Opinion

Michigan kids need daylight after school

I've lived and worked in Iron Mountain for 47 years, and every winter I watch our kids lose the daylight. Here on Central time it's dark by 4:15 in December. A child gets off the bus and there's no light left for sledding, skating or a game in the yard. Four months indoors in front of a screen isn't good for anybody's health or mood. The Sunshine Protection Act would fix that by keeping us on Daylight Saving Time all year. The U.S. House passed it 308 to 117 this summer. It's stuck in the Senate because one senator, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, keeps blocking a vote. The usual objection is ...

Almanac for Oct. 27, 2026

Today is Tuesday, Oct. 27, the 300th day of 2026. There are 65 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 27, 2018, a gunman shot and killed 11 congregants and wounded six others at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue in the deadliest domestic attack on Jews in U.S. history; authorities said the suspect, Robert Bowers, raged against Jews during and after the rampage. (Bowers was convicted and sentenced to death in 2023.) Also on this date: In 1787, the first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the United States Constitution, was ...

The France riots are not what MAGA says they are

Polls being what they are, Republicans and their supporters must be feeling a bit like the condemned Frenchmen who rode to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. It's fitting, then, that they are seizing on unrest in France as a desperate campaign gambit. "The Riots in France Are a Warning ...

Editorial cartoon for Oct. 27, 2026

Almanac for Oct. 26, 2026

Today is Monday, Oct. 26, the 299th day of 2026. There are 66 days left in the year. Today in history: On October 26, 1881, four lawmen, including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, exchanged gunfire with five outlaws, killing three of them, in the "Shootout at the O.K. Corral" in Tombstone, Arizona. Also on this date: In 1774, the First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia. In 1825, the Erie Canal opened in upstate New York, connecting Lake Erie and the Hudson River. In 1861, the legendary Pony Express officially ceased operations, giving way to the transcontinental ...

Our failed Constitution

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) The U.S. Constitution was ratified to create and to restrain the government. It established boundaries beyond which the government may not venture, even when it invokes ...