March 2007 Viewpoints -- May 2007 Viewpoints

Recent Viewpoints

Pilgrimage to Eagle Rock

By Sue Ellen Kingsley  Posted 05/27/2007

HANCOCK -- Eagle Rock, in the northwestern reaches of Marquette County, is the planned portal for Kennecott Minerals Corporation's proposed Eagle Project sulfide mine. The proposal calls for blasting through Eagle Rock and tunneling west under the Salmon Trout River into acid-generating sulfide ore, to extract nickel and copper. Inspired by an article, "Eagle Rock as U.P. Pilgrimage Site," by Jon Saari, Board president of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC), Keweenaw Now guest writer Sue Ellen Kingsley decided this was something she wanted to do. Kingsley describes and illustrates with photos her recent pilgrimage to Eagle Rock, where she and friend Kate Alvord joined their offerings to symbolic objects left by other pilgrims, including members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community who regard Eagle Rock as a sacred site. more 

Letter: Stop the Eagle Mine Project forever

By Ted Johnson  Posted 03/16/2007

CALUMET -- Ted Johnson of Calumet asks local residents to step forward and stop Kennecott Minerals'  proposed Eagle Project for sulfide mining on the Yellow Dog Plains before it is too late. "The Upper Peninsula is the last bastion in Michigan capable of saving the pristine landscapes, the unspoiled lakes and rivers, tribal ceded lands, major bird and wildfowl flyways, trophy deer and fish, a safe and friendly living environment, and unique and remaining resources," Johnson writes. He notes how unsustainable "economic" development, such as sulfide mining, actually decreases the value and serenity of the land and leaves communities to clean up the environmental destruction. more

International Women's Day, March 8, focuses on violence against women and girls

Posted 03/08/2007 


CALUMET -- The United Nations' message for March 8, International Women's Day 2007, is "Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls." While the U.N. holds a panel discussion on this worldwide problem today, why not think globally and act locally by supporting the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter in Calumet. According to their newsletter, the Shelter needs such items as toilet paper, large diapers, laundry detergent, dish soap, trash and storage bags. Other ways to help are to purchase the Shelter cookbook or to donate Econo Foods receipts, stocks, cash, old cell phones and volunteer time. In 2006, 1299 individuals were served through the Shelter's crisis line, residential and non-residential services, while 4187.25 hours of direct service were provided by 12 volunteers. Send donations to Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home for Abused Women, P.O. Box 8, Calumet, MI 49913. Visit their Web site for more information. See also our Oct. 14, 2006, article by Alex Matiella Novak, children's worker at the Shelter, "Walking Against Violence." 
Logo: United Nations logo for International Women's Day, March 8, 2007. Click on logo to view their Web site and information on "Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls." (Logo © 2007 United Nations. Reprinted with permission.)

Letter: M-16s in the forest? I thought it was a joke.

By Bonnie Peterson  Posted 03/05/2007

HOUGHTON -- On Thursday afternoon, Feb. 22, 2007, members of the Michigan Tech Army ROTC program reportedly conducted a training session in the BOSS Snowplow Wax Center located on the MTU cross-country Ski Trails (now called the MTU Nordic Training Center). In an email to cross-country skiers a few days in advance of the training session, Mike Abbott, Michigan Tech Sports and Recreation director, informed skiers of the ROTC plan to use this facility. Several skiers sent comments to the email list. Bonnie Peterson sent a strong objection, questioning the appropriateness of a military use for the skiing facility: "It's contrary to the peace of the woods; its plainly disturbing to see people with rifles, no matter where they are or what their purpose. What does this say to our children?" Peterson wrote. Replies to the skiers' list and to Peterson in private accused her of being "unpatriotic." She shares her views here in a letter to the editor. more

Keweenaw Now wishes "Peace on Earth" to all

Posted 12/25/2006

HANCOCK -- Keweenaw Now wishes to all our readers and their families a peaceful, safe and happy holiday season. We also wish all of you a new year of health, happiness and time to enjoy our special Keweenaw environment.
Photo of the Phoenix Church on U.S. 41 near Eagle River. The church is a museum maintained by the Keweenaw County Historical Society. (Keweenaw Now file photo © 2004 and courtesy Jim Junttila of Laurium. Click on church for larger photo.)

