I've just returned from a 2000 mile road trip down south which provided me plenty of time to get a better perspective on our past and our future. We live in a confusing, fast-changing world; there's no better place to mull it over and slow it down than by driving, at 70 mph--passing mile marker after mile marker--along the ... Continue Reading

Youngstown, OhioWhen I was news director at WLUC in Marquette, we sometimes joked that we could lead our newscast with the "kicker" (the final story of the newscast--usually a cute story) and kick our newscast with the lead story.The point being, we don't have too much hard news in the Upper Peninsula. No murders, no ... Continue Reading

Last week I talked to a college student who told me she wasn't sure what career path she'd be taking when she graduated in two years. She was an English major, so naturally I joked that she was studying to be an "Englishwoman."It's long been a dilemma for liberal arts majors: What do you do when you graduate? What kinds of ... Continue Reading

I met up this weekend with some former reporters from TV6--bright, young, enthusiastic people we had nurtured here in the U.P. who had then ventured out into the world in pursuit of more money, greater challenges, and increased professional satisfaction.Big surprise (not really): Most are not finding what they were ... Continue Reading

We saw the birthing of a new event in the U.P. this last weekend--the Suicide Hill Mud Plunge in Ishpeming. The Plunge, which involved running a 5K in the woods through a course of obstacles, culminating with about 20 yards of crawling through a pit of mud, seems classically Yooperish. How have we not had one of these ... Continue Reading

I heard the call of the wild this last weekend and camped out. It was the first time in at least ten years, but as I age, I feel that I'm now getting more in touch with the land, the beasts, and my own inner macho self. So we shook the dust and mold off of an old but rarely used two-person tent, went out and bought ... Continue Reading

So now we're hearing that the Post Office is going to have to lay off 120,000 workers. Either that, or raise the price of a stamp to $179. Clearly, there's a problem with the business model. Have you visited a Post Office lately? The employees actually seem friendlier, but it all feels so 20th century--the lines, the ... Continue Reading

The Dow is down more than 500 points.The unemployment rate will almost certainly stay above 9 percent when the new numbers come out tomorrow.A double dip recession may be on the way.And I've just retired. Not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing in this economy. I have to say, I was smart in one respect: In ... Continue Reading

The Tea Party has won. That seems pretty clear.What began as a grass roots movement a couple of years ago has been transformed into an institutionalized political force that has set the agenda in Congress.The agenda, of course, is cut the budget and reduce the size of government. Both political parties are now singing that ... Continue Reading

It's still a little hard for me to comprehend, because I still feel hopelessly immature (say, about 28 years old), but retirement is right around the bend for me.It happens in three weeks.I've chosen to do it, maybe a little earlier than I should and earlier than I had planned, because I'm tired of the routine. Every ... Continue Reading