The thermometer reads 103.4, so I swipe it across his forehead again, and 104 shouts the digital screen.
Fabricating facts?
President Donald Trump has sent mixed signals about COVID-19’s risks and how long Americans will need to stay at home to contain this new disease. But on Sunday, he took a sensible new stance, extending strict social-distancing guidelines at least through April 30.
I never thought I would crave some things that were routine in my life, things which are now impossible to come by as we live under the current “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order and try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Defeat the enemy first
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s shelter-in-place order to halt the spread of the COVID-19 is aimed at giving more teeth to her earlier edicts to restrict public interactions. But the order may create a lot of confusion without being much more effective than what’s already in place.
A March 20 memo from the Michigan Department of Education declared that emergency online education would not count toward a school’s required number of instructional hours. The declaration added confusion and frustration to the state-ordered school building closures prompted by the COVID-19 …
Every afternoon, we wait for the numbers.
I’m noticing that most of what I’m seeing on social media is scary. Don’t get me wrong, there are small blips of light and beauty – Italians singing with each other, their voices carrying over the empty streets – but for the most part I’m seeing stories that make even my own inner-Pollyanna …
We’ve been down this road before, too many times. In the 14th century, the Black Death provoked mass violence against Jews, Catalans, clerics and beggars; when syphilis spread in the 15th century, it was called variously the Neapolitan, French, Polish and German disease, depending on who was…
Questions for Huizenga
Many homes in the Tri-Cities have unique and interesting stories as part of their history. The home at 1010 Sheldon Road in Grand Haven is definitely one of them.
Buddy checks for veterans
Flowers:
Social distancing is the phrase of the day, and what it pretty much means is staying away from people while America shuts down, the economy gets clobbered and death seeks out at a million, maybe 2 million of us.
'Trust but verify'
After 9/11, Americans in every state rallied around our first responders. Today, with the coronavirus pandemic threatening the health and well-being of Americans in every state, our brave first responders and the nearly 5.3 million hospital workers across the country are again on the front l…
These are strange times. Strange times indeed!
Mitch says to remain calm
Even if we are feeling legitimate anxiety about society these days, most people seem OK with keeping a few feet away from others, working from home, distance learning and washing their hands a lot — practices aimed at taking care of other people.
This is getting way too close.
When I visited my brother and sister-in-law last weekend, I didn’t come empty-handed. They have four kids, so I brought a few rolls of toilet paper for them. They were pleased.
In an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has invoked emergency powers granted to her under Michigan law to prohibit individuals from gathering in large groups. She also called for closing schools, restaurants, theaters, coffee shops, gyms, casinos, l…
The COVID-19 coronavirus crisis has brought out the compassion and good-heartedness of many Americans. Unfortunately, there is no crisis that scammers will not seek to exploit.
The person credited with saving the most lives ever is Edward Jenner, inventor of the smallpox vaccine. The disease had a much higher mortality rate than the novel coronavirus that is confining many people to their homes right now; about 80 percent of children and 60 percent of adults who co…
Identity and role confusion
Who would you choose as great leaders of the past? I’m sure the list would be quite lengthy, as there have been many great leaders.
When I was covering sports for the Tribune, I heard every cliche in the book.
I wrestle with an ambivalence toward Earth Day.
San Francisco and six Bay Area counties, with a combined population of nearly 7 million, are under “shelter-in-place” orders directing everyone to basically stay inside their homes for the next three weeks in hopes of suppressing the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the region.
The NCAA tournament may have been canceled, but there is no shortage of “March Madness.”
Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” so stated Justice Louis Brandeis.
The time to stay calm
As the first African-American woman ever elected to Congress and later the first African American as well as the first woman to run for the presidential nomination of a major political party, the late Shirley Chisholm more than once observed that she faced more discrimination in the politica…
I am sitting at my desk the morning after Super Tuesday, still “blown away” by the resurrection of Joe Biden. No one, not even Joe himself, saw this coming. What have the first set of primaries taught us?
Social distancing makes all the sense in the world in the pivotal early stage of a fast-moving outbreak like this coronavirus. We must prevent our hospitals and ICUs from being overwhelmed as Italy’s currently are, not only for those struggling with this particular bug, but for all others wh…
Brighten the darkness
When our youngest went off to college, we had a million projects we said we were going to conquer. Things that had been broken for years were going to finally be fixed, updates would be made, and the great purge would begin – donating, selling and discarding all of the things we’d accumulate…
Has God ever driven you to your knees?
President Donald Trump’s speech about the coronavirus pandemic did not go well. His travel ban on Europe made him seem confused and poorly informed; because the virus is already rapidly expanding within the U.S., closing the borders won’t help. And his plan didn’t have as big of an economic …
With the coronavirus spreading throughout the U.S., Americans are reacting in a variety of ways. Some of them are smart, others – not so much.
Equally miserable
The modern media trend is to make fun of President Trump for his alleged and actual misstatements of fact. You have to go a long way – in this case Sky News in Australia – to find a media outlet willing to make fun of a U.S. liberal Democrat.
‘I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” These were the words of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to a group of pro-choice demonstra…
Flowers:
You have an answer
Viruses are borderless.
I saw a comment on social media recently that made me shake my head a little. A person commented that they had seen a report of a group of evangelical Christians gathered in support of a particular cause or policy that this person happened to disagree with personally.
A few people have reached out to us about the coronavirus, asking if we’d lend our voice to the conversation.
Teaching tolerance is OK
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