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Editorial

More homeless, less housing means more sad stories

We all like it when a sad story gets a happy ending. So we, along with many others, were glad to see that our article helped Terry Edick avoid a state burial in a plot designated for the unclaimed. Edick, 58, paraplegic and homeless, was sheltering at the Pines encampment last month when the couch he slept on ignited from a nearby campfire. Serious burns placed him on life support, and he was airlifted to Grand Rapids’ Spectrum Butterworth Hospital from Traverse City. When conscious, he opted to get off life support, according to the Kent County medical examiner. Efforts to ...

Price of gasoline is market driven

The price of gasoline blew past the $4 per-gallon barrier in many places in recent days. Truth be told, it was already much higher than that in some parts of the country like California, where it tops $5. But residents in Superiorland and beyond are having to relearn lessons first encountered back in 2008, the beginning of what ultimately became known as the Great Recession: Gas is a highly regulated product, in terms of composition, additives and the such, but not for price. What you pay at the pump is market driven — period. It’s rare anymore that a day goes by in The ...

AAUW recognizes Equal Pay Day

According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, Tuesday, March 15, 2022 was Equal Pay Day. This date symbolizes how far into the year the average woman must work to earn what men in similar positions of employment earned in the previous year. Because women earn less on average than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. Additionally, it should be noted that the wage gap is even greater for most women of color. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 figures, nationally on the average, women make 83 cents on the dollar compared to men. In 2020, median annual ...

Sunshine Week remains essential to democracy

Sunshine Week is March 13-19, a time when people celebrate, or should celebrate, access to public information and its meaning in a community. This concept has always been essential to a well-functioning society, but it has even greater meaning now considering the stifling of information in Russia as it pertains to its invasion of Ukraine. The American Society of News Editors, now known as the News Leaders Association, launched Sunshine Week in 2005 to promote open government. Sunshine Week is an annual event, one that we hope continues year after year. The public’s “right to ...

Successful basketball tourney

To the editor: The Hancock Athletic Booster Club would like to thank the many sponsors and volunteers that helped make our 2022 Elementary Basketball Tournament a success. Our sponsors: 41 Lumber, Aire Care, Auto Pro Glass & Tire, City of Hancock, Coca-Cola of Hancock, Dave’s Super Service, Drive America LLC, Edward Jones - John Nelson, Gino’s, Hancock Bike Shop, Horner Flooring Co., Keweenaw Automotive, Koppers, McGann Building Supply, Memorial Chapel Funeral & Cremation Services, Northern Auto, Northern Hardwoods, Northland Veterinary Clinic, Northwoods Trading Post, OHM ...

Two years later we look forward with hope

Two years ago today, we awoke in a reality unlike anything we could’ve imagined at dawn a day earlier. It was March 11, 2020, the morning after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, flanked by doctors and emergency personnel, stepped in front of TV cameras to announce officials had detected the first cases of COVID-19 in our state. It also was the day the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 had become a pandemic. From that day forward, our lives changed rapidly, and in ways most of us never imagined we would see in our lifetime. Within weeks, the governor issued a ...