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Editorials and columns

APS hears your voices, opinions

The Alpena Public Schools Board of Education, APS administration, and I have been focused on listening to our staff and community. Throughout each year, the district provides multiple opportunities for students, parents, staff, and the community to engage with the district. Opportunities ...

Understanding the local language

My family has been a few places. In a world of reduced regionalism and increased mobility, our tribe is a pretty decent example. My parents were born in Western Pennsylvania and both went to college in West Virginia. My first five years of life were spent in the Ohio River Valley in Eastern ...

APS smart to engage staff

Alpena Public Schools leaders aren’t happy with being average. A consultant this week told the APS Board of Education that a survey found a third of the school district’s staff are considered engaged with their employer. That’s about typical across industries in the U.S. and Canada, the ...

Just what exactly is a ‘traditional man’?

“Manliness consists not in bluff, bravado or loneliness. It consists in daring to do the right thing and facing consequences whether it is in matters social, political or other. It consists in deeds not words.” — Mahatma Gandhi “Wise men are not pacifists; they are merely less likely ...

Social media divides America and Americans

“Social media is something of a double-edged sword. At its best, social media offers unprecedented opportunities for marginalized people to speak and bring much needed attention to the issues they face. At its worst, social media also offers ‘everyone’ an unprecedented opportunity to ...

Quickly pass transparency legislation

The state Senate Oversight Committee deserves credit for advancing a pair of bills that would for the first time and after a decade of effort finally subject the Legislature and governor to state transparency requirements. The committee this week sent Senate Bills 669 and 670 to the full ...