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Letters to the Editor

What’s the delay?

EDITOR: Some time ago, last year, everything was set. All of the environmental clearances, zoning approval, city council approval, etc., was done. They were going to start demolition in the spring. Spring came. A big roll-off dumpster was brought in. fences were put up. Then, nothing. The dumpster disappeared, fencing disappeared. Then a story appeared a couple of weeks ago that indicated that the approval is still pending. I don’t remember the story completely. I just thought it was strange that nothing has been done. The property should have been cleared by now and foundations ...

County race

EDITOR: The First Amendment we cherish as Americans is not absolute. It provides us with the right to address those who govern us… at all levels. Your “right” exists until it meets the fuzzy line between you and someone who may be injured by the exercise of that right. This has been argued for years and ultimately requires the function of the third arm of government to pass judgement on who shall prevail. All forms of communication are subject to “unwritten” social borders. Simply “Thou shalt not lie”… speak or represent the truth. Withholding facts and truths that ...

Political parties

EDITOR: Fran Majestic’s letter of 6/25 recognizes “all voters … have the opportunity to decide the party’s candidates (and) to build party unity…” Admirable and responsible. However, she does not mention that not all candidates are “responsible” or at least ethical in their stated party affiliations. Interesting how commissioners Malnar and Viau missed the sentiment and demonstrated little, if any support for their fellow Republican commissioners in vital votes. Party unity? It is generally accepted that a party member demonstrates loyalty to the philosophy and basic ...

A dictatorship

EDITOR: My travels started when I was 18, after my graduation from high school, I worked as a salesman-auditor for Northrup - King Inc, leaving Minnesota, my home state, to work in Detroit and then West Virginia. Although Lyndon B. Johnson had passed the 1964 Civil Rights act, Jim Crow laws were alive and well in West Virginia. Coming from a Scandinavian back ground, I quickly learned how cruel people can be to those of a different color. Did the blacks in West Virginia live in fear? More than I could believe. Discrimination and bigotry die slowly. And this was a democracy. Today, ...

Party switch

EDITOR: Have you heard President Trump refer to RINOs (Republican In Name Only)? There are many local examples of this, but the most obvious is Matt Jensen running as a Republican for County Commissioner. First, he ran as a Democrat in 2016 for Wells Twp Supervisor, then he ran as an Independent in the recall election. Then, if you still weren’t sure of where Matt’s true allegiance was, as a county commissioner he nominated Kelli VanGinhoven, who is probably the most liberal elected official in the UP, to vice-chair of the Delta County Commission. That certainly was not the action ...

Letter response

EDITOR: I’d like to respond to Joanne Clark’s recent letter to the editor in which she took representative Preston to task. Can somebody please tell me what gun violence is? As I understand it it takes somebody who is unstable to pick up a gun, which is a tool. What’s wrong with having an AR-15 as the official state rifle? Is the AR-15 more violent than a 30-30, or 308? We have a broken mental health system, let’s focus all of our collective efforts and getting that fixed as opposed to taking cheap shots or lawmakers. David Moyle Escanaba