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Letters To The Editor

Celebrate libraries

To the Journal editor: It has been wonderful seeing all the positive coverage of public libraries in The Mining Journal during National Library Week. Every library in the Upper Peninsula is a precious gemstone on a necklace; strung together through common goals and shared resources, they make our communities shine. From the tiny Richmond Township Library in Palmer to the largest in the region, the Peter White Public Library in Marquette, we have a lot to be proud of and thankful for. We must remember to support these fine fixtures of our communities every day, not just during the ...

Representation needed at Sawyer

To the Journal editor: It has been 28 years since K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base closed its doors. Still, K.I. Sawyer is an unincorporated town with a population of 4,000. An unincorporated town has no governance therefore has no say in the township or county it is in. K.I. Sawyer needs to incorporate with charter from the state in order to govern itself and control of revenue generated by taxes paid by the homeowner. You are part of the surrounding townships and Forsythe township is your governing body. You are paying property taxes without representation. Your taxes are being used ...

Oppose climate bill in House

To the Journal editor: There’s a proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives this week, related to America’s debt ceiling, but major anti-climate measures have been included. If passed, this would gut the historic clean energy/climate investments Congress made in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA puts us on track to reduce our carbon pollution 40% by 2030 — within striking distance of the climate goals that science demands. It also lowers energy costs, makes it affordable for Americans to electrify their homes and transportation and provides direct support ...

Murder must stop

To the Journal editor: Trigger laws have been firing left right and center, since Roe versus Wade was overturned. Guns have also been firing left, right and center. The U.S. has experienced 160 mass shootings in the first 107 days of 2023. It’s much worse than an everyday occurrence; there are three mass shootings every couple of days! I would like to see common-sense gun control laws on the books that are triggered by the next mass shooting.

Taxation 101

To the Journal editor: In a recent letter to the editor, the author opined about taxation on personal property. Here is some information. All Americans once paid a personal property tax on their belongings. Currently, under the Michigan law of the General Property Tax Act 206 of 1893, individuals pay property taxes on their real estate (real property tax or “ad valorem” meaning based on the value). Michigan businesses pay an additional tax on property that can be touched and moved, from staplers to desk chairs to manufacturing equipment (personal property tax). When the item ...

God’s children covers everyone

To the Journal editor: It was with a great deal of interest — and sorrow — that I read Lisa Bowers’ April 10 front-page article “Confirmed Divide” in the Marquette Mining Journal. As a life-long practicing Catholic, I will be the first to admit my profound sadness that it is my Church that has been sowing seeds of division through its edicts of religious exclusion at one of the most dangerous times in our nation’s history. So many of us are left wondering what is going on with the leadership of our Catholic Diocese of Marquette by openly and publicly condemning gays, ...