A Replacement for Redmen, the Recall Update, Whitmer for President?, Closser on the West Coast, a Soccer Win for the UP, and the Frustrating Search for Good Fiction, Good Movies
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
SOON. SOON, WE’LL have a new nickname for Marquette Senior High School…Yeah, we’re all either exceedingly tired of this story, or we’re just plain angry about it, but the School Board will soon put an end to it…“We don’t have a concrete plan at this point but we’ll be discussing it in greater length at our Board meeting on October 2nd,” says Board Chairperson Kristen Cambensy…She’s hoping they will choose a new nickname by November…
And while they’re welcoming suggestions from anyone in the community, including the students, Cambensy is insistent that the Board will make the final decision—and take the inevitable flak—on the new name.
BUT, OF COURSE, some of us just can’t let it go…A petition has been filed with the County Clerk’s office to recall two of the Board members—Jennifer Klipp and Jennifer Ray—because of their vote to terminate use of the “Redmen” nickname…If the language on the petition is approved, and enough signatures are rounded up, we’ll likely be voting on the recall in May of next year…Regardless of the results of that election, the Redmen name is not coming back.
“BIG GRETCH” FOR President? Increasingly, we’re hearing rumblings and rumors about that possibility for Governor Gretchen Whitmer…Articles in Vanity Fair, the Atlantic, Politico, CNN, and Axios have hinted at it recently…Whitmer, of course, has insisted that she’s 100% behind President Biden’s re-election campaign…But, if for some reason his campaign should falter, many are hoping Whitmer will take the plunge…They see her as an attractive, no-nonsense, git-’er-done governor of a big state with appeal to both progressives and moderates…
The Vanity Fair article relates an amusing and revealing encounter she had with a fellow legislator years ago when she was the minority leader in the Michigan Senate…The older Senator leaned over to her and said something inappropriate…Her response: “What the f*** is wrong with you? You can’t speak to me that way!”
IT’S ABOUT TIME…A federal court has decided, finally, that UP high school soccer teams can now participate in the statewide tournament…Because of a strange court ruling years ago, all UP soccer teams were barred from competing in the downstate playoffs…They were relegated to a “UP championship” tournament…No longer…Marquette’s teams—the boys in the Fall, the girls in the Spring—have traditionally dominated soccer in the UP…They’ll now be hoping for a trip south to the playoffs at the end of their seasons.
THIS IS ENCOURAGING…More than half of young adults now say even moderate drinking—one or two drinks a day—is bad for your health, according to Axios, which quotes a Gallup survey…Older Americans, on the other hand, have a much more accepting view of alcohol…And this is interesting: Non-religious people were more likely to say alcohol is harmful than Christians.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED…Bruce Closser, Marquette’s amazing 78-year-old bike marathoner, has reached his goal…He arrived in Astoria, Oregon a few days ago, completing his 4205 mile trans-continental journey from Yorktown, Virginia to Astoria…It took him 109 days—91 actual riding days…He has carefully detailed his journey the entire way, and will now submit the information to Guinness World Records, with the hope and expectation of being named “the oldest person to cross America by bicycle (male).”
His last several days of riding were an unexpected and unwelcome test. “I went 3800 miles without a single flat tire,” Closser says, “and then got eight of them in the space of less than two weeks, all in Oregon.”…The apparent culprit in most of the flats: goat-head thorns…
SEARCHING FOR MAINSTREAM fiction…A reader stops by our beloved bookstore, Snowbound Books, in search of a good book—modern fiction, well-written, with believable, regular people in relatable situations and relationships. Seems simple enough…After eliminating the mystery and romance novels, the reader, in a cursory manner, picks up a series of books which are touted as being “magical” or “surreal” or “feminist” or “dystopian” or “comical.” No, no, no…How about just a regular…you know…novel? People you can relate to, people you care about? (The preceding lamentation was brought to you by the Aging, Out-of-Touch Baby Boomers Society of America.)
SO MAYBE THERE’S some relief for our frustrated fiction reader at the Marquette Cinemas…Or not….The choices there included a movie about a swashbuckler taking on evil…another one with talking dogs…a super hero movie…a scary thriller…another scary thriller…a haunted mansion…terrifying supernatural forces…and Teen-age Mutant Ninja Turtles…Also offered, fortunately—Oppenheimer (excellent) and Barbie (not yet seen)…
The obvious conclusion is that movies these days are made for youngsters, not oldsters. Duhhh…So now it’s back to Snowbound where our frustrated reader will have to set aside more time and patience in search of a….good, modern, mainstream novel.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Not all of those who wander are lost.”
—JRR Tolkien
You could also just ask the booksellers for a recommendation? That store is beloved because the staff knows what they’re doing. Chelsea probably has a good recommendation in this specific category.
Good golly, the fact that Whitmer is behind President Biden's re-election 100% should immediately disqualify her from running for POTUS based on the poor judgement of supporting a senile, corrupt, perverted old man who is no longer capable of functioning in such a role and is completely and totally undeserving of such a role. Plus, her mismanagement of the COVID crisis which killed thousands, the state of our roads, the fact that our population is dropping, being in the upper 25% of the states in terms of the percentage of citizens receiving food stamps, etc. should tell you something about her competence. If the Democrats want a candidate who can win and bring the country together, they should get behind RFK Jr. But, unfortunately, that will never happen.