Kind of scary news from a health survey yesterday. Turns out that more than 30 percent of us in Michigan are now considered obese.Yikes. Just 15 years ago, fewer than 20 percent of us were obeseI used to be a skinny kid--6'2", 140 pounds as a sophomore in high school, 6'3", 175 in college--but then I seemed to gain a couple ... Continue Reading

Marquette recently held a celebrity golf benefit, complete with a banquet, auction and tournament at Greywalls.Great golf, delicious food, companionship and of course, most important, it all goes for a wonderful cause--the Beacon House, which houses patients and their families when they come to Marquette General Hospital.It ... Continue Reading

I had a rare treat over the weekend--I saw a baby born.The mom, a free spirit who has embraced everything about motherhood, invited her extended family to come into the birthing room at Marquette General Hospital and, together, experience a miracle.A miracle. That's certainly what it was, regardless of your religious ... Continue Reading

We ran into a disappointing development this week with the funeral services for Specialist Robert Voakes who died in action in Afghanistan earlier this month.It seems needless to say that his death was "tragic" but it was. Voakes was from L'Anse, a graduate of Baraga High School just two years ago, a good, young man by all ... Continue Reading

It's that time of year again. I get out my golf clubs, stick them in the back of my car, and listen to them rattle back there for about a month or two before I finally summon the courage to bring them out to the golf course.Where I proceed to embarrass myself time and time again.I've taken lessons from three instructors ... Continue Reading

I'll admit it up front--I enjoy gardening. Adore gardening.Yeah, yeah, I know, it's silly, it can be time-consuming and expensive, it's bourgeois. Who are you trying to impress with your garden? Yourself? Your neighbors? Either way, it's a form of vanity.Well, I choose to think of it as so much more.First, it's therapeutic. ... Continue Reading

I took a trip downstate this last weekend and found myself in a shopping mall in Troy on Saturday afternoon. I hadn't been to a genuine mall with more than 100 stores and a food court in several months.It's funny because that used to be a regular part of my suburban life in Atlanta. Now, when I enter these wondrous palaces ... Continue Reading

We started something new on TV6 news in the last couple of weeks--we call it the Facebook Story of the Day.I'll admit right up front that I'm not entirely comfortable with the concept, but then again, I'm an old man who has gathered and presented news in the conventional, old fashioned way for more than three decades.I'm ... Continue Reading

What a night.I have to admit, I was among those who thought we'd never capture or kill Osama bin Laden. What seemed most likely was that we would eventually hear that he had died of some disease of aging in the mountains of Afghanistan or in the dense cities of Pakistan.But no. It actually happened the way those ... Continue Reading

Spring can be a trying time for us here in the Upper Peninsula. It can be 65 degrees and gloriously sunny one day and 35 degrees with a rain/snow mix the next. But we persevere and wait because the rewards are just around the corner and they're so gratifying when you find them.I stayed at the Four Seasons Resort in Pembine ... Continue Reading