It happens every year at about this time in the Upper Peninsula: Spring teases us. You wake up one morning, look out the window, and the sky is a royal blue, and the sun is streaming down on you--a long, lost, warming friend who's finally decided to return after a five month absence. The temperature soars into the 40s, and ... Continue Reading

All right, a confession up front.I watch "American Idol." Every week. Just about every fricking show. And I've been doing it for most of the last ten years.It's embarrassing. Aside from news and sports, I watch very little else on TV--no sit coms, no cops and investigators series, no reality shows.And that's the thing about ... Continue Reading

I had a couple of free hours at Chicago O'Hare on my way back from Arizona a few days ago, and decided to put the time to good use.I counted how many people at the airport were either on their phones or their computers.Among those sitting down, it was almost exactly half. Among those walking, about one in eight were on ... Continue Reading

The temperature in Marquette Wednesday: 15 degrees. The temperature in Scottsdale, Arizona: 75 degrees.Scottsdale--that's where I'm headed for about five days, not only for a respite from our winter cold, but also for a trip back to my youth, a half century ago, when I was a baseball-loving youngster.I've always wanted to ... Continue Reading

I feel a little guilty writing this.You see, I'm the son of a teacher and union member. My mother taught in the California schools for about three decades. She was dedicated, she was tough, she loved her job at times---with kids who wanted to learn, with kids who were trying to get their lives on the right track---and she ... Continue Reading

It's been a remarkable year so far for this veteran of almost 35 years in television broadcasting. A year to discard old notions and learn new things and realize that none of us really knows exactly what lies ahead in this business.Exhibit number one: the Big Powderhorn ski resort fire. WLUC had no one available to get to ... Continue Reading

I went to a birthday party for a 4-year-old boy last weekend.In the middle of a frozen lake.Like so many American fathers, I've been to my share of children's surburban parties at the bowling alley, the ice rink, the roller rink, the movie theater, Chuck E. Cheese, etc.Sure, they're fun--the kids run around and yell, the ... Continue Reading

Times have changed. I remember when I was a youngster dealing with the athletic contests and the social network on the elementary school playground, the one thing you didn't want to be called was a "show-off."How quaint that term seems now.A "show-off" was someone who deliberately brought attention to himself (it was ... Continue Reading

I attended a fascinating conference of about 30 TV news directors and TV internet managers this last week.Bottom line message from the conference? TV news is dying, and the internet is rapidly taking its place.It wasn't exactly the sort of message that someone who's spent his last 35 years in TV news wants to hear, but the ... Continue Reading

My father-in-law's admission into a nursing home ended as expected, not happily. He died after about a week there because, quite simply, his body wore out. Parkinson's, cancer, pneumonia, a fractured back. You can take only so much.And, as we often hear, it was a blessing. There wasn't much point in continuing a life where ... Continue Reading