Dreaming of a Wet Christmas, a Stunning, New Campsite in Marquette, MSHS Controversy Might Be Resolved, Marquette Neighbors Ends Publication, and a Refreshing, New View of Our Hospital
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
SO YOU’RE HOPING for that classic Christmas morning with snowflakes fluttering down onto a soft blanket of white? Not likely…“The high on Christmas Eve looks like it’ll be in the mid-40s,” says NWS meteorologist Greg Sova, “and on Christmas morning, there’s a high chance of rain.”…That means that the snow now on the ground will mostly be gone…FYI, the National Weather Service’s official definition of a White Christmas is either 1) 1 inch of snow on the ground at 7 am Christmas morning, or 2) One tenth of an inch of snow falling on Christmas Day…Both seem unlikely.
IRONY ALERT!…USA TODAY recently published its poll of best destinations for snow in the US, as determined by an expert panel and readers of the newspaper…The number one best place for snow? Yep, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, beating out other highly rated locations including Stowe, Vermont…Jackson Hole, Wyoming…and Lake Tahoe…Quoting from the newspaper’s description of the UP: “When winter rolls around, there’s something magical about seeing everything covered in glistening snow…There are so many opportunities to enjoy fun winter activities, like snowshoeing, skiing, ice skating, sledding, or just going for an enchanting sleigh ride…”…Well, not this year, at least not yet.
WAS IT SNOWIER here in the past? Many old-timers will tell you it was…NWS snow figures in Negaunee prior to 1980 were not as accurate as they have been since, so here are the numbers for the last 43 years….1980-89 averaged 202 inches of snow per year…1990-99, 201 inches…2000-2009, 225 inches…2010-2019, 181 inches…and for 2020-2023, 179 inches…Conclusion? A somewhat downward trend…But then there’s this: Last year, the snow total was a robust 227 inches, while the year before, it was a measly 119 inches…So, go figure.
MARQUETTE’S BECOMING A camping capital…The latest evidence is the development of the Raging River Campground, one mile south of Marquette Mountain on M-553…Mark Curran, who also developed the highly successful Rippling River Campground next to the ski hill, is the man behind Raging River…“I’m excited about it. It’s going to be incredible,” he says, but he’s reluctant to say more about it at this point…What we can tell you, from our self-guided tour, is the campsites are located two miles off the highway in a pristine, hilly, and heavily forested backwoods area along the Carp River. Bath houses are already built, and campfire rings and picnic tables are in place at the camping sites…When will it open? Curran’s not saying, as of yet.
So Raging River joins Rippling River, along with Tourist Park in town…and then out on M-28 toward Munising—Chocolay River Campgrounds, Gitche Gumee, Paddlers Village, the Au Train Beach Campground, and Munising Tourist Park Campground...In addition, the Kona Hills Campground, located behind the Rock Cut outside Marquette, is working on getting final approval for its planned 80-acre campground for tents only.
MORE GOOD NEWS on the wilderness front…The Noquemanon Trail network just announced that it’s received a private donation of 238 acres. The property is just west of the NTN Trailhead on County Road 510 in Negaunee Township…The generous donors? Cary Gottlieb and Carol Gamber…A gorgeous piece of property that will be open year-round to the public.
ANGER AND DISAPPOINTMENT aimed at Marquette Senior High School over the last several days…MSHS announced that it wasn’t going to rent space, including the swimming pool, to outside groups anymore. A lack of custodians was the given reason for the policy change.
The Wildcat Aquatics Club, with about 30 swimmers between the ages of 8 and 17, was especially hard-hit by the announcement. They’ve been using the pool three-days-a- week…“It was kind of a shock because we’ve had this agreement with the high school for at least 40 years,” says Chad Larsen, the president of the parents board…Adds Heather Jarvis, the mother of two swimmers: “My 12-year-old is very upset because he loves swimming and wants to swim in high school and college. And my 14-year-old is hoping to get a scholarship in college.”…The club has produced some remarkable swimmers over the years.
Ahh, but wait! We’ve buried the lede. “We’re working on it,” School Board President Kristen Cambensy assures us. “We’re trying to get them (the swimming club) back. We’ve had a serious shortage of custodians. We’re looking at ways to make sure we can still keep the school clean during the day.” She’s hoping a new arrangement can be worked out in the next week or so…And she emphasizes that the high school and School Board are not “anti-kids” or “anti-swimmers.” Anything but. But like everybody else, they just need to take care of financial, staffing, and safety concerns.
MARQUETTE NEIGHBORS, the 6-year-old monthly magazine devoted to residents of Marquette, is apparently no more. No official word on that, but sources have confirmed it, and it’s been a while since an issue was published…It’s a tough market, nationwide, for any news publications that focus on paper distribution rather than the digital market.
THIRD STREET MARKETPLACE has an exciting, new possibility to fill its last vacancy…No details yet from Joe Constance, the developer who’s now negotiating with the prospective business….The Marketplace, which now boasts a brewery, a fish restaurant, and a pizza place, has had a series of other businesses lined up to fill the final spot, but for various reasons, all have bowed out or been rejected at the last minute.
BETTER THAN NOTHING…For the first time in five years, Michigan actually gained population in 2023—up almost 4000 residents…Immigration into the state increased, and deaths declined. Michigan, with just over 10 million residents, remains the 10th most populous state.
On the other hand, we’re hearing that Michigan will likely lose another Congressional seat during the 2030 census because the rest of the nation—primarily the sunny South and Southwest— is still growing faster than we are…Fine. They can have the people, we’ll take the water.
AMID THE ALL-too-frequent negative news we’re hearing out of UPHS-Marquette, how about this for a heartening change? A local patient with a history of heart trouble is called in for an appointment with cardiologist Dr. Richard Markiewicz…The patient is given an EKG and stress test, after which the doctor tells him he needs to go into surgery…Four-and-a-half hours later, with four new stents and extensive repair, the patient is out of surgery and goes home the very same day…Turns out he had had 80% blockage in four arteries, with no symptoms.
“The Cath Lab people were friendly and professional, the staff was courteous and attentive,” the patient says. “Dr. Markiewicz was open and informative and showed me the video of before and after results of the procedure during the follow-up visit. He recommended some new meds while giving me all the time I needed…It is a good thing we have this doctor and the staff behind him…”
A helluva nice Christmas present for a Marquette man whose life may have just been saved.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart, you won't find it under a tree.”
—Charlotte Carpenter
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So the patient has 4 stents put in at enormous cost to the health care system (and possibly himself if insurance deductibles and co-payments are involved) and is symptom free. But was the patient counselled and trained in low cost, self care measures (such as those utilized by Dean Ornish, MD, Joel Fuhrman, MD, and others) which are proven to reverse vascular blockages including nutritional supplements (like nattokinase or lumbrokinase, vitamin K2, Standard Process's Cyruta, liposomal vitamin C, etc.), dietary optimization, meditation, and exercise. Also, the large vessel blockages are (temporarily) alleviated but what about all the associated small vessel blockages that are not and what about lifestyle and habits that caused the problem in the first place and will cause future blockages to recur. This is the problem with the American health care system and why it is unsustainable. Also, was the patient informed that, very often, even if large vessels have some blockage, if the blockage occurs gradually, the heart will often develop collateral circulation to work around those blockages.