At our BLP Board meeting on June 17, the board voted 3-2 to ask Grand Haven City Council to approve a multi-million-dollar revenue bond issue to fund a 12.5-megawatt, gas-powered generation facility and office complex on Harbor Island. I was one of the two “no” votes, wanting instead to firs…
Two major U.S. health systems announced in mid-July that they will not administer an expensive, newly approved drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease. That action, by the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Mount Sinai Health System in New York, once again focuses attention on a fundamental question: Mo…
Gun club in great shape
Michigan’s Kalkaska County shares a long list of similarities with Scott County, Indiana.
Damaging democracy
‘A pandemic of the unvaccinated.” That’s the misguided and dangerous statement that took hold last week nationwide as President Joe Biden and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky used it to describe the latest phase of the pandemic, with Biden going so far as to say, “Look, the only pandemic we ha…
We have many expressions intended to compliment or encourage another person. Phrases like “Good job!” or “Way to go!” come to mind. Or even one-word expressions like “Super!” or “Fantastic!” From the younger generation I’ve heard words like, “You are really rockin’ it!”
Hesitation on Harbor Island
Michigan residents have spent much of the last 16 months under top-down, blanket orders meant to protect their safety through restrictions. Apparently, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s example of ruling by fiat.
On a nice summer evening, you’ll see people gathering at the beach to watch the sun go down. It’s a summer ritual for some. For others, it’s a great way to escape the hot city and cool off with an evening swim.
Although the sentiment may seem paradoxical, libertarians should cheer last week’s decision by a federal judge upholding Indiana University’s vaccine mandate for students. The court reached the right result and the judge’s reasoning provides a forceful reminder that the government’s regulato…
Wake boats are acceptable?
A new exhibit, “From Concept to Classic Tee: 50 Years of Screen Printed Art at Marüshka,” is now open at the Tri-Cities Historical Museum. The exhibit follows the story of Marüshka from its founding in 1971 by former high school art teacher Richard Sweet through the heyday of screen-printed …
Harbor Island hazmat watch
It is hard to imagine a Michigan without white-tailed deer, elk, bald eagles or wild turkey. But if not for the efforts of conservationists, volunteers and partner agencies, these species might be absent from Michigan’s beautiful landscape.
Flowers:
‘Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” People often say that, but that’s not actually true. Words can hurt!
Taken separately, the threats to the health of the Great Lakes are enough to raise alarm. Together they are a crisis, the root of which we must recognize and take seriously.
City Council should pause BLP bond
From breathtaking murals to live musical performances, Northwest Ottawa County is rich in art and culture. For more than 50 years, the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation has dedicated grants and resources to programs that bring regional and national art and cultural experiences and opport…
The state’s response to COVID-19 has lifted the veil of incompetence on numerous government offices, but none so much as the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.
The unrest on Cuba’s streets is the biggest challenge to the country’s communist government in decades. And it poses a dilemma for the Biden administration, which previously said it wants to ease U.S. sanctions against the Cuban regime.
I’ve heard people say, “It’s not easy getting old” – and now that I’m getting old, well, I know exactly what they mean!
What equity is about
The devil is in the details. That’s a common expression often used in legislative bodies. Legislation is complicated. Advocates and opponents can make all kinds of claims about what a proposal does or does not do, often without fear of contradiction. Even some lawmakers can’t be bothered wit…
Consumers Energy’s proposal to ramp up its solar energy production in Michigan raises questions about whether the company will be able to supply reliable energy to its customers.
With vacations back on the schedule and weddings and other summer activities in full swing, it’s easy to forget that a pandemic is still raging.
A BLP boondoggle
Darts:
This is not acceptable behavior
The COVID-19 wall that has blocked travel between the United States and Canada for 16 months should come down. As post-pandemic life resumes most of its normal activity, foreign travel should be restored as well.
Democrats lost 47 House seats in the 1966 midterm elections, and that result still “haunts” them, wrote Washington Post columnist Charles Lane recently. But should it?
The other day I read an article that came in the mail about a family that had moved to Grand Haven. I was immediately drawn in to read it when I saw the title: “Blessed Beyond Measure.”
Voting for Geri McCaleb
It’s a pretty darn big deal anytime the leader of the free world drops into northern Michigan for a visit.
The jig is up. It is. It’s time to get real about wages, health insurance and the fact that many people are still struggling even though they work full time.
As Missouri struggles with a worst-in-the-nation resurgence of the coronavirus, centered on unvaccinated citizens in heavily Republican areas of the state, its Republican governor is once again doing his part to make the situation worse.
Three points
Suppose you’re in a battlefield with bad guys coming at you full force and you have the means of stopping them, but, while calling your own troops names, you pull them off the field, letting the bad guys have their murderous way.
Good teachers know that if something is relevant to their students’ experiences, it needs to be a part of their education. Yet teaching about racism in schools is now drawing feverish condemnation from conservatives, particularly over “critical race theory.” Teachers like myself are being ac…
You should want answers
Flowers:
Who knew getting food from a truck could be a thing? Who knew it could be such a popular thing?
Independent study need for BLP future
President Joe Biden remembers when Congress worked differently. He’s not alone. And now, thanks to some old-fashioned political bargaining, the nation stands to benefit with a long-needed federal infrastructure plan.
When Pennsylvania student Brandi Levy failed to make her high school’s varsity cheerleading team in 2017, she reacted with typical teenage melodrama. She cursed school, she cursed cheer, and she raised her middle finger for good measure.
Horseplayers know that you can never depend on a sure thing. But who could have expected that in a race to be deemed America’s worst president, Donald Trump wouldn’t only fail to win, but that he would come in only fourth?
Books and articles – scientific as well as theological – have been written on human nature. Still, most people don’t understand it, or refuse to learn from it, or worse, play to its dark side.
The American Psychological Association defines “eco-anxiety” as a “chronic fear of environmental doom.” Lots of people are feeling it.
Wanting the actual truth
‘I’m starting with the man in the mirror.”
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