Mike Lahti: Candidate for Michigan House of Representatives, 110th District 

By Mike Lahti  Posted 10/21/2006  

HANCOCK -- Mike Lahti, Democratic candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives, 110th District, shares with Keweenaw Now readers his positions on key issues for the November 7, 2006 election. "I feel the most important issues facing the western U.P. and the State of Michigan are: jobs, education, health care and clean land and water," Lahti says. Lahti believes Michigan needs to encourage a business climate that creates jobs and keeps existing jobs. To ensure that Michigan children can compete for the jobs of the future, Lahti, notes, the state must fund K-12, college and university education. He also favors legislation to provide affordable health care for the uninsured, opposes diversion of Great Lakes water and calls for reducing the amount of out-of-state and Canadian trash filling Michigan landfills. more

Walking Against Violence

By Alexandra Matiella Novak  Posted 10/15/2006  

HOUGHTON -- Alexandra Matiella Novak, a survivor of domestic violence and now a children's worker for the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home, shared her experience in a talk during the Walk Against Violence on July 19, 2006, in Houghton. The Gundlach Shelter Home and the Copper Country Humane Society collaborated on this special project to raise awareness about family violence that includes pets. Participants in the event included over 95 people and 38 dogs. Matiella Novak will also participate in the upcoming Candlelight Ceremony for Survivors of Domestic Violence to be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church in Houghton. Her talk at the July Walk appeared recently in Off the Beaten Path, the newsletter of the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter. It is reprinted here with permission and with our Keweenaw Now photos of the Walk. more

Gore's Inconvenient Truth "stunning"

By Joe Kirkish  Posted 08/29/2006  

HOUGHTON -- Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, is scheduled for a limited engagement, at 7 p.m. and at 9 p.m., through Thursday, Aug. 31, at the Lode in Houghton. Film critic Joe Kirkish calls it "stunning," gives it a grade of A, and says, "Everyone should run, not walk" to see Gore's impressive message on the time bomb that threatens with global warming. more

Nominations sought for 2006 Heart and Hands Award 

By Suzanne Van Dam Posted 05/30/2006  Updated June 1, 2006

HOUGHTON -- Nominations are now being sought for the 2006 Heart and Hands of the Keweenaw Award in recognition of persons (individuals or couples) who have given of their Heart and Hands in the service of peace, justice or the environment. A  youth award is also available for a young person age 18 or under. Consider nominating someone by filling out the nomination form before the June 23 deadline. An accompanying monetary award is given to a local, nonprofit organization designated by the recipient of the Heart and Hands award. This year the monetary award will be $1000 for the general award and $250 for the youth award. more

Organizing MTU-EWB's Bolivia project

By Brandon Braithwaite Posted and updated 04/27/2006 

HOUGHTON -- Last November Brandon Braithwaite, a graduate student in Michigan Tech's Peace Corps Masters International program, participated in a project to build a sewage treatment system and bathroom facilities for a school in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with the Michigan Tech Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), an organization dedicated to construction and environmental projects in the developing world. Braithwaite shares his thoughts on how he became involved in the organization and fundraising (He served as EWB event organizer) of the project and on the positive interaction of the MTU group with the local Bolivian community, where smiles and a sense of humor helped overcome language barriers. more

DEQ Public Hearing on sulfide mining: Apr. 18, 2006

By Ted Soldan Posted 04/25/2006 

HOUGHTON -- Guest columnist Ted Soldan was among steering committee members of FOLK (Friends of the Land of Keweenaw) who attended the DEQ (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) Apr. 18 public hearing on Kennecott Minerals Company's proposed Eagle Project sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains east of Marquette. Soldan offers his impressions of the hearing: a two-hour, informative informal session where DEQ staff reviewing the permit application made themselves available for questions and comments and a 90-minute public comment session where concerned citizens could sign up and give a very brief (90-second) comment to DEQ officials. Soldan reports the DEQ ended the hearing at 10 p.m., depriving some citizens of their right to speak. more

My outward-facing church

By Carolyn "Candy" Peterson  Posted 04/14/2006 

HANCOCK -- Carolyn "Candy" Peterson says her church, the First United Methodist Church in Hancock, welcomes people with a variety of beliefs and opens its doors to a variety of groups, from her own "neighborhood coffee" gathering to the Copper Country Guatemalan Accompaniment Project (CCGAP) to Tai Chi classes. Peterson attributes the congregation's openness to Minister Eugene Bacon, who, she says, "challenges us to stand outside our culture of competition, hard work, frenetic activity and material possessions and to recognize how these influences have stifled our better selves. He encourages our congregation to be an outward-facing circle that sees the good in all people." more 

Letter to Editor: Scrubbing chalk ...

