BILL VAJDA SERVED as city manager of Marquette from 2010 to 2015. He subsequently went on to become the chief information officer in Alaska, and is now chief information officer for the US Department of the Interior. The following is his story as published in Rural Insights: My COVID-19 Near-Death ... Continue Reading
UP Businesses Big and Small: Getting Help but Facing the Unknown
IT'S DIFFICULT TO find anybody in the Upper Peninsula--individuals, businesses, institutions, or non profits--who hasn't been crippled economically by the COVID-19 shutdown. The big boys have gotten most of the headlines. Namely... Cleveland Cliffs, with 700 workers soon to be laid for two months because of reduced ... Continue Reading
Norlite Faces Challenges, Summer Festivals Facing Uncertainty, and Sawyer Plays Host to Visitors
COVID-19 patients in isolated wing DIFFICULT TIMES FOR the residents and staff at Norlite Nursing Center. Three residents, including two over the weekend, have now died from COVID-19. Six other residents who've also tested positive for COVID-19 remain isolated in a separate wing of Norlite. In addition, four staff ... Continue Reading
Restaurant Workers Are Served, the Jails Are Empty, the Controversial COVID-19 Treatment Awaits Study Results
More than $17,000 raised THAT GOFUNDME site for restaurant workers has finally closed down. Final tally? More than $17,000 raised from more than 230 donors, benefitting at least 250 local restaurant, bar, and coffee shop workers who were laid off by the governor's shutdown of non-essential businesses. Sixty dollars ... Continue Reading
Coronavirus Shutdown and Domestic Abuse: a Deadly Mix
"PEOPLE ARE OUT of work, they're close together all day long, they have more time on their hands, they're drinking more, and they're taking out their anger and frustration on others." The words of Beth Casady, the executive director of the Women's Center in Marquette, warning us that domestic abuse will likely be on the ... Continue Reading