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News & Opinion from Marquette, Michigan

Vista Challenges, Finally Open in the Township, Parking Problem – Solved! and Just a thought…

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Vista Challenges Although they’ve thrown in the roof, they haven’t thrown in the towel.  After some brief soul-searching, the powers that be in the Vista Theater community have come together with a plan to save and revive this historic venue. There were already plans afoot to make some major structural improvements to ... Continue Reading

Friday Night Lights – OUT!… Changes Downtown… Virtual Events… and a new man at Word

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Friday Night Lights - OUT! After fits and starts, the Michigan High School football season is about to... start.  Most area teams will be in action with the exception of the Westwood Patriots who have to put off the start of their season while some players recover from injuries.  Also, Marquette will not play Gladstone for ... Continue Reading

Liberation, Explanation, and a Farewell

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SO HERE'S THE thing... When you're well past your seventieth birthday and you've got one novel in dire need of revision and another half-novel in dire need of completion, you start wondering about how you want to spend your time. On top of that, you start thinking about those two and three week getaways to Florida or ... Continue Reading

Uncle Ducky’s Big Summer, a Union’s Challenge in Dealing with COVID, and a Tiny Gem of a Gallery in Our Midst

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DIFFICULT TIMES FOR restaurants and hotels this summer. Not so, apparently, for Uncle Ducky's burgeoning empire in Alger County. "No question, we had the best summer we've ever had,"  owner Bill Duckwall tells us. And how can that be? "People wanted to be outdoors this summer, they wanted space, they wanted fresh air. ... Continue Reading

NMU Nursing Professor Tests Positive

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THERE'S NEWS OUT of NMU that a nursing professor tested positive for COVID last Thursday (eight days ago). This, the day after she had taken a group of nursing students to UPHS for orientation. In an earlier test, she had come up negative for COVID. She apparently led these students on multiple floors of the hospital, ... Continue Reading

Marquette Mountain’s Search, Marquette’s Tourism Trend, and an Actor’s Pivot

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Top candidate turns down the job STILL LOOKING FOR a leader. That's the status of Marquette Mountain as owner Eric Jorgensen and his team continue their search for a new general manager at the Mountain. This, following the surprise dismissal last month of previous GM Andrew Farron who Jorgensen decided was not the right ... Continue Reading

Best Buy Closing

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THIS IS THE kind of news we can all do without. The Best Buy store in Marquette Township is closing down. Last day of business is expected to be October 31st. Corporate headquarters and local management so far are not commenting on the closure, although an official press release is expected within the next day. We ... Continue Reading

The Vista Is More Than a Building, the Children’s Museum Is Struggling, and Marquette Monthly Is….???

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A collapse brings about mourning and hope A SHOCK, TO say the least, when we heard that the roof of the Vista Theater had collapsed. The building is almost a century old, it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it's an architectural gem in the center of Negaunee, and it's been a stage home for hundreds ... Continue Reading

NMU’s Hopes Are Rising, So Are Negaunee’s, But Munising’s Bagels Are Not

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Numbers lower than expected SO FAR, SO good. That's the feeling at Northern Michigan University after nearly 8000 students, faculty, and staff have been tested for COVID. The latest figures show that only 36 people tested positive, less than a half of a percent. That's remarkably low when you consider the UP is testing ... Continue Reading