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Editorial

Scammers never run out of ideas

Scammers, it seems to us, never run short of schemes to part people from their money. The police agency involved in one of the latest is the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. According to the agency, the scammer will inform the target that their name was used to rent a vehicle which was stopped at the border and contained a large quantity of drugs. The scammer then has the target verify their Social Security number or tells the target their bank account has been compromised. In some cases, the scammer threatens the target with arrest for the fictional drug seizure and instructs the ...

NMU program helps solve cold case

We like a program through the Northern Michigan University Criminal Justice Department that assists law enforcement agencies in solving real-life crimes. We’re referring to the cold case program, which has recently helped solve a 39-year-old cold case from 1986, back far enough to be considered investigative permafrost. The cold case program has been in operation since 2022, instructor Christopher MacMaster told The Mining Journal. It helps local police agencies do something that most simply don’t have the resources to undertake, he said. “Police and local agencies have limited ...

State home-heating assistance available

We’d like to underscore the importance of the message in a recent Mining Journal story about what’s known as the Home Heating Tax Credit, which helps eligible residents manage heating costs during the colder months. Qualified Michigan renters and homeowners have until Tuesday, Sept. 30, to claim the credit and those who don’t file by the deadline will miss out. State officials tell us that last year, for example, the average qualifying household received $180 in assistance, which is most often applied directly to residents’ utility bills. Some energy providers automatically ...