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National Voter Registration Day set for Tuesday

National Voter Registration Day is coming up Tuesday, and the League of Women Voters of Marquette County is planning spread the word about the importance of voting to the next generation as a way to mark the holiday. While LWV volunteers have traditionally visited county high schools to provide students with information about how to register and vote, this year the league will be providing teachers with links to pertinent videos that describe the process of registering and voting, organizers said. Juniors and seniors will also have a chance to participate in a contest in conjunction ...

Bridge rebuilds are a painful, important milestone

It’s one big Band Aid, and ripping it off is set to become a little more painful. Residents, commuters and visitors alike have spent the past half-year bumping into roadblocks in or near downtown Traverse City as a spate of construction projects made navigating local streets akin to a game of Pac-Man. Those projects — a string of bridge reconstruction or repair — felt poorly timed as tourists and locals alike were forced to find alternate routes while three of the city’s most trafficked bridges were closed simultaneously. The closures had many of us shaking heads or fists for ...

Many ways to celebrate National Public Lands Day

National Public Lands Day annually falls on the fourth Saturday in September, which is this weekend. It’s an opportunity to get out and enjoy what’s available outdoors — and perhaps take some time to give back to those public spaces. In honor of National Public Lands Day, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore will host a volunteer beach and trail clean-up day from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Eastern time Saturday. Volunteers will help pick up trash at the park’s beaches, overlooks and trails. The first 50 volunteers will receive a free voucher for entrance to any national ...

Vaccines for children appear key step closer

With COVID-19 cases rising again across the country, we can certainly use a little good news and Phizer presented some on Monday. The Associated Press reported that the company’s COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorization for this age group soon — a key step toward beginning vaccinations for youngsters. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech already is available for anyone 12 and older. But with kids now back in school and the extra-contagious delta variant causing a huge jump in pediatric infections, many parents ...

Mask mandate tough call, right call

From the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “CO2 molecules are small enough to easily pass through mask material. In contrast, the respiratory droplets that carry the virus that causes COVID-19 are much larger than CO2, so they cannot pass as easily through a properly designed and properly worn mask.” From John Hopkins Medicine: “… If you are infected with the coronavirus and do not know it, a mask is very good at keeping your respiratory droplets and particles from infecting others. If you haven’t yet received your COVID-19 vaccine, wearing a mask can also help ...

Leave the election workers alone — or join them

We’ve read with great concern about ne’er-do-wells upset over the 2020 ballot box results accosting or threatening election workers and municipal clerks around the country. Such actions have increased a yearslong trend of aging election workers — typically volunteers or paid small stipends — leaving the profession. Too few younger citizens have stepped up to replace them, leaving the complex and time-consuming task of running elections and counting votes up to an ever-smaller pool of overworked folks, even as an impatient public demands more immediate reporting of results. Say ...