The August primary election is less than three months away, and voters will have several important decisions to make. Primaries are used to determine which candidates will represent their party in the November election. But, with relatively few candidates on the ballot in our area, and ...

4-H has always been a worthy program, but it is perhaps even more so today. With American farms on the decline — about 2 million farms exist today, compared to a peak 6.8 million in 1935, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — programs such as 4-H keep our youth interested in ...

“When the cops declare open season on journalists, when they feel free to declare any scene of ‘unlawful protest’ a free fire zone, that will be a very ugly day — and not just for journalists.” — Hunter S. Thompson, “Strange Rumblings in Aztlan” They were obviously ...

EDITOR’S NOTE: This column has been substantially modified from its initial appearance in June of 2017. Joe and Josie Taraskiewicz always left a light on at their business — Joe’s super Service — on the top of the hill in Hillman. Their business motto, “ We’re fishing for your ...

To our community, Thunder Bay Theatre Inc. is a year-round, nonprofit theater and performing arts organization committed to providing consistent, high-quality productions, educational opportunities, and additional arts and cultural events utilizing a professional company augmented with ...

Each year I get calls regarding people finding baby animals and asking what they can do to save the baby. The best thing you can do to help, however, is to leave the animal alone. Many animals will hide their young for safety, and they will return. Most of the time, those wild animals do ...

Today is June 5, 2020. It is a bittersweet day for me, because it was another June 5, one back in 1953, that an angel, Josephine, was born. Nineteen years later, in 1972, we were officially united in marriage, but the true reality was we were united in soul and spirit the day we met. Most of ...

Alpena city officials apparently are rock stars when it comes to budget management. So it would seem after city Clerk/Treasurer Anna Soik informed the Alpena Municipal Council this week that, instead of facing a projected shortfall, as had been thought possible at the beginning of the year, ...

Forget the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We bet that, if you look in the garage, you might find a gold mine in unreturned bottles and cans. Beginning June 15, state residents can start returning their recyclable containers to retailers again — a move they have not been able to ...

Rogers City is trying to build a grassroots coalition to bring the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Main Street program to the city. The program would bring some much-needed money and expertise to help the Nautical City revitalize its city center, and MEDC requires the effort to be ...

Michigan schools will soon be able to tap into extra money from Congress to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. As those funds become available, state officials should focus as much as possible on the needs of students, without regard to what kind of school they attend. The ...

Maybe the astronauts who left Earth for the International Space Station this past weekend had the right idea. Given the option, most of us would rather forget the trials and tribulations 2020 has brought us. But, unfortunately, we don’t have that option, and we are forced to deal with ...

Some day down the road, the two of them with their trusty dog, Kevin, will be sitting in their rockers on the porch, and they’ll have a good laugh. But nobody is laughing in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s inner circle, these days. The lethal virus continues its march up and down the state. The ...

Newspaper columnist Rod Dreher wrote “There are three kinds of people who run toward disaster not away: cops, firemen and reporters. Watching the coverage of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the importance of journalism could not be more evident. The photography, ...

President Trump, who clearly never read “Pinocchio” as a child, is furious at Twitter for labeling several of his tweets as false. OK, yes, technically they didn’t say, “The president’s tweets were big, fat, phony lies.” What they did do, however, is put a label under two recent ...

The Alpena Downtown Development Authority is discussing some major changes to the main drag through downtown to increase space for businesses there, and you, dear reader, need to be part of that discussion. As reporter Steve Schulwitz informed us recently, the DDA board tabled a decision to ...

I have a good friend who is affectionately known to me as the “crusty curmudgeon.” His view of life is, shall we say, a bit different than most. He is a strong supporter of our area’s public schools, and I’m sure he shares a keen interest in the stories of this year’s graduating ...

“Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” — The First Amendment I have often wondered what the Founding Fathers would make of the world today. What would they think of the behemoth federal government we’ve built from the 4,543 words in ...

The headline last week read, “Council agrees to ‘more palatable’ 5% water rate hike.” And trust us, we appreciate the effort of Alpena council members who debated over an initial request of a 10% hike for city residents. Certainly, the community is grateful the council settled in at ...

It’s not likely you were able to watch Hod Eller pitch. He was a pitcher for the Moline Plowboys in the old Illinois-Indiana-Iowa league before being picked up by the Cincinnati Reds in 1916. Hod pitched for Cincinnati for five years, putting together a 60/40 win-loss record. Likewise, I ...