selfish motives.We accept that companies distort the truth in order to sell their product, that politicians can't be trusted, that insurance companies will screw us to make a buck, that women should look like Barbie dolls and men shouldn't have emotions, and that it's fine to hide from all that behind television, ...

EASY RIDER

IRON MOUNTAIN - A Norway man was honored for more than three decades of motorcycle safety training at the May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month event in Detroit.Richard Henrion, 66, was given a plaque by Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson in recognition of 35 years as an instructor in the state's motorcycle safety education program.Henrion became a rider coach in 1980 as part of the Upper Peninsula's first motorcycle safety program, based in Iron Mountain. After 1986, he trained and certified other instructors as a rider coach trainer.Henrion became field coordinator for the ...

Reunion time again: Years seem to be passing too quickly

It has been more than a year since I moved into my current wonderful apartment. Truth be told, there are boxes in the basement I haven't gone through yet. And there are items that, as organized as the move was, I haven't been able to track down.That's a factor of how efficiently and quickly the move happened, most likely. By the time I left the old address after the final load was trucked away, the crew unloading at the new spot was pretty much done putting things away.So a few of these "away" spots, I don't know, which is why a find I made the other day is, to me at least, akin to ...