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MSP: ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ through Labor Day

The end of summer traditionally is marked by the Labor Day holiday and is a time for friends and families to enjoy backyard barbecues and other activities. Sadly, the Labor Day holiday weekend also is among the deadliest times of the year in terms of impaired-driving fatalities, according to highway statistics. That is why law enforcement officers from police departments, sheriff’s offices and the Michigan State Police are partnering with the Office of Highway Safety Planning to get drunk and drugged drivers off the roads during the enforcement campaigns “Drive Sober or Get Pulled ...

Census data shows declines in almost all UP counties

The recent release of U.S. Census data relative to the state of Michigan that showed drops in population for a number of Upper Peninsula counties should have come as a surprise to no one. Figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week revealed some of Michigan’s largest percentage population losses were in the U.P., while three of the state’s four most populous counties downstate gained people, the Associated Press reported. In the U.P., AP noted Luce County had a population loss of 19.5% from 2010 to 2020, while Ontonagon County dropped 14.2% over that time. Gogebic County ...

What to say when a child is killed

It’s hard to find words when a tragedy happens along the lines of last week’s shooting in Kalkaska County. Words are insufficient. They can’t convey the horror, the sorrow when a child dies — much less at the hands of another child. That both victim and shooter were 5 years old only adds to the heaviness, the weight of all that wasted life, the unimaginable weight of what the surviving child will carry. At 5 years old, you learn to write your name. You can stand on one foot, maybe skip a little. You can count to 10. We grieve with the parents and families of both ...

Masks in schools a matter of shifting responsibility

We all knew that kid — the one who, when their way of playing the game was tested or questioned — took their ball and went home, leaving the rest of the children to scramble up a new game. And so it goes with masking rules in schools — as in lieu of a government ball, institutions must figure out policies that allow students, teachers and staff to gather indoors safely once the school bell rings. As with the schoolyard kids, the aftermath of a dropped or disappeared ball isn’t entirely bad. A new game emerges and control shifts. School districts across the state are making ...

Sweepstakes winnings going to good cause

It’s important to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, but for at least one woman, it was especially fortuitous. Diedrie “DJ” Malloy, a 66-year-old resident of Kincheloe, is the first Upper Peninsula resident to win the MI Shot To Win Sweepstakes — a $50,000 prize. Getting a COVID-19 vaccination is necessary to win. The $1M drawing, $50K daily drawings and $2M drawing are open only to legal United States residents residing in Michigan who are 18 years of age or older as of the corresponding drawing date. To be eligible, the intended prize recipient must have received at ...

Protection for inland lakes important

Lake Huron gets a lot of the glory, but Northeast Michigan couldn’t count as the fantastic Up North getaway it is without its many, many inland lakes, as well. From Grand Lake to Long Lake to Hubbard Lake and everywhere in between, those bodies of water draw tourists and seasonal residents and add to the quality of life for our year-rounders. As News staff writer Julie Riddle reported in a recent edition of The News, those lakes depend on an army of volunteers who help the Michigan Department of Great Lakes, Energy, and Environment keep them healthy. EGLE’s trained volunteer ...