Lansing State Journal. July 22, 2018
Lansing City Market is no more, next attempt must be ’use it or lose it’
Come September, there will be no Lansing City Market. It’s time to accept it.
The market, which had its city subsidy halved in May, can’t afford to stay open. And the city can’t afford to let prime real estate along the Grand River sit unused.
That means the community must come together to find the right solution for the property.
In June the City Council proposed repealing part of the ordinance that designated the land as permanent site of the Lansing City Market. This would allow the building to be sold, however the land remains a park. To sell park land, a ballot initiative must be approved by voters.
It’s time to let it go. The city does not have the resources to be property managers here and private development is a net positive if done correctly. Plus the site is a great spot to promote Lansing’s nightlife or simply attract more visitors downtown.
The city should work within limits to be as selective as possible when selling - especially to prevent more housing, which would only create a wall and further block the view of the river. This land must still belong to the people and remain accessible as a venue in whatever form it takes.
As for the future of the Lansing City Market, it well may be that Greater Lansing has enough farmers markets - around two dozen at last count.
Lansing has not had a true city market for years - failure to attract farmers led to it losing federal designation as a farmer’s market in 2016, longtime vendors have steadily disappeared and people did not show up in large enough numbers to sustain it.
Perhaps what downtown really needs is simply a grocery or general store. A place that combines public space with music, demonstrations and quality products that attract shoppers would be welcome, however this could be accomplished in myriad other ways.
Mayor Andy Schor said, “We’re going to have conversations about the future of the market, and we’ll entertain proposals that come our way. There’s been no decisions made, no contracts signed, nothing.”
Whatever the city decides, the plan hinges on residents and visitors alike. People must support it.
There have been enough failed attempts at having a Lansing City Market over the years. Next time, it must be made perfectly clear: It’s use it or lose it.
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Midland Daily News. July 21, 2018
Time running out on SRO plan
School resource officers have been around for a long time. They began appearing in the 1950s, and the first documented one was in the city of Flint.
Most people know the term school resource officer, or SRO, refers to an officer that provides safety and security inside our schools. They are a valuable commodity.
They can break up trouble before, during or after it happens. They can provide a sense of security for students and teachers, so those people can concentrate on the academic task at hand. Teachers have not been trained to be police officers.
Today, in a world of increasing gun violence on school property, the hiring of an SRO appears to be an almost mandatory move for school leaders. These officers are an insurance policy for our children and our teachers. And while we insure our homes and our property, who would insure the things of this world before they would protect people.
We are glad to see that the Beaverton Rural Schools recently found a way to finance the position of an SRO for its district. The community on the northern edge of Midland County is not awash in cash. But it has made an SRO a priority and got the job done.
Midland County schools outside of the Midland district are in a difficult situation. They might need the support of a county-wide millage to finance the addition of an SRO for Bullock Creek, Meridian and Coleman school districts.
Time is running out for county and school officials to band together and reach an agreement on a tax question for the November ballot. This question may also have to include Midland schools to have a good chance of success. Yet, Midland schools have a different plan in place - with officers already on the job at the high schools.
There may not be an easy solution. So it may take some exceptional, creative leadership to bring this about.
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Traverse City Record-Eagle. July 22, 2018
Line 5 pipeline has overstayed its welcome
Never say never.
It’s about time we learn to stop downplaying risks related to the Line 5 oil pipeline where it crosses the Straits of Mackinac and begin moving forward with what now should be the obvious move to eliminate the threat.
If the past several years of questions about condition of the the twin 65-year-old pipes that cross the lakebed between the Upper and Lower peninsulas wasn’t enough, the latest risk assessment should do the job.
In fact, that report should be the final coffin nail needed to convince any thoughtful politician, business owner, homeowner, vacationer or bureaucrat that the pair of lines that flow up to 23 million gallons of oil each day have overstayed their welcome. That 398-page report was authored by Michigan Technological University professor Guy Meadows for the pipeline’s owner, Enbridge Energy and was released to state regulators Monday as part of an agreement between the state and the company.
And the assessment wasn’t pretty.
