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Before museums, there were cabinets of curiosity

When you hear the word museum, what is the first thing you think of? It's my favorite question to ask people, especially the field-trip kids who fill the Besser Museum every spring. For many of them, it's one of the first museums they've ever visited, and their answers are pretty consistent: ...

Holiday brings everyone together

It’s time to camp in the great outdoors! Our celebrated 4th of July heritage has brought families together now for 250 years of all things that Independence embodies: coming together for parades, family reunions and the infamous annual trip to the camp grounds. Getting ready, packing the necessities to live outside like our ancestors; our indigenous people. In Michigan, that means the wooded and water environs. Many local motels, hotels where you can park your car outside the door; because you are on the move, thank you Henry Ford, are full. Aunts and uncles and grandparents ...

Pace-----the final frontier

With all the talk and the drama of the St. Pius X saga and AI, there is thought and prayer behind the notion of, ‘just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should.’ As individuals many of us can leap forward, ‘cut to the chase’ so to speak, and quickly conclude that ‘if we can do something, we should!’ The creators and marketers of AI are all over that. But not so fast. What about the rest of us? On the other hand, there is a reactionary response and an attempt to return to ‘the good ‘ole days.’ Again, what about the rest of us? Of course, there are ...

Sea lamprey control is a federal responsibility

I would like to thank Kayla Wikaryasz for her fine reporting of the new Fishery Heritage Exhibit at Besser Museum. She tells just a few of the stories about our Great Lakes that I hope readers will enjoy by visiting the Museum’s “walk through our Great Lakes Heritage” which is centered around the Katherine V gillnet tug and the Research Vessel Chinook. I would like to expand on one element of her coverage in Part II of her reporting. Lamprey control is a federal responsibility – federal navigation projects brought the lamprey, and it has been a long-standing policy that the ...

Birthright citizenship is not just for immigrants

Now that we've completed our celebration of America's 250th birthday, it's time to prepare for the 300th -- the tricentennial. I will not live to see it, but I hope the nation will. At least, I hope a certain kind of America will celebrate its 300th year -- one that has regained its moral ...

Close enough for government work

While you were busy getting the cottage together for holiday visiting relatives and other hangers on last week, state lawmakers were engaged in a little house cleaning of their own. They made a mad dash for a July first deadline to finish the new state budget. As Maxwell Smart use to opine, ...