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Almanac for Aug. 15, 2026

Today is Saturday, Aug. 15, the 227th day of 2026. There are 138 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York; more than 460,000 people attended the three-day festival, which would become a watershed event in American music and culture. Also on this date: In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had killed 17 years earlier. In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific ...

Are Mainstream Democrats Taking Back the Wheel?

You couldn't find a wackier candidate than Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist vying to become the governor of Wisconsin. She wanted to defund police and abolish ICE, topping it all off with a call to end Thanksgiving. "Saturday Night Live" couldn't have made her up. Hong lost the ...

Fair week farmers

ESCANABA — Fair week brings out the farmer in all of us! Corn fields, country roads, and cotton candy are all in vogue right now. Sunflowers stand tall, tomatoes ripen and cucumbers are kings on everyone’s kitchen cupboards. The annual U.P. State Fair creeps up on us like a barn cat on a mouse. Summer slips into the harvest season faster than a flash of lightening on the horizon. Fair week (August 17-23) is full of fantastic smells and sentiments. Food trucks, French fries, elephant ears, and roasting chickens, mixed with the smell of hay and a hint of manure are the hallmarks ...

Almanac for Aug. 14, 2026

Today is Friday, Aug. 14, the 226th day of 2026. There are 139 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, ensuring income for elderly Americans and creating a federal unemployment insurance program. Also on this date: In 1936, in front of an estimated 20,000 spectators, Rainey Bethea was hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, in the last public execution in the United States. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, which ...

A much needed recharge

“Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong,” – John Denver I had just pulled out of the drive-through line and grabbed my container of French fries out of the paper bag. I hit the highway like a man possessed, and by that, I mean I felt like I was breaking down inside, ...

From Drone to Door

There's a new delivery system in town. Well ... maybe not in your town. In some places, drones are now allowed to deliver small packages, groceries and takeout. Companies like Wing and Zipline bring people hot meals in under 10 minutes. I had to watch it to believe it. You can see it in my ...