In fact, it indicated the potential worst-case-scenario spill from the line is far worse than we have been led to believe. Meadows estimated a catastrophic rupture of both lines and a failure of the remote shutoff valves at either side of the crossing could cause more than 2.4 million gallons of oil to flow into the lake before the company could manually close the valves. That’s more than double the amount of oil the company spilled from its Line 6b into the Kalamazoo River watershed about eight years ago.
Company officials contend such a failure on Line 5 is exceedingly unlikely, and they may be right in the near term. The key word in the previous sentence is “may”. We don’t think it’s worth gambling on the word “may”. The risks are simply too great.
But those same officials previously said the chances a ship passing through the straits dropping its anchor and damaging the twin spans is unlikely. That was before news broke earlier this year that a boat had dropped its anchor, severed a pair of unused electric transmission cables and damaged Line 5 in the process.
The risk report also outlined a number of less severe leak scenarios, each would entail thousands of gallons of oil flowing into the Great Lakes. Company officials and just about every Michigander agree any amount of oil leaking into our freshwater lakes would be unacceptable.
So there comes the greater question.
Why is the fate of Line 5 even up for debate?
Nothing lasts forever, especially infrastructure exposed to Mother Nature in Michigan. So why, if we all agree even a drop of oil loosed into our lakes would be too much, are we allowing a ticking time bomb to continue through pumping millions of gallons each day?
We certainly don’t need more studies to tell us the risks are grave and the potential for catastrophe looms.
State and company officials soon will consider a number of options for alternatives to the crossing, some that would entail a new pipeline crossing at the Straits. Those options likely will cause prolonged debate and delay action on Line 5, an unnecessary blurring of what should be two separate issues.
Line 5 has overstayed its welcome and its time to set a concrete date when the last drop of oil will flow through it.
Because every day that passes is another 24 hours tempting a fate none of us want to face.
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The Mining Journal (Marquette). July 18, 2018
Finding long-lost servicemen, women our responsibility
One of the tragic consequences of war is death, and after it happens, families and loved ones have to bear the pain.
It never goes away completely, but having some sort of closure in the form of a ceremonial burial might ease some of that pain.
That happened recently when, 76 years after his death during the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, Navy Fireman 2nd Class Lowell E. Valley was laid to rest with full military honors at the Holy Family Catholic Ceremony in Ontonagon.
The fallen sailor was escorted to his final resting place by the Legion Riders.
The 19-year-old, who had served on the USS Oklahoma during the attack, had long remained among the unidentified victims.
However, Valley’s brother, Bob, had worked for two decades to identify USS Oklahoma sailors with the USS Oklahoma Survivors and Family group, focusing on a group of 27 sailors who had been identified via dental records, although the information hadn’t been made public.
Lowell Valley returned home to Ontonagon after family members provided DNA samples.
Now all 27 sailors have been located, with only one yet to be buried.
“We never thought this day would ever come,” said Valley’s daughter, Sharon Valley Nelson, in a Houghton Daily Mining Gazette article.
Unfortunately, that probably can’t be said for every lost soldier, sailor, pilot or other veterans.
However, efforts have been made to identify lost warriors.
For example, DNA technology was used on bone fragments from World War I soldiers who served in France and Papua New Guinea.
“These soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice for our country so the least that we can do is try to identify them, give them the honour that they deserve and hopefully give some sort of closure to the families,” said Jodie Ward, a forensic DNA specialist at New South Wales Health Pathology in Australia, in an April 2017 online article for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
That quote pretty much sums it up.
We’d like to think that Americans don’t like to give up either, and not forget their fallen heroes.
It’s our imperative responsibility to account for as many long-lost veterans as possible. Remember: They gave their lives for our country.
If the United States sent solders, many of whom were only in their teens, off to war - sometimes in support of questionable causes - we owe it to them to return them home, even if it’s many years after their deaths.
The soldiers might not know it, except in spirit, but their families certainly will appreciate the effort. For some people, visiting a gravesite is a tangible way to remember a loved one.
Veterans should be remembered, not forgotten.
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