I want to use this month’s column to say a big “thank you” to the majority of Michiganders who have chosen to do their part to decrease the effects of this awful pandemic. Unfortunately, in the past couple of months, we have seen the worst of some folks, and they seem to be getting a lot of …
The state does a lot with its fiscal policy, and people – especially those providing services paid for by taxpayers – are concerned about how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect them. New revenue estimates gave the first look at how much the loss of activity because of the governor’s orders an…
Darts:
“But you are a black boy, and you must be responsible for your body in a way that other boys cannot know. Indeed, you must be responsible for the worst actions of other black bodies, which, somehow, will always be assigned to you.”
For any investigation to have credibility, those doing the investigating should have no stake in the outcome. That’s why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should change course and appoint an independent panel to probe the failure of two Midland-area dams.
Stumbling leadership
It seemed that circumstances in our country could not get more difficult, more tense and more painful.
'Golden Rule' taught again
It was a night I shall never forget.
For a device used to conceal one’s mouth, masks have generated a lot of chatter in the recent months of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an era in which “Google it!” has become an unofficial national motto, your web browsing history can reveal a lot about your most intimate interests and activities, from medical issues to political opinions to romantic preferences.
Approves governor's actions
People are driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the state government’s fuel tax revenue is falling. The state uses this money to pay for road repairs, and road funding was the biggest dispute in Lansing last year.
President Donald Trump is preparing to exit his second arms-control treaty with Russia since taking the oath of office, and the opposition is already in high dudgeon.
Misplaced disruption
Almost sixteen years ago, I was banging down the doors of the OB ward at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. I hadn’t realized that the baby I’d just given birth to would be immediately left with me.
We’ll give Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, this much – they do have good timing.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have promised a vigorous investigation to hold accountable those responsible for the catastrophic Midland-area dam collapse. They’ll need a wide net, and a willingness to look at the role their own shops played in enabling the disaster.
One of the most unusual things about the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has forced schools to be closed and students and teachers have had to do their educating online. “Distance learning,” they call it. Thank goodness for the internet, right?
Checking on nonexistent voter fraud isn’t anyone’s responsibility, but President Donald Trump, incensed that states are wisely increasing the use of mailed ballots to preserve the franchise and curb against coronavirus spread, wants the Department of the Treasury and the Office of Management…
So who’s changed?
My brother and sister-in-law’s neighbor, Tom Staggs, recently shared a haiku that he wrote after an experience he had in Vietnam. The traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem that’s written in a 5/7/5 syllable count and is usually simple, direct and intense in style.
Consider wind power
We are living through an unprecedented time, with dramatic changes to global health and the economy. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is forcing people throughout the world to adapt to a new reality. Masks, hand sanitizer and toilet paper have all taken on new meanings in the mid…
High waters are an increasingly urgent problem of late, and only add to the complexity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Marinas around the state are feeling the effects, along with the boaters who use them.
Darts:
As health experts keep reminding us, life will not return to anything resembling pre-pandemic normal until there is an effective and widely available coronavirus vaccine. And, as they also keep reminding us, it will take at least a year to do the testing and clinical trials necessary to ensu…
Should the news media be included in the next round of stimulus for businesses impacted by COVID-19?
Grand Haven shines during bash
The coronavirus will forever change our society from higher education to sports to organized religion. All of these changes will, perhaps, not be positive but some good things will come out of this pandemic.
As the federal government spends astronomical sums to combat the effect of economic slowdowns due to the pandemic, Congress needs to make sure that these funds are targeted as narrowly as possible.
At this time last year, we were bracing ourselves to become empty nesters. What a difference a year would make. Just as it seemed we’d finally gotten used to a quiet, neater house, a less hectic schedule, and smaller meals, loads of laundry and grocery bills, suddenly our nest once again bec…
School budgets are challenging even in stress-free times, but these aren’t stress-free times.
With more than 1 in 5 Americans filing for unemployment benefits over the past eight weeks, policymakers’ top priority is clear: restoring conditions that allow workers to resume their previous jobs or find new ones.
More info needed on BLP Plan
The scene from our state’s Capitol on Thursday morning was frightening.
It seems like just yesterday that I woke up, looked at the clothes I had worn the day before, shrugged, and put them back on.
The lawsuit filed by the state Legislature is being broadly miscast as an attempt to strip Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of her powers to manage Michigan through the COVID-19 crisis.
Staying the course with Whitmer
I don’t know about you, but I have been tremendously disheartened by the discourse during this time of pandemic and Stay Home orders.
For three years former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was put through a legal and financial wringer by top officials within the FBI, including its then-director James Comey. The FBI investigation threatened to destroy Flynn’s career, finances and life, as, according to the New York …
Not Big Brother
My column is due in about 20 minutes and I forgot. It’s not even 6 o’clock on this Friday night and I am in my pajamas.
Among the many millions of people who have gotten a raw deal this spring are college students who were suddenly told by their schools to pack up, head home and spend the rest of the semester learning online. For some of them, especially foreign students with no place to stay and no way to ge…
Shame!
I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t a dog in the house while I was growing up. Far more often than not, there were multiple dogs.
The pictures we saw on Facebook appalled and embarrassed us.
Little did I think that, after last month’s column, we would still be dealing with the COVID-19 thing in this month’s column. We seem to be treading water, as far as moving beyond the virus is concerned.
Guttersnipes forget
He drops our groceries on the front porch, like he has almost every Saturday since the world shut down. We’ve already had one hospital scare and we’re doing what we can to avoid another. As such, our friend takes our order every Friday and delivers the goods the following morning.
Cannon fodder
Commented