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Editorial

Tidying up neighborhoods a good idea

With several recent days in the 30s and 40s and perhaps a bit more, many early signs of spring can be seen in Marquette County and around the Upper Peninsula. It can be delightful to watch the snow and ice melt away. However, soil and pavement are not the only things that become visible as the snow melts: A quick drive around the Marquette area reveals long-buried plastic bags, cups, wrappers, receipts, cigarette butts and other litter melting out of the ice and snowbanks. It’s especially troubling to see this occur in our community year after year because litter, animal waste and ...

Trumps threats signal moral and ethical weakness

Article 52 of the first additional protocol to the Geneva conventions prohibits attacks on civilian targets. It is on those grounds that the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for Russian military officers and officials responsible for attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Such assaults, and the missiles rained on Ukrainian cities and towns in order to terrify and demoralise, constitute war crimes. Exactly the same would apply to the United States, should Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran back to the “stone age” this week be carried out. Such basic ...

AG warns tax filing time can spur identity theft

With the April 15 tax filing deadline less than a week away, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is reissuing her consumer alert on tax-related identity theft and urging residents to protect themselves. Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses stolen personal information to file a phony tax return and claim the refund for themselves, Nessel advised in a news release. “Bad actors will stop at nothing to steal our personal information and hard-earned money,” Nessel said in the release. “… It’s imperative that everyone knows the signs of identity theft. The IRS ...

Trump tells US Postal Service to create a federal voter list

Can the President order the U.S. Postal Service not to deliver mail he doesn’t like? Add this to the list of, er, innovative questions that President Donald Trump is posing to the courts. On March 31, he signed an executive action to create a federal list of people pre-approved to vote by mail, while telling the USPS to refuse to deliver ballots from anybody who isn’t on it. Democrats have already filed lawsuits, saying Mr. Trump’s plan tramples on the authority over elections that the Constitution gives to the 50 states. The USPS is an independent agency, and the Postmaster ...

A week to consider finding ways to save

This is America Saves Week, when Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services encourages residents to conduct a financial check-in. But it’s likely assessing finances has already been front and center for most people these days — and with higher prices for gas, groceries and other goods, money to put aside might be scarce. Still, a review could yield some avenues to better adjust to the current economic conditions and perhaps even manage to salt some funds away for the future. “DIFS is committed to supporting Michiganders as they improve their financial wellness, ...

Ice unstable this time of year

In all likelihood, Superiorland is in for a another dose or two of winter weather before spring arrives. That said, the warmer temperatures and clearer skies in recent days probably will bring out the spring fever in some people. The National Weather Service in Negaunee Township has called for temperatures in the 30s and 40s this week. According to well-established science, temps above 32 degrees mean melting ice. So, common sense suggests people should use caution on Great Lakes and other waterways because of unstable ice. Although ice might look sturdy, people are at risk of falling ...