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Letters to the Editor

Americans are tougher in unity than in division

Growing up in Hubbard Lake, we only had three TV stations, no 24-hour Cartoon Network back then. So most Saturday mornings you could find me munching my Coco Pebbles and getting my weekly cartoon allotment. Often, a PSA aired for the Peace Corps, it would dynamically transform my life’s path. It claimed to be “The toughest job you’ll ever love.” My kid brain thought, “What a dumb commercial. When I grow-up I want an easy job.” But somehow the idea ruminated through AHS graduation, a year at ACC, graduating from Ferris with a B.S. in Construction Management, and finally, after ...

Protect funding, staffing to support farmers

Look, farming is tough enough without the government making it harder. There’s a program that’s been around since 1996 that is helping farmers and landowners protect their soil and water while keeping their farms productive. It’s been a lifeline for small and mid-sized farmers who don’t have deep pockets. It’s called the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) run through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Well now, Washington is cutting funds and staff from many programs, including a freeze on all USDA programs, and it’s creating real problems for ...

Rain garden at AHS could be beneficial

I was thrilled when I heard about a possible rain garden at Alpena High School. The rain garden would be installed in the unused gravel portion of the AHS parking lot which is being rebuilt and resurfaced this summer. APS has no future use for this area. APS will incur no costs for the construction of the rain garden, which is funded by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Sustain Our Great Lakes program through Huron Pines. Stormwater carries pollutants like road salt, motor oils, and litter into local waterways via storm drains. This rain garden would capture ...

Community fortunate to have a library like ours

Dear Editor, A couple of days ago I had the privilege of viewing a film (for free!) at the Alpena County Library. It was titled “Free for All: The Public Library” and it was an interesting documentary on the history of public libraries in the United States. I learned that many of the early librarians were women — before women could even vote — and that they were committed to free information, serving everyone in the community, and encouraging everyone to read what they wanted to read. I feel fortunate to live in a community that has a library like ours. I think most of the ...

Health care needs a patient-first approach

To: Editor Alpena News My Name is William Dale Blank AKA Bill Blank. I was an LPN from 2001 until April of 2021. My experience includes med surge, ICU, OB, ER, home health, private duty, and long-term care. May I start by saying insurance providers remain a major problem with medical services. More often you are seen by an NP under the license of a doctor or psychiatrist. To add to the disconnect, you will see a different practitioner in a facility than you will see on the outside. Instead of practitioners working together, they appear to me, to be competitors. The lack of ...

GOP members of Congress should speak out

Vladimir Putin is clearly delighted by Trump’s election. The self-proclaimed “best negotiator in the world” has basically conceded that Russia will achieve everything it wanted to achieve when it invaded Ukraine. Trump, along with Secretary of Defense Hegseth and Secretary of State Rubio, have clearly stated, or at least implied, that they will seek to “normalize relations” with a country and leader who are guilty of war crimes, deny NATO membership and not allow Ukraine to reclaim territory illegally seized by Russia, hint that there are “economic opportunities” between ...