By Anna Cynar  Posted 04/11/2006  Updated 04/17/2006

HOUGHTON -- On Friday morning, April 7, 2006, during (Gay) Pride Week at Michigan Technological University, hate-filled, anti-gay messages written in chalk appeared in many locations on the campus. MTU's office of Public Safety is conducting a full investigation of this incident. University officials have condemned these actions as "inappropriate and harmful to members of our community," not to be tolerated. On Friday, MTU student Anna Cynar found herself taking photos of the chalkings and then scraping away the hateful messages. Soon others joined her, scraping away the chalk in silence. Later, Anna sent an email expressing her own reaction to the chalkings. "Chalk does disintegrate, does wash away, because it is nothing compared to compassion and understanding," she writes. "Although hate doesn't wash away with a splash of water, it can be flooded, flooded by voices who are not silenced by its foolishness." more 

Obituary: Janet Morrow Avery, 1926-2006

Posted 03/21/2006 

GRATIOT LAKE -- Janet Morrow Avery, 79, of Gratiot Lake, Keweenaw County, died Saturday, March 11, at Marquette General Hospital, after a valiant fight, from complications of pneumonia. Keweenaw Now wishes to extend to Eugene "Bud" Avery and other members of Janet Avery's family our sincere expression of sympathy in this time of sorrow. We will never forget Janet and her determination to protect the health of Lake Superior and the quality of life here in the Keweenaw Peninsula. In addition to being a dedicated teacher, mother and grandmother, Janet Avery was an active and articulate citizen at local land use planning meetings, and she was instrumental in the early phases of protecting Bete Grise from over-development. As founder and president of AWAKE (Association Working Against Keweenaw Exploitation), she vigorously sought integrity and accountability for mining activities proposed in the western Upper Peninsula and in Wisconsin. A memorial gathering in her honor will be held in the spring. Expressions of support may be directed to the Janet M. Avery Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Gratiot Lake Conservancy, or to the Keweenaw Animal Alliance. Read the obituary. 

Engineers Without Borders benefit concert successful

By Wade Wainio  Posted 03/06/2006  Updated 03/07/2006

HANCOCK -- Keweenaw Now guest writer Wade Wainio offers his impressions of the recent benefit concert held by Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a group of Michigan Tech University students dedicated to construction and environmental projects in the developing world. The concert earned over $1,200 for EWB's present and future projects. Wainio says the concert, held at the Uphill 41 in Hancock, was a musical success as well. The bands at the concert were Annie Feed Water, Joe Ridgeway, Townes Heir (winners of the Winter Carnival Big Band Bash), Jovian Death Ray and the "reggae-fusion" band Variance. more
Photo: Keweenaw Now guest writer Wade Wainio, a musician himself, practices his guitar. (Photo ©  2006 and courtesy Wade Wainio.)

Sulfide mining unacceptable

By Diane Miller  Posted 12/18/2005 

HOUGHTON -- Guest columnist Diane Miller comments on the Dec. 6 Forum on Sulfide Mining held at Michigan Tech University. Forum panelists, including a representative of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), discussed the new state rules governing non-ferrous metallic mineral mining and the arguments for and against the Eagle Project, the controversial proposed nickel-copper sulfide mine in Marquette County. Miller expresses her gratitude to the sponsors of the forum, while noting that "rather than discussing whether sulfide mining will be approved for the Yellow Dog and Salmon Trout rivers, the DEQ's focus seems to be on the rules regarding the mining activity -- as if, in effect, it is already a given that it will happen." The public has until Dec. 19 to comment on these rules. more

Letter: Washington, D.C., anti-war demonstration and mass civil disobedience in front of the White House

By Scott Rutherford  Posted 10/30/2005  Updated with photos 11/09/05

HANCOCK -- Guest columnist Scott Rutherford offers an account and photos of his participation in the Sept. 24, 2005, anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C., and in the civil disobedience action in front of the White House that followed on Sept. 26. "After traveling to Camp Casey to meet Cindy Sheehan in August, it seemed only fitting to join her in Washington, D.C.," Rutherford writes. His letter is a follow-up to his Sept. 4, 2005, letter to Keweenaw Now on the Camp Casey visit. In Washington, Rutherford, with fellow members of  Veterans for Peace, joined a group of 370 demonstrators arrested for civil disobedience in front of the White House. (Photo: From left, in background, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Cindy Sheehan and Rev. Al Sharpton hold banner with other anti-war demonstrators in Washington, D.C. Sept. 24, 2005. Photo © 2005 Scott Rutherford. Reprinted with permission.) more

