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University impact on area significant

The greater Marquette area is on the cusp of undergoing an annual conversion when Northern Michigan University students return in numbers for the fall semester. Although a reduced number of NMU students have been present throughout the summer, the real change will take place in the next several days as thousands of young people, often ferried by worried parents and/or guardians, find homes in the university’s dormitories or off campus. And it’s a change that a great many permanent area residents, including us at The Mining Journal, have learned to anticipate and appreciate over the ...

Kids going back to school – drivers beware

Driving in and around Superiorland is about to become more challenging, courtesy of children of all ages returning to the classroom School buses will soon be picking up passengers, kids on bikes are hurrying to get to school before the bell rings and harried parents are trying to drop their kids off before work. It's never more important for drivers to slow down and pay attention than when kids are present — especially before and after school. Here are a handful of common sense rules and practices suggested by law enforcement that motorists should consider: If you're dropping ...

Precipice of catastrophe

The budget of the federal government is the largest of any organization in human history. It's larger than the entire economy of every foreign country except China. And it mostly grows automatically, without regular input from elected officials. In the past, huge surges in the national debt were largely caused by wars or recessions. They were temporary. When the war concluded or economic growth resumed, debt as a share of the economy would fall. That's not how it works anymore. The debt increases due to demographic trends as the bulk of spending goes to programs that serve an aging ...

MSP to step up enforcement through Labor Day weekend

While impaired driving — whether due to alcohol, drugs or both — is a year-round danger on the roadways, late summer and the Labor Day holiday period are among the deadliest times of the year for crashes and fatalities involving impaired drivers, the Michigan State Police warned. From 2021 to 2025, the state had a total of 46 drivers killed in traffic crashes over the Labor Day holiday weekends. In those crashes, 39.1% of the drivers killed were alcohol- and/or drug-impaired, according to the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center. Of the 1,002 fatal crashes that ...

Time to check trees for invasive Asian beetle

Residents in the region need only look at what likely is a dead ash tree — perhaps already a stump — in their yard or neighborhood to know the devastation that can be done by an invasive species. Since first being discovered in the U.S. in 2002 in Michigan, the emerald ash borer has all but wiped out ash trees across the Midwest and northeastern states, spreading as far as Colorado and Texas. Now, another invasive insect threatens to do the same to at least 12 varieties of hardwood trees, most notably our beloved maples. So Michigan’s Invasive Species Program and the U.S. ...

Trump ignores the toll of rising prices on average Americans

With his approval ratings hovering at near record lows, President Donald Trump took a rare trip to the West Coast to convince voters not to trust their own wallets, because the economy is better than ever. Never mind that since he took office last year, Americans have been forced to spend more on food and rent. That utility prices are soaring while Trump slashed renewable energy alternatives. Or that thanks to his tariffs, the average price of a new car jumped 10%, while his failed war in Iran boosted gas prices by more than 30%. To borrow a phrase from the last inept White House ...