Breaking News

Truth sought

To the Journal editor: Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin has stopped accepting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Health Plan (Medicaid.) What this means for U.P. kids on UPHP who need pediatric services is a 22 hour round trip car trip to lower Michigan to receive care instead of two hours away in Appleton. Whose fault is this? According to an appeal letter I received from UPHP, my daughter and her insurance was not accepted by Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. According to a CHOW representative I was told that the problem lies with UPHP for not continuing negotiations with WCHO on ...

Trump said it

To the Journal editor: Suckers and losers. Those are the words of Donald Trump. I wish I would have wrote this earlier. If anyone is a sucker and loser, Donald Trump is. He was a daddy’s boy so, of course, he wouldn’t let him go into the service, he might get hurt. My grandfather served in World War II with a lot of other men. They weren’t suckers and losers, they were men who wanted to serve their country and hats off to all of them. They were willing and didn’t think about what would happen to them. They just went and did their jobs. When you think that Trump cares ...

Cliffs moves questioned

To the Journal editor: Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. and its CEO, Lourenco Goncalves, have been prominent in the news lately with their unsuccessful bid to purchase US Steel, Inc. CCI, or Cliffs, as the historic mining company is called by so many here in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, has played a huge role in the extraction and refining of iron ore and consequently the employment of significant numbers of Upper Peninsula men and women. For Cliffs, that long mining history reaches back to the 1920s when it first leased the Empire Mine in Richmond Township here in Marquette County. Allan ...

Climate conundrum

To the Journal editor: Dear fellow yoopers, I took my birthday walk on the beach last week. Bare sand, sun, 50 degrees; it was effortless to be out there for an hour. It would be delightful in April. Here in February, for my birthday walk, it is wrong. A pleasant day on the beach should be sunny, the crunch of snow and ice underfoot, and enough cold moist air coming off the lake that I need a face covering or risk frostbite. I miss that; it is home to me. Being with the lake this year, having it feel like it did … felt a tiny bit like holding the hand of a dying person. A ...

Green update

To the Journal editor: Michigan’s new clean energy legislation pits local zoning officials against local landowners who want to place clean solar and wind on their land. According to Citizens for Local Choice, “local zoning control is a sacred right enjoyed by local units.” Really? If that were true, vital public services like highways, telephone, internet, and electricity could be stopped by local zoning boards. Thank goodness that Michigan law MCL 125.3205 prohibits local zoning from interfering with these vital public services. And what about the sacred rights of local ...

Only fear

To the Journal editor: Throughout history fear has inflicted horrific toll on human life and liberties. Our Framers understood how Kings used fear to achieve unwavering loyalty, anyone who disobeys the King is sent to the gallows. I tested my civics knowledge by taking a test every immigrant is required pass to gain citizenship, it’s located at uscis.gov and I challenge everyone to do the same. One of the questions inspired me to write: “What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance? Your State, United States, Congress, or President”. It’s no secret we are ...