Opinion
The Overlooked Environmental Legal Tool Your Township May Already Have
Guest Opinion
By Lauren Teichner | June 20, 2026
Concerned about a proposed data center, shoreline development, tree clearing, or loss of rural character in your community? Here is something many Michigan residents—and even local officials—do not realize: your municipality may already have an overlooked legal tool that can help local officials respond to environmental concerns before projects proceed. It is called the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA), and while many people think of it primarily as a law used in … Read More >>
Judge for Yourself
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | June 20, 2026
President Donald Trump just turned 80. Already the oldest person to ever be elected to the office, he will be the oldest to have ever served if he finishes his current term. There are many questioning if he is mentally up to the task. This comes on the heels of Joe Biden being ridiculed, insulted, and effectively run out of his reelection efforts after a poor debate performance. It was clear, his … Read More >>
Real Patriots Face Reality
Guest Opinion
By Karen Mulvahill | June 13, 2026
"The best friend of a nation is he who most faithfully rebukes her for her sins—and he her worst enemy who, under the specious … garb of patriotism seeks to excuse, palliate or defend them." –Frederick Douglass As we approach the 250th anniversary of our country’s Declaration of Independence, there is a blatant effort underway by our current administration to rewrite history, under the misnomer “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” … Read More >>
Still Targets
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | June 13, 2026
The question gets frequently asked: Why do veterans only get one day of celebration when the LGBTQ+ community gets an entire Pride Month? Maybe it’s because we’ve rightly recognized veterans for a long time and they have not traditionally been the targets of relentless discrimination, both statutory and personal. Pride Month, now recognized internationally, started in 1969 as a response to the Stonewall Riots and arrests the previous year. The road to … Read More >>
250 Years Means More Than Celebration
Guest Opinion
By Stewart MacLeod | June 13, 2026
As we approach our 250th anniversary, there is much history can teach us. Sure, we should celebrate 250 years as a country, but let’s not wander aimlessly into our next 250 years. This should be more than just celebration—we should be dealing with the present and preparing for the future. Our partisan shouting matches and “my-way-or-the-highway” talk makes me think back to my college days. My U.S. history professor—a true democrat—really liked … Read More >>
Why I Love Our President
Guest Opinion
By Walt Wood | June 6, 2026
Dear Mr. President, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Though I will stop short of naming you the greatest president of all time, you are definitely in the top five. You have accomplished over the course of five and a half years in office what no president has ever achieved in the history of our great nation. You have single-handedly forced us to confront the shortcomings of the … Read More >>
Nobody Home
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | June 6, 2026
We continue to be told there is a housing shortage, sometimes called a housing crisis. To read the stories and listen to the advocates, you’d think legions of people are wandering the streets of northern Michigan, dragging their possessions behind then searching for a place, any place, they can call home. The National Low Income Housing Coalition says the country is short an astonishing 7.1 million affordable housing units, and Fortune says … Read More >>
Pride Is More Than a Party
Guest Opinion
May 30, 2026
“During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night. It was the dance that kept us in the fight, because it was the dance we were fighting for.” – Dan Savage, American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist There is a new shape to the dark days we find ourselves in as queer and … Read More >>
You Are Being Audited
Spectator
By Stephen Tuttle | May 30, 2026
We’re being audited, but not by the IRS. More and more there are now among us folks with cell phones and/or digital video cameras and microphones standing outside post offices, banks, cannabis dispensaries, restaurants—any place people are likely to gather or come and go. Often calling themselves First Amendment auditors, they do nothing but record people coming and going and are sometimes confronted by those people or, rarely, by law enforcement. The … Read More >>
Trails That Change Us
Guest Opinion
By Dana Pflughoeft | May 23, 2026
Trails and the contemplation of them consume a significant portion of my days. As they should. I am the community engagement coordinator at TART Trails. Some days are filled with meetings with communities dreaming up new trails. Other days involve talking with volunteers and supporters who care deeply about the trails we already have. And often, I work with my colleagues, imagining better, safer, more joyful ways to move around our region. … Read More >>
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