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Editorial

Service on local boards, commissions can make big difference

It’s not always easy to find a way to make a direct, positive impact on your local community. However, public service is a great way to do so. Fortunately, there are multiple opportunities right now to get involved with local government, as a number of vacancies need to be filled on Marquette County boards and committees. “The county has over 20 boards and commissions that (are) looking for talented and interested individuals to serve on these boards and make a difference in the community,” Marquette County Clerk Linda Talsma told The Mining Journal. “By serving on these ...

Statewide court records system is worth investment

We all would be forgiven if we overlooked a few important items when first perusing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed $74 billion state spending plan for the coming year. The record-setting budget proposal — which drew near immediate criticism for its girth — includes billions for everything from education to infrastructure. And many Michiganders likely would agree upon many of the priorities it sets, even if they disagree on the number of zeroes tacked onto each budget line. But there is one spending segment that likely will receive far to little attention for its importance: ...

Tuition benefits for families of Guard members proposed

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday presented her Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal for the state, which includes funding that would allow Michigan National Guard service members to transfer current available tuition benefits to their spouses and children. The Michigan National Guard State Tuition Assistance Program was established in 2014 to provide tuition assistance to members of the Michigan National Guard who are attending any public or private college, university, vocational school, technical school or trade school located in Michigan. The current benefit covers the ...

Heartbreaking fire report should motivate planning

The report out of Lansing late last week is heartbreaking: Michigan’s January fire deaths were up 144% over January 2021. What adds to the heartbreak is state fire officials said the deaths “were all accidental and preventable.” The report from Michigan’s Bureau of Fire Services recorded 18 fires and 22 associated deaths last month, the state’s fire marshal and department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said. These agencies said that’s a 144% increase in fire deaths compared with January 2021. This January’s deadly blazes included a Jan. 17 fire at a multi-family ...

As 2.5K Michiganders await organ transplant, consider being a donor

Another person is added to the national organ transplant waiting list every 10 minutes. You may know someone on that list. You may not. But the thousands of people who are waiting are grandparents, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, neighbors and coworkers. Day after day, they and their loved ones anxiously await good news, a sign that there’s hope for a transplant in the near future. The situation impacts thousands of people and their loved ones throughout the state and nation, as over 2,500 people in Michigan were waiting for organ or tissue transplants in Michigan as of ...

Keep an eye out for Yooper Olympians in China games

Hockey player Abby Roque. Snowboarder Nick Baumgartner. Watch for those names in the coming weeks as they are Yoopers competing in the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. Roque, 25, hails from Sault Ste. Marie and is a forward on the USA women’s hockey team. She speaks in her online 2022 Olympic introduction about playing hockey on her backyard rink. You can view her at https://teamusa.usahockey.com/2022olympics-abbyroque. Roque’s father coached at Lake Superior State. Her mother is from Calumet. The USA women’s hockey team is looking to repeat its gold medal ...