EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

MARQUETTE — A big player on the sled dog racing circuit has pulled out of a major Alaskan race to compete in this year’s U.P. 200 Sled Dog Championship. Greg Swingley from Simms, Mont. has informed race organizers he won’t compete in the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest race from White Horse, Alaska, to the Yukon and back. “It’s always nice to have a new face, especially of a top-caliber racer like Greg,” said Lou Ann Balding, race director of the U.P. 200. “We’re starting to draw from a wider range.” Swingley won the 500-mile Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Minnesota for the last two years, making him the only racer to win it twice.

60 years ago

HOUGHTON — In today’s controversy between proponents and opponents of the wide scale use of pesticides, the truth lies somewhere between “Silent Spring” and “The Desolate Year,” says Dr. Samuel A. Graham, professor emeritus of economic zoology, the University of Michigan. Speaking on the Michigan Tech campus, Dr. Graham pointed out that pesticides provide a practical substitute for natural control factors, and in effectiveness they are a great improvement over natural control. On the other hand, he said, the use of pesticides has at times been abused, resulting in unnecessary harm to desirable organisms associated with pests. These abuses should cease, he said. As a solution, Dr. Graham recommended two primary actions. First, he said, the power of regulatory agencies should be curbed. Decisions on publically-supported projects to apply toxicants should not be entirely left to administrative officials, who seldom have the training needed to evaluate the situation. In addition, he said, when legislative bodies are considering the appropriation of funds for pest control projects, they should seek advice of broadly trained scientists.