Fisherman's Sunrise on Lac La Belle

Posted 10/18/2005

LAC LA BELLE -- What possesses fishermen to be out on the water when the sun comes up? Is it the beauty of a Keweenaw sunrise? Is it because big, hungry walleye, northern and smallmouth prowl these waters at dawn, thinking a big, fat crawler or a juicy minnow might go nice for breakfast? "It's both of those things and more," says outdoor writer and photographer Jim Junttila, "but when a day this beautiful breaks, I  just want to be there to fix it." Photo: Sunrise on Lac La Belle. (Photo © 2005 Jim Junttila. Reprinted with permission. Click here or on photo for larger version.)

Guatemala: Artificial Survival

By Marc Thibault-Bellerose   Posted 10/16/2005

HANCOCK -- The Copper Country Guatemala Accompaniment Project (CCGAP) shares an article that recently appeared in their newsletter. Translated by their parent organization, NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala), the article talks about the TV reality show "Survival," filmed in Guatemala. As the author of the article points out, "In Guatemala, survival is not created artificially for the benefit of viewers. If we consider that 56% of the population live in poverty, that 37% "survive" on less than $2 a day and that 16% live in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day), survival is not a game for many Guatemalans. Surviving is the sad, everyday reality, not something to go out and acquire." more

Letter: Trip to Camp Casey, August 2005

By Scott Rutherford  Posted 09/05/2005

HANCOCK -- Scott Rutherford of Hancock reports on the trip he and Vern Simula made in August to meet Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, Texas. "We wanted to learn more about how she was reviving the anti-war movement and find out how we could help her," Rutherford writes. Describing the enthusiastic spirit at Camp Casey, named for Cindy's son, a soldier killed in Iraq, Rutherford notes Cindy has emerged as the anti-war movement's leading spokesperson and has inspired other "Camp Caseys" all over the country, where people are holding vigils and mobilizing bus trips to Washington for the Sept. 24 March on Washington. more

Peak Oil

By Ray Molzon  Posted 06/27/2005

HANCOCK --  Guest author Ray Molzon presents another thought-provoking column -- this time reminding readers of the impending energy crisis. Peak Oil is a term referring to the moment in time when global oil production reaches a climax -- a moment that "some believe is five or ten years down the road, if not already passed," Molzon says. He reminds us that petroleum, in addition to its uses for transportation, is used in the manufacture and packaging of an inestimable number of products we take for granted -- from laundry detergent to cosmetics to ball point pens. Molzon notes it is time the mainstream press addressed this issue. more

Copper Harbor and National Trails Day

By Sam Raymond  Posted 06/16/2005

COPPER HARBOR -- National Trails Day, June 4, 2005, marked the third consecutive year that volunteers in Copper Harbor have participated in this national event on the local level. Guest author Sam Raymond, owner of the Keweenaw Adventure Company in Copper Harbor, reports his staff organized over 30 volunteers who donated their day to such tasks as clearing deadfall and debris, raking the trails, posting new trail signs and building several new bridges and boardwalks. Tony Schwenn adds his photos of trail work. Raymond also writes about upcoming trail events in Copper Harbor, a temporary moratorium on logging to protect Keweenaw County trails and the Michigan Nature Association's latest land acquisition project to protect the Estivant Pines and the future of trails in the area. more
Photo: Sam Raymond in front of his colorful Keweenaw Adventure Company sign, Copper Harbor. (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)

Improving Terrace Park

By Tammy Racine  Posted 06/04/2005

HANCOCK -- Guest author Tammy Racine, a student at the B.R.I.D.G.E. Alternative High School in Hancock, offers her vision of an improved Terrace Park. Tammy was one of nearly 50 B.R.I.D.G.E. students who have been building a walking trail in the park. The trail opened on June 1 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and trail walk attended by Hancock City Council members.* Tammy gives reasons why she and fellow students believe a skate park would be another good addition to Terrace Park. more
Photo: B.R.I.D.G.E. student and guest author Tammy Racine and her friend Chris Duefrene, a former B.R.I.D.G.E. student, participated in the ribbon cutting and opening of the Terrace Park Walking Trail in east  Hancock on June 1, 2005.* (Photo © 2005 Michele Anderson)
* Read and see photos of B.R.I.D.G.E. students and their work on the Terrace Park Walking Trail.

