Breaking News

Opinion

Candidates advised of rules for political sign placements

Editorial

During this election season, the Michigan Department of Transportation and local county road commissions remind all candidates that campaign signs can interfere with motorist and pedestrian vision along streets and highways. Signage at intersections and other places in the right-of-way can also be problematic for maintenance operations. Candidates are advised of MDOT’s sign placement criteria: — Political candidates are responsible for obtaining approval from the adjacent property owner to place the signs. — Signs must be more than 30 feet from the edge of the roadway ...

Federal waste of office space stifles economies at many levels

Editorial

The federal government is the largest owner of U.S. real estate, including more than half a billion square feet of office space. That is far more than it needs, and the cost of maintaining it has ballooned to unsustainable levels. The Public Buildings Reform Board recently identified 26 buildings across 15 states — totaling more than 7.3 million square feet — as potential candidates for the government to dispose of due to poor usage and high maintenance costs. It’s the third set of disposal recommendations since Congress created the board in 2016. That’s a great start, but the ...

Reflecting on July 4, 2026

Local columns

"Which is better — to be ruled by one tyrant 3,000 miles away or by 3,000 tyrants one mile away?" — the Rev. Mather Byles (1706-1788) Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? This conundrum, along with the witty version of ...

Almanac for July 6, 2026

Local columns

Today is Monday, July 6, the 187th day of 2026. There are 178 days left in the year. Today in History: In 1957, Althea Gibson became the first Black tennis player to win a Wimbledon singles title as she defeated fellow American Darlene Hard 6-3, 6-2. Also on this date: In 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga. In 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur tested an anti-rabies vaccine on 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been bitten by an infected dog; the boy did not develop rabies. In 1933, the first All-Star baseball game was played at ...