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Letters to the Editor

What changed for Pence?

On Jan. 6, 2021, during the attack on the US Capitol Vice President Mike Pence inspired me and hundreds of thousands of Americans because he was “too honest” to attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. If I understand correctly, Pence had to defy the advice of the Secret Service to leave the Capitol because he believed that he must reconvene Congress and vote that day or it would set a precedent for all future elections. What a commitment to fulfilling his swearing in when, as our 48th vice president, he had placed his hands on two Bibles and swore to God and to us ...

Parade season etiquette

Parade season is upon us and I’d like to ask our community to behave with respect for those in the parades and for those around them. In the past few years, some parade watchers have decided it’s okay to shout foul language at groups marching in the parade. You don’t have to like every organization or business who decides to take part in the parade. But it is not okay to shout obscenities at them. Especially when there are hundreds of children around. Show some decorum! We all live, work, and play in our beautiful County. Let’s do it nicely and with respect. Gretchen ...

The trouble with sewage lagoons

Greenhouse. What is it? A building, lots of light, moisture (water), plants and soil (mixed with waste or manure). That manure is usually from the farmer’s cow. This gives off gases: hydrogen sulfide (odor), methane (hot burns by the sun), ammonia (burns and kills leaves), carbon dioxide (rock salt), sulfur dioxide (acid rain) and nitrogen oxide (atmospheric pollutant, suspected of greenhouse effect and warming). Held inside the greenhouse building, the plants need some gas, then give off other gas needed by life and the atmosphere. In nature, the rotting of leaves and branches, ...

Defective Resolution

4/11/23 the Houghton County Board of Commissioners passed resolution 23-10 “Affirming Support for All Constitutional Rights, Including, But not limited to, the Right of the People to Keep and Bear Firearms ...” Listing only the 2nd Amendment the resolution is implying that it is the most important component of the Constitution. There is no hierarchical rankings of the federal Constitution’s VII Articles and XXVII Amendments. With regard to the 2nd Amendment being in the public spotlight the resolution mentioned cultural heritage but conveniently did not include the ...

Kiitos from Kivajat

The Kivajat Finnish-American Folk Dancers wish to extend a hearty kiitos - thank you - for the community support of our recent Old Time Country Dance. Oren Tikkanen and the Backroom Boys donated their musical talents while preschoolers to octogenarians, with a vibrant energy from collegiate swing dancers, took to the dance floor at the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock. Walmart graciously donated a gift card used for refreshments. The money raised at this event will help the dancers travel to the Portage County Cultural Festival in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, later this ...

Invest in our planet

Happy Earth Day! Should this be a celebration for the Earth or should this be a wake for all species of plants and animals lost due to harmful activities of man (“The Crazy Ape”) as Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel laureate for Medicine said in 1970? In 1969, the year before Earth Day’s first observation, a few tragic events occurred which outraged many to act and do something that was considered “profoundly radical.” In January 1969, a major oil spill happened off the coast of Santa Barbara, California, killing thousands of sea birds (including many loons, one symbol of ...