A SURVEY OF businesses just conducted by Marquette's Downtown Development Authority presents some concerning statistics. No, you could call them alarming. Question: If the COVID-19 business disruption continues, how long would it be before you're in danger of closing permanently? Answer: 27% say 1-2 ... Continue Reading
Cautious Hope for the Roam Inn and Uncle Ducky’s, Busy Times for Bankers, and How Safe is Marquette?
Munising is being squeezed by the pandemic "I'M TRYING TO stay optimistic but it's getting harder every day." The words of Tom Dolaskie, the co-owner of the Roam Inn, Tracey's, Eh Burger, and a few other businesses in Munising. He and his partner have spent a lot of money, time and energy helping to build up the ... Continue Reading
The New Normal at the YMCA
NO DECISION YET on when the YMCA will be able to reopen its facilities in Marquette County. "Whenever the Governor says we can open, we'll open," says YMCA CEO Jenna Zdunek. "We'll be ready." The earliest possibility seems to be mid-May, if Governor Whitmer gives her okay. If that happens, the Y facilities would ... Continue Reading
Norlite Perseveres, Frontline Workers and Restaurants Get Some Help, and Sawyer Makes Plans for Improvements
Transparency, not hiding, at Norlite YOU'VE GOT TO admire Wayne Johnson, the administrator of Norlite Nursing Center, which unfortunately is a hot spot for COVID-19. Five deaths of residents so far, eighteen others testing positive for it, with several staff members testing positive, as well. Some executives in such a ... Continue Reading
A Gift for Us
TEN MINUTES OF almost indescribable beauty and poignancy. That's what UP filmmaker and photographer Aaron Peterson has given us this week as we marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Peterson has put together and posted a film intriguingly entitled "24 Leeches." It's the story of a family camping trip in the Slate ... Continue Reading
Insufficient COVID-19 Testing, Midwest Living Praise, Jon’s Auto Acquisition, and Plans for Marquette Golf Club
It's a marathon, not a sprint MARQUETTE COUNTY HAS now conducted about 650 tests for COVID-19, according to county medical director Dr. Kevin Piggott. Six-hundred-fifty out of a population of 65,000. That's one percent. Not enough. Tests are being conducted at UPHS Marquette, at Mayo, at LabCorp, Quest, and the ... Continue Reading
The $12 Million Mile, the Army of Mask-Makers, Travel Marquette’s Uncertain Plans, and Adventure Bingo!
Still on track for this summer LAST WEEK'S STORM did minimal damage, at most, to Lakeshore Boulevard, according to city manager Mike Angeli. The barricade of boulders recently installed along the shoreline apparently held up well against the pounding waves fueled by winds that topped 35 mph. Now, about the future. ... Continue Reading
“I’m Afraid Some of Them Won’t Make It”
SO WE'RE LOOKING at a possible partial reopening of Michigan on May 1st. It can't come fast enough for most businesses in the Upper Peninsula. A recent Federal Reserve survey of the UP and six states to the west of us (but not Lower Michigan) revealed this: nearly sixty percent of UP businesses said if things didn't ... Continue Reading
Former City Manager Bill Vajda Has a Story to Tell
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
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