Representative Cam Cavitt is a proponent of a House bill that would give commercial fishers a chunk of the walleye and lake trout in Lake Huron. Is this a good idea? House Bill 5801 would require the Fisheries Division of the DNR to allow commercial harvest of lake trout, walleye, and yellow ...
I begin with a principle: the proper role of law and government is limited and specific. Law exists to protect the equal rights that every person already possesses—rights to life, liberty, and property. These rights existed before, and beyond, government. The law’s only legitimate function is to organize the individual right of self-defense on a collective scale, so that no person may harm another’s person or property with impunity. Beyond that protective purpose, using law becomes a violation of the rights it was meant to secure. When government uses its taxing power to take from ...
The grassroots effort to recall three Alpena Public Schools Board of Education members was not certified, not because we lacked support, not because we were unable to gather signatures, and not because voters didn’t participate. It was stopped because the Alpena county clerk accepted a ...
It was a meeting-heavy week. They were mostly one-on-one, which I like best, but those tend to take the most effort. The morning of day three, bracing for more meetings and sitting outside a cafe with the creeping heat starting, I watched a mother and son walk past me into the shop. Cute, I thought. Then, a continuation: Even though those two likely loved each other and were sharing an easy morning, both of them would die. One of them would carry the grief of the other. My brain wanders into strange neighborhoods when left unsupervised. While other people are noticing the weather or ...
My heart has been a little heavy since Thursday night, but at the same time, it’s also incredibly full. I’ve been thinking about this nonstop since my sister, my niece, my mom and I visited the Otsego County Fair in Gaylord for the Ashley Cooke concert. I love county fairs. I really, really do. The Alpena County Fair is the one week of the entire year that I look forward to the most. My favorite part has always been seeing the animals and watching the youth show their projects. I know firsthand how much work, time, dedication and love goes into those projects because I’ve been ...
As a matter of transparency it’s important for the community to know that all the petitions from the school board recall effort are now in the hands of unknown numbers of individuals. The day after the recall petitions were filed with our County Clerk, community member Dennis Schultz submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Schultz wanted all petitions, numbering close to 2000, to be copied to a thumbdrive and turned over to him. Schultz paid for the FOIA and by that action, had in his possession the names and addresses of over 4300 individuals who participated in the ...
