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Letters to the Editor

No room

EDITOR: A lot of you are aware of a severe shortage of rental properties in Escanaba. There are some solutions, we just have to look “outside the box.” I drive all over town. There are several houses that have sat empty for a couple of decades. I am not sure why. One house is supposed to have asbestos in it. That is the rumor. We rented for 10 years. We spent $40,000 in rent. I think the landlords of that house would have been happy to get any asbestos removed if there had been any. Across the street from the “asbestos house” is a building, office space? Why couldn’t that ...

Environmental activities

EDITOR: Didn’t go to Woodstock, did go to one of the first “Earth Days” (1970) in Ann Arbor. It is not uncommon to hear “Woodstock” as a concept that altered many facets of American life. It is still used as a point of reference in our culture. “Earth Day… not so much, even though it is generally accepted as the origin of the ecological (now “green”) movement. I’ve been following environmental activities for over 50 years and cannot recall a headline touting its successes. “Environmental Mandate Credited for Improvement in (fill in the blank)” has never been ...

Recall effort

EDITOR : The group seeking to recall three county commissioners has stated that we are being recalled because of unethical behavior. They’ve indicated that if there was any chance for change, there would be no recall needed. Let me put things into context, I was elected chairman of the board on January 3 of 2023. By January 25 three weeks later, Kelly VanGinhovens put two letters to the editor in the Daily Press claiming I was doing a terrible job as chairman. Really, after three weeks, that doesn’t give me much of a learning curve. Citizens for Ethical Leadership in Delta ...

Escanaba roads

EDITOR: Let me say up front, I do not have a problem with the guys actually doing the work; driving the trucks, digging the ditches, that is brutal work at times. My problem is who is “in charge” of those workers, the supervisors/management, whatever. I think it was three years ago that Escanaba was told to dig up a perfectly good water system because Flint pulled a stupid move trying to save money. Esky has lead in their pipes. Testing indicated that it was inconsequential. Not a worry. Not much happened since, except they tore up Stephenson Ave. This whole summer, two years on ...

U.P. State Fair

EDITOR: When does the fair board meet? Is it open to the public? Are citizens allowed to comment and ask questions? I have some concerns that happen every year at the fair. Here are some of them. Whose decision is it to only sell 400 megabands for the rides? For some folks, that is a deal-breaker. If I were selling something and people wanted more of that something, then I would do my best to sell that something to them. Why doesn’t somebody come up with a different way of handling the parking, especially the one that most handicapped people use. Oh, wait. Somebody has come up ...

Snafu

EDITOR: “Dereliction of duty? Fix my Street! “ that was on the front lawn of a resident on Stephenson Avenue. And the “Snafu”. Stephenson Avenue road project. And more than Stephenson Avenue. And the city council and Mr Jeff Lampi’s snafu. My understanding the Escanaba City Council hired Oberstar as the general contractor for the lead pipe replacement project which Mr. Jeff Lampi was in charged of. I would like to know who wrote that contract for Oberstar, who reviewed the contract, and did the contract have a completion date? Did the city know who Oberstar was ...