WobblyReport

Listen to Michigan has crafted a simple message with an easy ask: turn in an “uncommitted” ballot on Tuesday to demand a ceasefire in Gaza from the incumbent U.S. president. That’s a great tactic for those committed to working within the Democratic Party for change. But how does it fit strategically for those outside the Democratic Party? Per Michigan election law and electoral developments to date, resident voters may choose from one or the other major U.S. political parties in this Sunday’s presidential primary election. Both primaries are run on the same ballot, which makes more sense than printing two ballots for each voter and then throwing half of them away, even if it leads to some confused voters invalidating their ballots by voting for a candidate from each party. Minor parties select candidates to run in the general election through a nominating convention, but their members can still vote in Michigan’s primaries, as can unaffiliated and independent voters. Theoretically...

Having left town for the holidays, I only became aware of this incident by arriving early at a Jan. 2 meeting of county commissioners and overhearing one of the commissioners mention it. At the office, the editor said they had heard about it and that it was sad. Dog bites woman through vehicle window The Wild Blueberry Breakfast and Bakery is a popular morning meetup location for many locals. Dawn Nelson, 81, formerly chair of the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners as well as  county assessor, was seriously injured by a dog in the parking lot of the Wild Blueberry Breakfast and Bakery on the morning of Dec. 24. Nelson (photo courtesy St. Ignace Police) [removed per request of family member] Nelson sustained injuries to her hand and face, including partial loss of her nose, when she approached the side of her son’s vehicle and was attacked through an open window by Heff, a 6-year-old, male, pit bull mix. Nicholas Nelson, 38, reported to police that his father had pet the dog thr...

Let us return, dear readers, to an episode from the Saturday before Halloween last year. After running  a  race and submitting a short article  about  the event, I learned that on e  participant had not survived  the time trial . I  raised the subject  at the office but was not encouraged to pursue it.  My notes were destroyed but I’ve taken bits from  the  original article in addition to memories and subsequent investigations. A fine way to die on a fine day to die Reluctantly crouched at the starting line... We must begin with a full disclosure that our narrator was himself a participant in the Great Turtle Trail Run on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023, finishing the half-marathon race 52nd in a field of 570 and 7th out of 23 competitors in the same age*sex bracket. It was nothing short of a glorious return to form after a 20-year hiatus from competitive running. Ian Torchia (photo from free online gallery ) The half-marathon winner, a 32...

Unpublished without explanation by my former editor. Commissioners approve 2024 budget The amount of money in Mackinac County's general fund has held steady for the past decade, ranging from $4.3 to $5.1 million. Budget shortfalls have been projected but unrealized. (Data source: Mackinac County Treasurer's Office) The board of commissioners for Mackinac County approved a proposed budget for 2024 at their last meeting of the year Thursday, Dec. 28. The budget shows balanced expenditures and revenues at a figure of $9.34 million with an anticipated general fund balance of $4.22 million. “The county’s in good shape financially,” said Mike Patrick, board chair. “The budget’s better than it was last year. There’s a lot of money coming in after the first of the year.” The county is expecting expenditures of $9,339,956 in 2024, which would lead to an $834,074 revenue shortfall, balanced by an offset taken from the general fund. But treasurer Jennifer Goudreau said large projected bud...

I pitched this "winter silent sports preview" article back in Nov. and submitted sometime in Dec. The published version  is but a dim reflection of the following, spirited draft. Silent sports enthusiasts eager for winter on Mackinac Island The author in Michigan's upper peninsula, Feb. 2023. (Cat Marsh) The hush that lives in snow-blanketed forest valleys is a precious thing. Breaking a backcountry trail through deep powder is akin to discovering a secret, parallel world. The landscape’s palette is reduced, all the wild colors of autumn spent. Deciduous trees stand stark in the cold, skeletal and naked, while their conifer cousins sag with heavy, white garlands. The birds are fled, the insects sleeping, or dead. All movements and the wind itself seem muffled and padded, though the cold be paradoxically sharp. Communing with this sort of natural setting requires embracing contradiction. One applies layer upon layer of thermal barrier in order to venture out and embrace th...

Unpublished by former editor without feedback or explanation. Public Service Commission grants Enbridge permit A member of the public speaks critically at the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority meeting Dec. 7, 2023. Screen grab source:   MSCA YouTube . Enbridge cleared another state agency hurdle Dec. 1, 2023, when the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a siting application for its proposed tunnel and Line 5 pipeline replacement under the Straits of Mackinac. The MPSC’s order prompted immediate statements from Enbridge and other organizations either supporting or opposing the construction of the tunnel and continued operation of Line 5, and was the subject of a substantial amount of the discussion at the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority (MSCA) meeting the following week. The tunnel would extend from Point LaBarbe in Moran Township to McGulpin Point in Mackinaw City, housing replacements for two 70-year-old pipes sitting on the bed of Lake Michigan in the Straits of M...