A U of M Fan's Unfortunate Leap, Another Opponent for Rep. Jenn Hill, Ludlum Returns, the Mountain Opens, New MSHS Nickname Likely This Month, and What Should We Do About Languishing Malls?
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
THIS WOULD TRULY make for a great sitcom episode, but, unfortunately, it’s real life, and it’s not so funny…Dr. Zach Leonard, a highly regarded orthopedic surgeon at UPHS and a devoted University of Michigan alumnus, was watching the Michigan vs Alabama game on TV last week…A great game that went into overtime, a nail-biter…His wife, State Farm Insurance agent Jill Leonard, was with him. “It was right near the end of the game,” Jill says, “and there was this great play, and Zach jumps out of his chair to celebrate! But then his expression changed, he bent over, and said, ‘I think I blew out my Achilles.’ He tried to walk to the bathroom, but he couldn’t walk.”
Sure enough, he had ruptured his Achilles tendon during his celebration. He immediately had surgery on it and he’s now on the mend, but the Leonards’ big plans for a trip to the national championship in Houston on Monday—“We had tickets to the game! We had our flights! We had hotel reservations!”—had to be aborted. Zach couldn’t imagine navigating the huge crowds and the challenging stadium stairs in his disabled condition…Good news: Jill is still going to the game with a good friend while her husband, Dr. Leonard, is back to seeing his patients and performing surgery, albeit with a limp. Meantime, he awaits the big game Monday that he’ll watch from a comfortable seat in front of the TV. No exuberant celebrations planned.
SEVERAL DAYS AGO, it was meteorologist Karl Bohnak announcing that he was running for State Representative in the 109th District…This last week, it was George Meister, a civil engineer and co-owner of Meister’s Tree Farm, making the unofficial announcement…He considers himself a moderate Republican and would likely face Bohnak in the Republican primary. “He (Bohnak) has the name recognition,” Meister says, “and that gives me pause, but I’m still planning to run because I’m frustrated by what’s happening in Lansing. We don’t have anybody there who truly represents our interests.”…No official announcement planned yet while Meister talks to family, friends, and supporters about his campaign.
INCUMBENT JENN HILL, who’s facing off against Margaret Brumm in the Democratic primary, says she welcomes Bohnak’s or Meister’s entry in the race. “I am always happy to see my community expressing an interest in public service…” she says, apparently undaunted by the dual announcements. “Democracy is always at its best when the voters have options…I’m confident that this year, voters in the central Upper Peninsula will recognize the value of what we’ve accomplished together and choose to continue that historic momentum…”
HE’S BACK…Mike Ludlum, the longtime sportscaster who was terminated from his job at TV6 a year ago for misconduct, is the new sportscaster at WZMQ, the CBS station in town…A somewhat strange schedule: he’ll be anchoring Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, at 6 and 11 pm…“I’m hoping to bring experience and knowledge to WZMQ,” he says. “I’m definitely happy to be back doing what I know best!”…Ludlum says management approached him about the job back in November and they quickly reached agreement…At WZMQ, he’ll be joining a couple of other TV6 alums—anchor Sarah Blakely, and Karl Bohnak, who contributes weekly features to the newscasts.
COLD AND SNOWY. FINALLY!!….Marquette Mountain opened to big crowds this weekend after a long, frustrating delay caused by an unusually warm early winter. “Everything’s a go,” says a relieved Kaet Johnson, the Mountain’s general manager. “Four runs are open, we’re fully staffed, and we’re making snow.” They’ll be open seven days a week from now on, although the hours this week will be slightly irregular…This week’s weather forecast? Looks good, ranging from the low 30s down to the teens.
THE UP 200 is still on track for February 15th-19th, provided we get enough snow…You might recall it was cancelled last year because of rain and warm weather (We’re sensing a pattern here)…And already this winter, two other UP races—the Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race in Newberry, and the SISU Ski Fest race in Ironwood—have been cancelled for lack of snow…As for the Ski Jumping Tournament in Ishpeming, scheduled for January 19-21, they’re still planning on it. Continued cold weather and a little more snowfall would help.
WHERE’S THE ICE? As of a few days ago, only .04% of the Great Lakes was covered by ice, according to Bridge Michigan. In other words, almost none of it. Normal for this time of years is 4.4%…The main problem: So far this winter, temperatures in Northern Michigan have averaged 34 degrees—that’s about 10 degrees above normal…Blame El Niño which generally creates warmer and drier conditions in the northern US and Canada.
WE MAY HAVE a new nickname for Marquette Senior High School before the end of the month…As part of a lengthy process involving the entire community and students, the school board has now received 34 possible nicknames back from the high school…“There are a lot of good names on the list,” says School Board Chairperson Kristen Cambensy. “There should be one that’ll fit.”…The Board meets on Monday and then again on January 16th, hoping to whittle the 34 proposed names down to a more manageable number…Another meeting follows on the 22nd. Could that be the day when the new name is chosen by the Board? Maybe, says Cambensy, adding that right now there is no clear favorite.
NO AGREEMENT REACHED yet…The Wildcat Aquatics Club was told last month that it could no longer use the pool at MSHS because the high school didn’t have enough janitors to maintain the premises…Hopes quickly arose that the two sides could reach a new agreement to allow the swimmers to come back, but so far, the competitive swim club, with 30 swimmers of all ages, remains barred from the high school pool…..Update: The Aquatics Club has just received word that they will be able to use the MSHS pool starting January 9th, until February 24th…Talks ongoing to extend the agreement.
GOOD NEWS ON the homicide front. According to Axios, the nation saw a drop of 12% in murders last year—one of the largest declines ever. Other violent crimes—rape, aggravated assault, and robbery—also declined, although the final numbers aren’t in yet…So what does the American public think about all this? 77% believe that crime has increased in the past year, according to a Gallup survey…So, we, the people, think crime increased in 2023, and the economy (inflation, unemployment, stock market etc) got worse. We’re wrong on both counts.
WE KEEP HEARING that shopping malls are dead across the US, and our languishing Westwood Mall and leveled Marquette Mall certainly reinforce that argument. But the largest mall owner in the country, Simon Property Group, has come up with another and better idea, according to Bridge Michigan: turning malls into a village environment with housing, sidewalks, and green spaces, along with the stores…Sure sounds attractive, and it would meet Marquette’s crying need for more housing.
It just takes a developer with some vision…and a few dollars.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.”
—Indira Gandhi
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I woud posit that we're not wrong about perceptions about the economy and about crime. I suspect the same things are being done to the crime statistics as have been done, with almost unfailing consistency, to the economic statistics. An economic statistic comes out. It is favorable. Everyone goes "Yay!" and the stock market goes up. But then, very quietly, a month or two or three later, the economic statistic is revised (for long term accuracy sake) to a much less favorable figure. The BLS is notorious for doing this to pump up the image of administrations. Yet that revision is barely mentioned by a captured media. This deception has been going on for some time now. It's time for the American public to wake up and recognize how they are being lied to ... about almost everything. These lies are especially prevalent during pre-election times. Just watch how quickly those statistics would change if, by some miracle, a candidate not of the choosing of the Deep State gets into office. All the blame will be dumped on that unfortunate individual.
In addition, I would question the credibility of Axios and the statistical analysis used. In all likelihood, it's been funded by In-Q-Tel, the venture capital branch of the CIA, just like Facebook, Google, and many others. It's all about controlling and shaping public perception, not about the truth. How about digging deeper and looking at the more granular FBI statistics, not that they haven't been tweaked as well. In these days, corruption has seeped into almost every institution of government including the FBI.
Super big news when some guy hurts his leg‼️