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Letters to the Editor

To be a great country

Is a great country based on power or the substance of its character and influence in the world? It is often said by politician and others that this country is the greatest in the world largely based on its wealth and power and a myth of opportunity for all. Many countries in the past and present have been wealthy and powerful but lack character due to oppression, brutality of minorities and religious acceptance of that within the country. Our country’s history puts us in that category. In my opinion, a country can become great but has to accept its past brutality, arrogance, ...

Tractor ride to VA set for Wednesday

On Wednesday, the Northwoods Antique Tractor Club will have its 12th-annual Tractor Ride to the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain. We will leave Lodal Park in Kingsford — note: this is a new departure site — at 10 a.m. and travel Breitung Avenue east to Carpenter ...

Look needed at lifeguard and goose control at Lake Antoine

On Monday, I asked the Dickinson County Board of Commissioners to consider a practical next step for Lake Antoine Park: Authorizing exploration of a limited 2027 lifeguard pilot for the public beach. This is not a request for full-time lifeguards, whole-beach coverage or an open-ended funding commitment. It is a request to gather real information from a qualified aquatics provider about whether weekend and holiday lifeguard coverage could be offered safely, professionally and feasibly during the 2027 summer season. Lake Antoine is one of Dickinson County’s most valuable public ...

Logging plan at Cooks Run destined to fail

I want to be clear right up front: I am pro-logging. I used to work as a logger, and I understand the value of timber management to our local economy. But anyone who has run equipment in the woods knows a basic truth — some ground simply needs to be left alone. The proposed clear-cut at Cooks Run (Unit 4), which has a June 3 bidding deadline, is exactly that kind of ground. Just because we can log a piece of land doesn’t mean we should. Why is Iron County risking a 122-acre public asset for a marginal return on low-grade pulpwood? The harvest zone is a 5-acre island of saturated, ...

Case for driving an electric car

As communities across the country grapple with rising fuel costs, air pollution and the growing impacts of global warming, one solution is becoming increasingly clear — the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Electric cars offer a cleaner, more sustainable alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles. By producing zero tailpipe emissions, they reduce air pollution and improve public health, especially in urban areas where smog and poor air quality disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. When you factor in that EVs cost roughly 50% less to fuel, and with fewer moving ...

Examples of the love of Christ

I wonder if individually we see Christ and heaven as a limited presence and space or an infinite responsibility. I believe Christ is not a person but the omnipresence of love and caring of all mankind and life in general. I believe one of our individual purposes is to help forward that presence of universal love and caring to the best of our ability despite the human roadblocks. The roadblocks clearly include human fear of the another coming in the form of race, religion and differences in multiple other forms. They also come in the form of egos that feel superior or threatened as we ...