Breaking News

Letters To The Editor

Rural hospitals are the beating heart of Michigan’s health transformation

To the Journal editor: Distance defines daily life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula — from where your children go to school to how far it is to the nearest emergency room. For our communities, the local hospital isn’t just a building. It’s a lifeline, providing emergency care, maternity services, behavioral health support and good jobs that keep our local economy strong. That’s why the new Rural Health Transformation Program is such an important opportunity to stabilize and modernize rural healthcare. As the Market CEO of UP Health System, which includes Marquette, Bell and ...

Who gets what in America

To the Journal editor: I shake my head whenever I hear that we cannot afford SNAP benefits and ACA allowances after passing the monstrous bill that makes the rich much richer. I laugh when I hear Trump’s supporters boast that he does not take a salary. Full annual presidential salary and expenses are $569,000 while Trump’s golf trips from Jan. 20 to March 29 amount to $26,127,531. Figures are not publicly made available after March 29 but each golfing trip is estimated to cost $3.4 million. In addition,Trump went to the Daytona 500 estimated at $5 million and the Super Bowl ...

Great things happening at Gwinn schools

I have three grandchildren attending three different Marquette County schools. I see the good and not so good in each school. The Gwinn School District is an amazing school. Gwinn students are doing great things. In reading comments about the Bond Proposal, I read questions concerning future growth of the community and school. Marquette County’s future housing needs are becoming land locked. Please talk with a realtor. You will find that a school systems with excellent community support draws families. With a new school Gwinn has excellent potential for increased future school ...

War on drugs a failure

To the Journal editor: The issue with Venezuela is another extension of Prohibition or a tale of the failure of the War on Drugs. In other words, if only we have regime change in Venezuela, then we will have peace in our land and the scourge of drugs lessened. However, this ignores that fentanyl doesn’t come from Venezuela. No doubt, Venezuela is a narco-state, but haven’t we learned the lessons from Prohibition? It fails and it is never-ending, costly, futile and dangerous to the populace and law enforcement. So now, the Trump administration’s solution is to militarize the War ...

Leave federal workers alone

To the Journal editor: How did federal employees become the enemy or the scapegoat for our nation’s problems, according to some members of Congress?   Federal employees are our neighbors who keep us safe at airports, protect our food and water supplies, predict our weather and manage our national parks, forests and wildlife refuges for the greater good based on laws and science. Federal employees are not becoming millionaires in their jobs; they are just average citizens. The starting annual salary for a GS-5 entry level position with most agencies is approximately $35,000. If ...

Shutdown reasons clear

As of this writing, the federal government has shut down. There are 2 main issues: 1. Health Care; 2. Congress’ constitutional power to set the budget and the president's constitutional duty to follow the budget. Re: Health care: Democrats are asking for an extension of tax credits for health care and reversal of Medicaid cuts. This is not new spending. It restores $1 trillion cut in the Republican budget passed this summer. Only middle and low income families are eligible. Undocumented immigrants are not/will not be eligible for Affordable Care Act coverage, Medicare or ...