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News & Opinion from Marquette, Michigan

Strike Authorization Vote, Velodrome Opens, Two!! More Coffee Shops on the Way, NMU Freshmen Numbers Way Up, and NMU Prof Once Opened for Led Zeppelin

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NURSES AT UP Health System-Marquette have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their union to call for a strike. The 400 RN's voted Tuesday during daylong balloting and informational sessions. The announcement of the voting results came late Tuesday night. This does not mean they will go on strike, nor that they even ... Continue Reading

Nurses Vote Yes for Strike Authorization

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THE 400 RN'S at UP Health System-Marquette have overwhelmingly voted to authorize their union to call for a strike. They voted Tuesday during daylong balloting and informational sessions. A Yes vote does not mean they will go on strike, nor that they even want a strike. What it does mean, though, is that they have ... Continue Reading

Hospital Construction Rumors, Homeless Summit, Tysen Update, Downtown Signage Controversy, and a Photography Star

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RUMORS FLYING AROUND the construction site of the new hospital. And responses quickly coming back from the hospital. First, some workers claim that there's been some settling and sagging of the floors of the building. "Deflection" is apparently the construction term. Remember, this is reclaimed land that's been ... Continue Reading

Money Missing and Limbaugh Missing

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IT'S A CASE that, strangely, hasn't attracted much public attention. Mostly murmurings, whispering. An embezzlement case. More than $280,000 missing, according to the victim, Dr. Heidi Johnson, the owner of Superior Eye Health and Vision Therapy in Marquette Township. The defendant in the case is a former employee, ... Continue Reading

Sign Dispute Downtown, Lakeshore Building Demolition, Grandview Vacancies, Duke LifePoint’s Profitability, Dr. Tim’s Expansion, and a Hyperlocal Weather Forecast

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A CONTROVERSY BREWING over signs in downtown Marquette. The planning and zoning department has been telling some building owners that their tenants--the merchants--have too many signs. Too much square footage on the outside of the buildings and too much in the windows. (An artistic design in a window is considered a ... Continue Reading

Booming Farmers Market, Border Patrol Raid, Super One Facelift, Solar Power Popularity, Garden Bouquet’s Metaphysical Move, and Students Contribute to the City

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RECORD NUMBERS AT Marquette's Farmers Market. Fifteen hundred shoppers have been stopping by on recent Saturdays as long as it wasn't raining. That's huge, more than the 1100, on average, who attended last year, and far, far more than when the market first moved to the Commons in 2007. The vendors are clamoring to get ... Continue Reading

The Homeless in Marquette: They’re Becoming Everybody’s Problem

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"IT'S THE ELEPHANT in the room that nobody wants to talk about." Those are the words of Marquette Police Chief Blake Rieboldt. He's talking about the homeless people in town, and more specifically about the problems some of them are creating for his police force. In 2015 and 2016 combined, his officers responded to ... Continue Reading

Big Addition to Downtown, No Big Changes at Babycakes, Nobody at the Bayou, a One Man Gym Downtown, a Diabetic Study in Harvey, a Yellow Facelift for the Wooden Nickel, and a Dubious Award for Ishpeming

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LOOKS LIKE MARQUETTE will soon be getting a major new tenant in the heart of downtown. The Chamber of Commerce and the UP Masonic Association will be signing a memorandum of understanding in the next week or so to develop a "coworking" space at the Masonic Square on Washington Street. It's a big deal. Five thousand ... Continue Reading

Babycakes, a Downtown Institution, Is Sold

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KIM DANIELSON WILL not be reporting to work at Babycakes on Tuesday. That's because she has just sold her coffee shop/bakery/restaurant, a downtown favorite for almost three decades, to the Huron Mountain Bakery. "I'm sure I'll miss it," she says, "but it just felt like it was time to move on. I've had a lot of offers ... Continue Reading