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Editorials and columns

It’s time to pick up the torch of Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy secured the top three spots for the most "outstanding" ratings among presidents in a recent survey of U.S. adults. What do the presidencies of the Virginia planter, prairie rail-splitter and Boston war hero have in common? All three laid out a dream for the future that broke with the past. They looked forward, not backward. Washington succeeded King George III as the head of the government of what had been the 13 British colonies. He was awarded that position based on accomplishment rather than heredity, by votes rather than ...

My written comments to EGLE on Line 5

Enbridge Line 5, EGLE Has One Chance To Get This Right This are my written comments to EGLE’s open hearing on the Enbridge Line 5 tunnel project in the Straits of Mackinac. The Michigan Department of Environment Great Lakes Energy (EGLE) has a once in a lifetime decision to make, a ...

Buckle up. Here we go again

Michigan voters will decide in November whether to stage the state's 5th constitutional convention since 1837. Up until now there have been four such gatherings resulting in 148 changes to state laws via that so-called Con-Con. In 1961, the last time there was such an effort, a civil group ...

Today we focus on you

Since I’ve been far too busy lately to write another column for this space, here’s a highly abridged version of the speech I gave at the 2026 Alpena High School graduation held at the stadium. “What a joy to be here. What a privilege to be able to speak to some of my favorite people sitting in front of me today. “You asked me to speak and gave me permission to give you some advice. I’m just going to remind you of three things, but, as it’s already well after 2:00, I won’t be able to make sure you get to the dentist on time.” (I know one shouldn’t explain his jokes, ...

4,000 students is the number that matters most

Thousands of conversations, countless hours of volunteer time over nearly seven weeks, more than 2,000 petition pages, and dozens of misplaced pens are just some of the statistics for the effort to recall Alpena Public School board members Sarah Costain, Monica Dziesinski, and Eric Lawson. However, the time, effort, and materials for the recall are just a footnote in our initiative. Nearly 4,000 is the number that matters to the dozens of volunteer circulators and the thousands of voters who have signed the petitions. No, it’s not about the 3,771 signatures we need to trigger the ...

A determination of time

A few years ago, I wrote a column about time, our time, the time before the railroads imposed their time. It wasn’t until 1918, at the insistence of the railroads, that time zones were created. Our gatherings on depot platforms were at their time, and in time their time became our ...