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Scam warning for auto insurance refunds

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is providing consumer protection reminders as auto insurers issue $400 per-vehicle refunds to eligible Michigan policyholders. “These refund checks come at a time when many Michiganders have faced financial hardships, and I appreciate the bipartisan work done to achieve this win for drivers,” AG Nessel said. “Unfortunately, these refunds will likely attract bad actors who will turn this surplus into a scam. Remember, these are automatic payments back into your account. No one will call, write or email you for information prior to disbursing ...

Slow down in work zones

This is National Workzone Awareness Week. Sadly, three people lost their lives while working to improve Michigan roads in 2021, including one from our area: Lawrence “Larry” Leonarduzzi, an Iron County Road Commission employee who died Jan. 13, 2021, after being struck and pinned by a pickup truck while working as a flagger in a marked work zone on Bates-Amasa Road in Crystal Township. He was only 56 and had worked at the road commission for more than seven years. Jerry Mittelstadt, 57, of Argonne, Wis., has been charged with a moving violation causing death in a work or school ...

ALICE numbers are a call to action

The numbers aren’t pretty, but they aren’t surprising, either. Michigan’s ALICE report was released this week, a focused version of the annual study of household financial stability in our state, and it showed 44% of children in a 10-county region of northwest Lower Michigan live in households that teeter on the edge of economic insecurity. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and describes households that earn enough to be above the poverty line, but less than what it costs to provide the basics — housing, food, child care, transportation, healthcare ...

Mental health is an issue for everyone

Having mental health issues is nothing to be ashamed about, but it needs to be addressed. Everybody goes through struggles, but sometimes those struggles can appear to be overwhelming, with no way out. The Marquette area has faced several local young deaths in recent weeks, one of which was a high school student who took his own life following a “cybersextortion” incident. This sort of incident happens when a predator gains the trust of someone online and, through various means, extorts them by demanding they send money in exchange for not posting what the victim would consider ...

Work zones are a sign to slow down

This is National Workzone Awareness Week. Sadly, three people lost their lives while working to improve Michigan roads in 2021, including one from our area: Lawrence “Larry” Leonarduzzi, an Iron County Road Commission employee who died Jan. 13, 2021, after being struck and pinned by a pickup truck while working as a flagger in a marked work zone on Bates-Amasa Road in Crystal Township. He was only 56 and had worked at the road commission for more than seven years. Jerry Mittelstadt, 57, of Argonne, Wis., has been charged with a moving violation causing death in a work or school ...

Take a moment and thank a doctor, nurse, or employee

All across the country, the coronavirus pandemic threw into sharp relief the unbelievably important role hospitals and their doctors and nurses play in our local communities. But throughout the pandemic, we also learned the true definition of “essential worker,” understanding fully perhaps for the first time the importance of everyone from custodians to food service workers to volunteers play in keeping places like hospitals running so they can serve us. Hopefully, we have learned that those folks all are important all the time, not just in the middle of devastating public health ...