Guatemala Update 

By Sue Ellen Kingsley  Posted 05/18/2005

HANCOCK -- Guest author Sue Ellen Kingsley, director of the Copper Country Guatemalan Accompaniment Project (CCGAP), and five other local residents recently returned from a visit to the Guatemalan village of Fronterizo, where they delivered medical and school supplies and $3500 raised here in the Copper Country by CCGAP and the Copper Country Reading Council for a new school. Kingsley describes the warm welcome they received and the people's enthusiasm about building the school. more

Wal-Mart 

By Ray Molzon  Posted 05/11/2005

HANCOCK -- Guest columnist Ray Molzon says an escape to "God's Country" is only relative if one notices, on Houghton's M-26, the pattern of commercial development "that can be found along the main highway of practically any town of decent size" -- giant buildings, fast-food restaurants, no sidewalks, and "a looming Wal-Mart ... currently being metamorphosed into a Super Wal-Mart." Citing satire from a favorite T.V. program, South Park, Molzon questions both the quality of Wal-Mart goods and the labor practices behind the giant corporation's low prices. more

Cooking at The Abbey: "The Kids" 

By Malcolm Hudson  Posted 04/20/2005

LAKE LINDEN -- Malcolm Hudson, chef at The Abbey in Lake Linden, has been giving cooking lessons to both children and adults. He describes his discovery that teaching kids can be "fun, invigorating [and] unexpected." Invited by Mrs. Heide, Lake Linden Elementary teacher, to teach one or two of her Great Explorations cooking classes one afternoon, Hudson accepted and volunteered to do more. He is now teaching two classes from CLK (Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw) schools and two from Lake Linden. His last Saturday cooking seminar for adults this spring -- The Complete Brunch -- will  be held from 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Apr. 23. more

Keweenaw loss: Jim Rooks of Copper Harbor, 1935 - 2005

By Michele Anderson  Posted 03/24/2005

COPPER HARBOR -- Jim Rooks -- naturalist, nature guide and educator -- passed away March 10, 2005, at Zablocki Veterans Memorial Hospital in Milwaukee. Keweenaw Now and friends wish to express our deepest sympathy to Laurel Rooks of Copper Harbor, their daughter Hannah and Jim's other family members. From his helping to save the old-growth Estivant Pines to his Keweenaw eco-tours, Jim will be remembered for many contributions to conservation and education. more 

Omphale to exhibit Borsvold sculpture

By Charlotte Templin  Posted 10/07/2004

CALUMET -- Anyone who knows Calumet sculptor Gordon Borsvold will agree with Keweenaw Now guest author and Keweenaw visitor Charlotte Templin that Borsvold is "the grand champion of recycling." The public is invited to view Borsvold's "whimsical and provocative art," which is on display through October, at the Omphale Gallery in Calumet. An Opening Reception will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8. Templin, a professor at the University of Indianapolis and author of books and articles on comedy and on other subjects, finds the wit and humor of Borsvold's art to be its great strength.  more

Manitou Island Bird Survey 2004 Season

By Joseph Youngman and Dana Richter Posted 03/15/2004

HOUGHTON -- Joseph Youngman, director of the Manitou Island Bird Survey, will present "The Manitou Island Bird Survey 2003 and Beyond," a slide show and talk, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Mar. 16, in the MTU Forestry Building, Rm. G002. Youngman, along with Dana Richter, Copper Country Audubon president, note that the 2004 Survey will begin in April with monitoring spring raptor migration at Manitou Island, in Lake Superior near the Keweenaw Tip. Youngman recently received a Michigan Audubon Society Mini-Grant for survey equipment. more

Patriotism redefined

By Ray Sharp  Posted 02/28/2004

HOUGHTON -- Over breakfast in a local café, Keweenaw Now political correspondent Ray Sharp discusses life, liberty and the pursuit of the presidency, the Orwellian redefinition of patriotism and why the defense of marriage became more urgent than the defense of America. more

School of the Americas Protest: November 2003

By Sue Ellen Kingsley  Posted 12/16/2003

HANCOCK -- Guest author Sue Ellen Kingsley offers an eye-witness account of the November 2003 non-violent protest to close the School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Ga. The SOA, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC), trains military leaders from Latin America. Kingsley, who was among the thousands of protesters at the event, notes these are the very leaders that ordered the massacres in the jungles of Guatemala -- military officers who continue to direct violent operations in Colombia and elsewhere. more

We've Got Wireless!

