Protest Planned, Our Air Is Improving, NMU Foundation Surprise, We Don't Want Babies, WNMU Dilemma Remains, Student Scores Still Mediocre, and Drug Overdoses Declining

The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell

ANOTHER PROTEST DEMONSTRATION in Marquette tomorrow (Saturday)—this one to counter President Trump’s much publicized military parade in Washington DC on Saturday…In fact, 1800 protests are planned nationwide in all 50 states. Seventy of them in Michigan, three in the U.P.—in Escanaba, St. Ignace, and Marquette.

The Marquette protest, organized by Indivisible and other groups, will be staged alongside US 41, near Wendy’s, from 10:30 am until noon. “We chose that spot for maximum visibility with all the traffic,” says Silas McNeally, one of the organizers, “and we wanted to end it at noon because we didn’t want it to overlap with Pride Fest which starts at noon.”

Organizers expect the protest to be peaceful, in full cooperation with law enforcement, and the message, McNeally says, will be absolutely clear: “We don’t have kings in the United States, and acting like one is unacceptable to Americans.”

WE’RE STILL DEALING with smoke from the Canadian wildfires, but it varies from day to day, and sometimes, it seems, hour to hour…The official Air Quality Index projection for today (Friday) is 36, which is considered good. Anything between 0 and 50 is good…Between 50 and 100 is considered moderate, which is what we can expect for most of next week…“It all depends on the wind patterns,” says Alec Kownacki, a meteorologist for EGLE, “but right now it’s looking good for Marquette and the Upper Peninsula.”...So, apparently we’ll have no days over 100 which would be considered “unhealthy.”…You might recall, back on June 3rd and 4th, our air was so polluted with wildfire smoke, it was considered “hazardous” to even go outside. And yet for years, we were told that we enjoyed some of the cleanest air in the nation. Times have changed.

WE’RE RIGHTFULLY CHEERING all the recent improvements at Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport, and the changes that lie ahead…but consider what’s happening down south in Traverse City. Their airport has received several federal grants and is now planning a $120 million expansion project…A new concourse, five more gates, an expanded security checkpoint…Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport now boasts 20 flights a day, while Marquette still operates only a tiny handful…Tourism officials here are envious.

A SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT a couple of weeks back. Brad Canale is out as CEO of the NMU Foundation. No reason given…Official comment from Chief Marketing Officer Derek Hall: “Brad Canale is no longer an employee at NMU. It’s a personnel matter so we won’t offer any additional comment. We are working very hard on a transition plan and expect to have an interim CEO in place soon.”…Canale had served in that post since 2016 and was considered a skillful fundraiser, and his efforts were key in getting the old hospital demolished and ready for development next to the NMU campus. Our attempts to contact Canale have so far been unsuccessful.

MORE EVIDENCE OF our increasing (and probably unhealthy) social isolation…According to Axios and the World Happiness Report, 26% of Americans in 2023 said they ate all of their meals alone the previous day. That’s a huge increase in the last 20 years, and young adults are leading the trend. Why is this important? Because sharing meals encourages conversation and fosters community, which is closely linked to happiness…Nothing wrong with eating alone once in a while, but breaking bread with others regularly can be extremely important in promoting our mental and emotional health.

ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT TREND…More and more of us are deciding we don’t wanna have babies. According to Bridge Michigan, the percentage of non-parents who don’t want children doubled between 2002 and 2023—from 14% to 29%…The reasons for their reluctance? 1) They “just don’t want” to have kids 2) They’re concerned about the state of the world, and 3) They can’t afford to raise a child…For four consecutive years, Michigan has had more deaths than live births, and nationally, the U.S. is struggling with a low fertility rate…The Trump administration, in response, is considering a $5000 “baby bonus” for new mothers to encourage new births.

IT’S STILL UNCERTAIN what WNMU will do if it’s forced to stop broadcasting PBS and NPR programming by June 30th…That was mandated by an Executive Order issued by the Trump administration last month…According to Patrick Lakenen, NMU’s Director of Broadcast and Audio Visual, several stations along with NPR and PBS are seeking an injunction against the Executive Order, but no decision has been handed down yet. “We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves,” Lakenen says.

In the meantime, he says, WNMU is involved in “contingency planning.”

Why the demand to end federal funding for NPR and PBS? Because the Trump administration believes that government funding of public broadcasting is unnecessary, and that NPR and PBS present biased and inaccurate reports.

STUDENT SCORES ARE still languishing in Michigan. According to Bridge Michigan, only 40% of 3rd graders are proficient in reading, and 43% are proficient in math—both those numbers represent steep declines since before the pandemic…In fact, all 3rd through 8th graders rank lower in both reading and math than they did before the onset of the pandemic…The good news? Most grades showed slight improvements last year compared to the year before.

ALL RIGHT, HOW about more good news? Overdose deaths in Michigan declined by 34% last year, according to Bridge Michigan. That’s significant, actually unprecedented…Still, almost 2000 Michiganders died from drug overdoses last year—that’s about five every day…As for the steep decline in deaths, much of it is attributed to the increased availability of Narcan (or Nalaxone) which is a medicine that can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Addiction begins with the hope that something out there can instantly fill up the emptiness inside.”

—Jean Kilbourne