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Letters To The Editor

Call it incompetence

Americans on both sides of the aisle are realizing that the current POTUS is both incompetent and indecisive. Because of his disorder, he is incapable of understanding nuance and lacks empathy. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, Republicans accused Democrats of being flip-floppers. Ironically, they now have the greatest flipper in U.S. history sitting in the Oval Office. He can’t decide on anything. His executive orders have been easy to issue. About 39% are being challenged in court as illegal or unconstitutional. His diplomacy (lack of) is ridiculed around the world. With his ...

In preparation

The FBI considers violent crime to include murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In their Uniform Crime Report, the FBI maintains an annual violent crime tally by state, city and population. The UCR for 2019 seemed to be the most recent, fully available report online. The city of Marquette, with a population of 20,599, was listed with 26 violent crimes for 2019. Comparably, Bristol, CT, with a population of 59,977 people, listed 53 violent crimes for that same year. In an effort to compare apples to apples, I came up with an average of 1.2 violent ...

History, impact of Marquette Food Co-op: An employee’s view

Whether you are a long-time resident of Marquette or a visitor just passing through, you’ve heard of the Marquette Food Co-Op. Founded in 1971, it’s given locals a chance to buy sustainable, healthy food through pandemics, blizzards, and mass change in our social and physical environment. And amidst this polarized era of American society, I believe co-ops like ours play a vital role in not only feeding our community, but uniting us despite our differences. Having recently started working in the Prepared Foods department at the Co-Op, I’ve noticed from a new perspective the impact ...

State should deny Line 5 permits

This Enbridge scheme to dig a tunnel beneath the Mackinac Straits instead of abandoning and removing the existing 72-year-old pipeline is a boondoggle, and would put our most valuable resource, fresh water, at risk with little long term benefit. Here is why. First, well before 100 years, oil will be used for lubrication purposes only. With new solid-state long-life battery technology now beginning to be produced and very soon mass produced, fossil fuel vehicles will literally be fossils with electric vehicles offering an 800-mile range on a 15-minute charge with very high performance ...

Workers are essential

The Federal Department of Labor is suggesting we should eliminate the minimum wage requirement for home health care workers, a testing ground to see if they can get away with eliminating minimum wage requirements for everyone. A recent news story I read indicated that Michigan workers need to earn $25 per hour in order to afford rent. Currently, the minimum wage in Michigan is $12.48 an hour and Delta County is in the middle of a housing crisis. History makes it clear that paying employees a living wage improves our economy. It reduces the number of people who must rely upon programs ...

What he says, does

Before his re-election, Trump promised to be a dictator on day one. Has any other U.S. president-elect ever made such a statement? Trump recently demanded that Barack Obama be prosecuted for treason, based on no evidence. Trump fired a labor statistician because he didn't like the job growth numbers, saying "The numbers were RIGGED in order to make Republicans and ME look bad." Because it's all about him. He claimed job growth was "BOOMING" with no evidence to support his claim.  So she was fired, for doing her job. Do statisticians have a reputation for fudging the ...