TV 6 Anchor Changes, Marquette Mountain to Open, Cruise Ships Returning, Removing Fluoride?, Another Downtown Closure, and Cheering an Assassination

The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell

CHANGES COMING TO TV6…New co-anchors for the 6 pm and 7 pm newscasts to be announced on Tuesday. They’ll be co-anchoring with Grace Blair. “We’re excited about the changes,” says News Director Andrew LaCombe, who indicates it’ll be two individuals who are already working for the station…Anchor Cody Boyer recently left the station for a TV job in Montana (and for a young lady) after a few years as TV6’s main man…Remember the old days when TV6’s anchors stayed for…almost forever?

MARQUETTE’S GOING ALL-OUT for Christmas this year…Not only do we have the holiday laser show on the Ore Dock every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening through Christmas, but next Friday will be a huge extravaganza: the Christmas Parade will journey from NMU down to the Commons where Santa will appear…the Christmas tree will be lit…a Yule Market will be selling Christmas goods…dancers will dance…a New Orleans-style band, 41 West, will perform Christmas songs…and a reportedly fabulous new interactive light show—Oscillation—will be on display…“It’s the darkest time of the year and we wanted to light things up, and get people out of their houses,” says Michael Bradford, the Business Outreach and Promotions Director for the DDA.

Great family fun. Now, let’s all pray for good weather on Friday.

GET YOUR SKIS and snowboards waxed up. Marquette Mountain is opening up with access to one or more lifts next Saturday (December 14th)…“We’ve been making snow since November 26th and we’ve had to shut down only a few times,” says Kaet Johnson, the GM of Marquette Mountain, “so the weather has been pretty good.” A slight warm-up this weekend, notwithstanding. The Mountain is fully staffed, with training finishing up over this next week.

MORE CRUISE SHIPS are returning to the Great Lakes next summer. Bridge Michigan reports that eight ships from six different companies will be making stops at ports on the Great Lakes, including Marquette, in 2025. That’s a significant increase over last year…One of the cruise companies, American Queen Voyages, filed for bankruptcy in 2023, which put a damper on the Great Lakes cruise business…Analysts says a revival may be in the works.

MIGHT WE STOP fluoridating our water? It’s possible, with anti-fluoride activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr slated to become the next Secretary of Health and Human Services…Marquette, Ishpeming, Negaunee, KI Sawyer and Marquette Township all add fluoride to their water—a practice long recommended by dental and health organizations to prevent tooth decay…Opponents of fluoridation contend that it can cause damage to the nervous system and various organs.

THE “FOR SALE” sign has come down at The Courtyards but the New Orleans-style bar and restaurant is still up for sale, for just under $2 million. It was believed that the sign was a little distracting, especially since the business is still up and operating…Hours have changed, though: It’s open for lunch and dinner, as well as drinks, Tuesday through Friday, but closed on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Meantime, Chris Durley, who’s been Operations Manager at The Courtyards, has switched over to the same position at Lagniappe, the immensely popular downtown eatery, and his father, Chef Don Durley, who started both restaurants, is still involved. “Chef is as busy as ever,” says Chris. “He’s been at it for six days a week for the last 19 years.”

A VACANCY AT the corner of Washington and Fronts Streets…Boomerang, a retro clothing and housewares store, has closed down. It had been in business for eleven years…“We have decided it is time to close the store and move on to the next chapter,” the store owners announced on Facebook…That’s a prime location downtown, but think about all the changes we’ve seen on that particular block over the last decade. Almost a total makeover…The average retail store nationwide has a lifespan of eight and a half years.

NO SURPRISE HERE…We’ve all been tuning in to the cable news stations much less since the election…MSNBC and CNN have plummeted in viewership, and Fox News has also experienced a major, but less serious, drop…The most significant number, though, may be the average age of viewers watching those three channels: How about 67-70 years old!…That’s not exactly the demographic that advertisers are looking for, and it portends a gloomy future for those stations.

SERIOUSLY? FIRST CLASS stamps now cost 73 cents. For those of us who don’t mail all that many cards and letters, that may come as a shock. In July, the price was raised from 68 to 73 cents—the sixth rate hike since 2021. Ten years ago, they cost 49 cents…So, it’s inflation. Everything has risen in price…It’s just that, unfortunately for the Post Office, there are now many other easier and more inexpensive ways to correspond with family, friends, and businesses.

THE LATEST SIGN of the impending collapse of our civilization: A healthcare CEO is gunned down on a New York City street. Clearly, an assassination. On the shell casings were written “deny”, “delay”, and “depose”. It’s not difficult to decipher the meanings there—hundreds of thousands of patients have been frustrated by the delaying and denying tactics of health insurance companies…But what’s especially significant and alarming here is that, after the assassination, thousands of people went online to cheer the assassination…Whoa. What’s become of us?…Then again, four years ago, we had a mob storm the U.S. Capitol, attempting to overturn a democratic election, and we’ve…more or less…put that behind us.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Whether in a suit or in a loincloth, people are ignorant little thorns cutting into one another. They seem incapable of advancing beyond the violent tendencies which at one time were necessary for survival.”

—Jhonen Vasquez