Ted Fines, head of the local Habitat for Humanity and a fantastic professional photographer, recently took top honors for his entry to PRAXIS International Juried Photography Exhibit — EMPTY PLACES : ABANDONED SPACES — earning the Jurors Choice Award. His moving photo showing snow on the ...
Poor Dr. Marc Mallory. You know, the guy hitched to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. His major objective in becoming the state’s second first gentleman was to stay out his spouse’s way. She would do the state stuff. He would stay in his lane as an accomplished dentist, and the last thing he wanted ...
What a fantastic way to begin 2021. In Saturday’s edition — the first of the new year — News staff writer Julie Riddle brought us the story of Danielle Franzoni, an Alpena waitress who received a $2,020 tip just before the start of 2020. One year later, as Riddle detailed Saturday, ...
Headlines are attention grabbers, and this one stopped me in my tracks last weekend. Hall of Fame Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro died at the age of 81. The headline took me back to the roots of my career in eastern Ohio, and, specifically, the little sleepy community of Blaine. ...
Writing to The News is always a bit of a crapshoot. I never know if I’ll be able to make my point and I don’t get to use special dice like Big Jule in “Guys and Dolls.” Still, nothing ventured, etc., as the kids (?) say. I am struck by Anne Gentry’s essay in Thursday’s News. I ...
In the waning weeks of the weird and awful year that was 2020, I received a handful of aggressive notes from readers demanding answers to two opposing questions: Why are we giving so much ink to the coronavirus? Why are we not carrying more stories on voter fraud in the presidential ...
If ever there was a legislator deserving of special recognition, it would be state Sen. Jim Stamas. Stamas, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Northeast Michigan’s state senator, this week was recognized by the Michigan Information and Research Service as its Senator of ...
There is a man whose second wife is a beautiful woman from a country that was a former member of the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). In his business he is surrounded by and he owes significant amounts of money to Russian interests. He occupies a high U.S. governmental office but is ...
Thankfully, the year 2020 is now in our rear-view mirror. The COVID-19 pandemic brought so much pain and sadness for many and shone the light on everyday heroes that helped us get through 2020. The list of everyday heroes is endless, but workers in health care, teachers, retail, restaurant, ...
When the weather was still warm, the grass green, the leaves yet on their respective trees, when the sun was higher, shinning longer, brighter in a sky whose clouds were white, not grey, before all the chaos and confusion brought so much exhaustion, before rumor caused our congressman to seek ...
Although 2020 has been a trying year (to say the least) for most of us, it has shed a light on what a wonderful community we live in. We welcome 2021 with a big THANK YOU to all of our customers in Alpena and surrounding communities for your overwhelming support of our business and ...
As of today, the year of 2020 is behind us. If you are not glad it’s over, raise your hand, then smack it to your forehead and say, “What’s wrong with me?” For 2020 will go down in world history as the year of tragedy, chaos, and death. Just a week ago, we gazed into the evening ...
“The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Psalm 145:8. If only we can believe, repent and trust in His all abiding presence. What a beautiful season to celebrate the gift of life, when Mary gave her “Fiat” (yes) to become the Mother of God ...
This has been a difficult year filled with unimaginable struggles. Still, I am confident about the future, and proud of the way we have come together to meet those unprecedented challenges. We started the year by addressing shoreline erosion because of historically high water levels in the ...
The Monday, Dec. 28 Alpena News had on its front page an Associated Press (AP) article titled “Despite smooth election, GOP leaders seek vote restrictions”. That headline made me burst out laughing. The article claimed that expanded absentee voting “proved hugely popular and helped ...
“For auld lang syne, my dear For auld lang syne We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet For days of auld lang syne” — “Auld Lang Syne,” by Robert Burns Boy, what a year. The virus. Fires. Virus. Economic strife. Political strife. If you weren’t on edge this year, ...
Michigan residents might be confused about why the state spends less on road funding though it elected a governor whose primary campaign promise was to fix the roads. Lawmakers had regularly increased road funding before her administration began. Spending on road funding, excluding federal ...
We can’t fault Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration for deciding recently to keep restaurants closed to indoor dining through the New Year. More than 1,000 Northeast Michiganders have been infected since Thanksgiving Day, and restaurants are one place where people gather indoors ...
Running a business for a day is not easy. Keeping it going for decades is quite a feat. Keeping it going for decades and in the family is remarkable. That’s exactly what Alpena Agency has done. As Steve Schulwitz reported recently, the insurance firm is now preparing to hand the ...
In 2022, incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will face some GOP opponent in her bid for four more years, but for the first time she is conceding she may face another indirect opponent namely former President Donald Trump. “Sadly that’s what happened last time,” she notes and she does not ...