“It is what it is.” Gosh, I used to hate that phrase whenever one of my two sons would use it to explain away something I disagreed with them about. Like most phrases I disliked at first, it eventually worked its way into an acceptable part of my vocabulary, so much so that I often ...

Help can come from anywhere, and anyone can perform a good deed. That’s the overriding message we took from News page designer Alyssa Ochss’s recent story on local barbers and salons helping their clients give back when they lop off their locks. Ochss spoke to a number of haircutters ...

I recently attended the swearing-in of Lora Greene as the new probate judge of Montmorency County. It was held in the Atlanta High School gym and was as fine a swearing-in for a new judge as I have ever seen — except for my own. COVID-19 regulations limited the Montmorency County ...

According to the book of Proverbs, the thoughts that we think are extremely powerful. When we think our thoughts, they often turn into words, attitudes, and actions. It is difficult — if not impossible — to have a positive life with a negative mindset. People who have a habit of ...

News staff writer Julie Riddle on Monday introduced us to Emily Weiss, an Alpena teen who has struggled with homelessness. Fortunately, Riddle also introduced us to a number of organizations available to help Weiss and the hundreds of other young people like her who lack reliable places to ...

Northeast Michigan, like many, many other places in the nation, has a very serious puzzle it has to solve: Housing. As The News reported recently, Northeast Michigan lacks enough houses on the market to meet the demand, meaning some of our employers struggle to recruit workers from out of the ...