By Lynn Torkelson Posted 07/15/2003

TORCH LAKE TOWNSHIP -- Guest columnist Lynn Torkelson describes how PastyNET's new wireless Internet service, recently installed through an inconspicuous antenna on the Quincy Mine Hoist, reaches the computers for his company, SoftMedia Artisans, Inc., located on Portage Lake, south of Dollar Bay. A single wireless transceiver serves all the computers on his local network with a connection that is 8 to 10 times faster and eliminates the expense of separate phone lines to each computer. more

Friends pay tribute to Nicole Bloom, climbing accident victim

By Bethany Baibak, Liz Ross and Jessica Bibbee Posted and updated 06/27/2003

HOUGHTON -- Nicole Bloom, 23, of Stevensville, Mich., a recent Michigan Tech graduate, lost her life last weekend in a tragic accident while climbing in the Grand Tetons, near Jackson, Wyoming. Rescuers found her body on June 21. In a tribute to Nicole, her friends Bethany Baibak, Liz Ross and Jessica Bibbee describe Nicole's love of the outdoors and her active commitment to environmental issues. Keweenaw Now appreciates the permission to publish this tribute to Nicole's short but inspiring life, and we have added links to the Funeral Home Guest Book and Obituary. more

Bernie Larsen keeps local music alive at ExUrban

By Adam Johnson Posted 04/27/2003

HOUGHTON -- Musician Bernie Larsen, a Toivola native son, has returned to the Copper Country and opened a successor to his former SubUrban Exchange -- the ExUrban -- which he plans as a community hub for local musicians and artists, open to all people of all ages. Guest author and musician Adam Johnson tells how local musicians and groups, from Erik Koskinen and Melissa Davis to Rhythm Kitchen, have begun performing and recording at the ExUrban, located above Superior Music at 416 Shelden Avenue in Houghton's downtown. more

Dissent Heard and Heeded

By Alexis Levine Posted 03/04/2003

HOUGHTON -- Guest writer Alexis Levine describes how she and two cohorts, dressed in humorous "old lady" and "Windbag Professor" garb, served cookies to passers-by outside Hancock's Uphill 41 bar in a peaceful mockery of Mt. Bohemia's January 2003 bikini contest, which the young women found degrading. more

A "Pilgrimage" for National Day of Poetry Against the War

By Bob Olsgard Posted 02/12/2003

SPOONER, WIS. -- In honor of the National Day of Poetry Against the War, Feb. 12, 2003, Bob Olsgard, coordinator of the Lake Superior Alliance, sends a poem, "Pilgrimage," inspired by his participation in the January 18, 2003, peace march in Washington, D.C. more

Duluth Fair Trade rally targets Wal-Mart, globalization

By Vern Simula Posted 11/19/2002

TOIVOLA -- Guest author Vern Simula describes a "down-home" democracy rally in Duluth, Minn., where union members protested against Wal-Mart and the dangers of globalization of trade and services to working men and women in the United States and around the world. Simula and two other Copper Country residents attended the October rally, where the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone was among the speakers. Calumet resident Gordon Borsvold offers a tribute to Wellstone, and a Minnesota high school student charges Wal-Mart with denying workers' rights. more

Peace, Not War

By Jim Brisky Posted 09/10/2002

MATTAWAN, MICH. -- In a letter to the editor, Jim Brisky of Mohawk and Mattawan, Mich., says he is horrified by the President and his advisors pushing our going to war on Iraq. Noting his disillusionment with both major political parties in the United States, Brisky says the billions used to try and control the world could be better spent on solving the problems in those countries and in our own. more

A Tribute to Dr. Robert T. Brown, 1923 - 2002

By Dana Richter Posted 08/30/2002

HOUGHTON -- Dr. Robert Thorson Brown, 78, Professor Emeritus of Michigan Technological University and Houghton resident, passed away on Sunday, August 25, 2002. A memorial service for Dr. Brown will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, in the Portage Lake United Church in Houghton. Dr. Brown was a community leader and a guest writer for Keweenaw Now. His good friend Dana Richter offers this tribute. more

 March 2007 Viewpoints -- May 2007 Viewpoints