I am writing to ask The News to follow it’s admonition to ‘support local’. I would love to see local sports featured in our local newspaper. Articles about the NHL, NBA and NFL are stories I can read online or in any other newspaper (or on the second page of The News). Stories about our kids competing in high school sports are only available to us in our local paper.

Our kids have suffered through several challenging pandemic years. They’ve been masked and tested, had months of remote learning and endured canceled school days and sporting events. Being a student athlete is challenging in a normal school year, it is more so now. I would love to see these athletes recognized in the paper! Making the team, maintaining grades and attending practices is a big deal. I’m sure I’m not the only News subscriber interested in articles and pictures of OUR teams and athletes.

I understand that The News is a small business struggling to remain solvent like many other small businesses in our community. Is there a creative way to address this? Could parents, coaches or even students submit photos and articles? How about an English or journalism class writing and submitting articles to The News? Could this be a project for students needing ‘volunteer hours’? Let’s give our student athletes the recognition they’ve earned and deserve! Let’s Go Wildcats!!

JULIE DIETZ,

Alpena