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Editorial

Shortages will stick around; survivors will adapt

Memorial Day weekend marks the official start of the region's high season — our busy time. All signs point to a summer of the usual, if not larger, flocks of tourists. But seasonal worker numbers are still skeletal. It shouldn't come as a complete surprise, nor is it completely the fault of COVID-19. While disruptive, the pandemic threw wood on a beach bonfire already crackling — one that won't be doused anytime soon. According to AXIOS, our last decade favored employers, the next few won't. A recent Congressional Budget Office forecast showed the size of the U.S. labor force ...

Consider options to limit signature fraud in state

The Michigan Bureau of Elections on Monday cut the field of Republicans candidates running for governor in half over failure to garner enough legitimate signatures, raising questions about responsibility and the role these signatures should play. With the Board of State Canvassers meeting Thursday to decide whether to boot the GOP front-runners former Detroit police Chief James Craig and Perry Johnson off the ballot, itís a good time to examine whether the signature process is fair to those looking to become governor and for the residents who want them. Ultimately, however, the ...

Habitat for Humanity does commendable work in region

A small item in a recent Marquette Mining Journal has a lot of people in the area talking, if for no other reason, the sheer positivity of it all. The story related to the Marquette County Habitat for Humanity organization’s approach to a significant milestone: It has broken ground on the 109th home it will have built. The structure will be located at 56 Marquette County Road 510. For most people, and not unreasonably, we believe, Habitat for Humanity has been around forever, doing its good work seamlessly in the community. But it actually dates to 1992, when it broke ground on ...

Never forget the true reason for Memorial Day

Before you light that grill, before you load the camper, before you head out for that party, read the words that follow. And remember this weekend is about the ultimate sacrifice made by so many of our military men and women to keep us safe, to keep us free. In Flanders Fields By John McCrae In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we ...

Improvements to Nara Trails commended

To the Editor: Many thanks to Houghton City Manager Eric Waara, Director of Public Works Ryan Avendt and the Houghton Department of Public Works for a great job making improvements to the mountain-bike trails and cross-country-ski trails at Houghton’s Nara Park. Among other things, the Department of Public Works has graded the road into the park; removed many hazardous trees; filled and compacted a washed-out hill along the River Trail; filled and graded around an exposed culvert; removed rusting, 55-gallon drums and other debris (possibly part of an abandoned, private dump); and ...

Guiding principle helps to untangle guardianship laws

We wish for heroes and villains. We need people to inspire us onward in a flawed world; we need people to blame for the flaws. But our desire for clarity can create polarity. Our search for simplicity can miss the point. The Record-Eagle’s nine-month dive into Michigan’s guardianship and conservator system found few heroes or villains, and fewer simple answers. The more reporters investigated, the more tangles they found. Many working in the system had both insight into its flaws and also reasons for them — changed policies, realities of funding and staffing, jurisdiction ...