Opinion

Unlocking Trouble

By Stephen Tuttle | Sept. 19, 2020

Unlock Michigan is likely to unlock trouble. It's awash with potential for unintended consequences.  The idea is that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has far exceeded what should be her authority, using a 1945 emergency powers law to unilaterally make decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Several attempts to stop the governor through the courts having failed, a petition drive was started to force a referendum that would repeal the 1945 statute. The governor ... Read More >>

What You Are Voting For?

Guest Opinion

By Kate Dahlstrom | Sept. 19, 2020

After voting straight Republican for 36 years, from 1971 through 2007, I have been an Independent since 2008, studying and voting for each candidate and issue on their own merits. The main idea of the Square Deal (circa 1902) introduced by Republican President Theodore Roosevelt was to reduce inequality. The three Cs of Roosevelt’s Square Deal were control of corporations, consumer protection, and conservation of natural resources. Roosevelt is widely regarded as ... Read More >>

Serving No Cause

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Sept. 12, 2020

On May 25, George Floyd died in Minneapolis with a police officer's knee on his neck. The protests have not stopped since. Additional violent interactions between police officers and African Americans, some obviously justified and others questionable, have kept the unrest roiling. There have now been protests in more than 1,000 U.S. cities and in 60 countries around the world, on every continent but Antarctica.  The cause is social and criminal justice ... Read More >>

Where Is Mr. Kranz When You Need Him?

Guest Opinion

By Tom Gutowski | Sept. 12, 2020

Global warming is often discussed in terms of a few degree increase in average temperature, slowly rising sea levels, and more severe weather. None of this is good, but it doesn’t seem bad enough to warrant a sense of extreme urgency. Besides, we’ve got COVID-19 and an ailing economy to deal with. Climate change and other environmental issues can wait. Or can they? The answer depends on how much we love our ... Read More >>

Why Voting Libertarian is Not Wasting Your Vote

Guest Opinion

By Donna Gundle-Krieg | Sept. 5, 2020

Why are Americans still stuck with the same dysfunctional two parties year after year? In other words, why won’t many Americans look beyond the duopoly to vote for some of the alternative candidates? “It’s silly that a country that prides itself on choice allows only two choices for president,” said Bill Maher, political analyst and comedian.  The reasons for this are complicated, but the argument that Libertarians constantly hear is that people ... Read More >>

In Sickness and in Heat

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Sept. 5, 2020

So, now it's “herd immunity.” That seems to be the latest Trump Administration COVID-19 strategy. At least the steps they're now taking are pushing in that direction. Their reluctance to recommend masks and social distancing, their insistence on in-person teaching for schools, their ongoing efforts for states to fully reopen, and now, an effort to restrict testing to only people who have symptoms. All of that helps lead to more infected people, ... Read More >>

Do Sports Bring Us Together?

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Aug. 29, 2020

We are told sports are a kind of societal glue, a unifying and uplifting communal necessity, especially during challenging times. It's more likely sports are an ephemeral distraction — valuable but not critical. That's especially true at the professional and top college levels.  Most of the best professional athletes, by necessity, are mercenaries more than willing to go elsewhere for a few extra dollars. Their connection to the community in which they ... Read More >>

A Counterfeit Issue

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Aug. 22, 2020

In 2016, the problem was all those illegal immigrants voting, remember? Millions and millions of them we were told. To be fair, the voter fraud commission that President Trump launched did find one green-card holder who had tried to vote. And on average, each year, there are about 20 prosecutions for illegal voting.  This year it's “fraudulent” mail-in ballots. But once again, it's going to be “millions” of illegal votes cast and ... Read More >>

Tunnel Vision

Guest Opinion

By Cathye Williams | Aug. 22, 2020

What is it about Northern Michigan? If you didn’t know better, you’d look at the abundant sunshine and blue water and shady forests and think we’re having a glorious time. Maybe Mother Nature has decided her alarm bells don’t work here and has opted to send poignant reminders of all that will be lost if we don’t act to protect our environment. Welcome to summer up North 2020, where Earth’s beauty belies ... Read More >>

A Racist and A Park

Spectator

By Stephen Tuttle | Aug. 15, 2020

Former Leelanau County Road Commissioner Tom Eckerle recently explained he wouldn't wear a mask because “this whole thing is because of those n****** down in Detroit.” Well now. Undeterred, he pushed all-in, repeatedly using the vilest of racial epithets in order to explain his initial use of the vilest racial epithet. Then, a day after claiming he would never step down from his position, he quit.  There's so much wrong here, it's ... Read More >>