Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/category/commentary/page/2/)
Opinion-based articles, including columns, editorials and op-eds.
COMMENTARY MICHIGAN SUMMERS: For a Missouri girl growing up in St. Louis, summers meant time with grandparents in Ithaca and annual beach holidays on Lake Huron’s Tawas Bay, with ice cream every night, sand castles and grilled hamburgers. By Elaine Mallon. FOR MIDLAND, ALPENA, ALCONA, CHEBOYGAN, MONTMORENCY AND ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY TARNISHED GAVELS: Escalating criminal and ethics controversy enveloping ex-House Speaker Lee Chatfield is a reminder of how far the mighty can fall. Chatfield was one of Michigan’s two most powerful state legislators, but once the Emmet County Republican left office he’s been on the firing line as investigative journalists and law enforcement agencies probe a wide range of his activities. For all its perceived power and prestige, a speakership may bring temptations marked by greed, influence-peddling, favoritism and lax enforcement of ethics standards. Maybe it’s an occupational hazard: House speakers in Illinois, Ohio. Massachusetts, New York, Missouri, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina and elsewhere have been convicted of crimes. By Eric Freedman. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, DETROIT, CHEBOYGAN, PETOSKEY AND ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY CHANGE: Returning to East Bay Park in Traverse City with memories of childhood pleasures, with evidence of climate change and with thoughts of the park’s future. By Sierra Moore. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU AND ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY BEACHES: What happens when you detour 45 minutes from a destination wedding in Traverse City to explore a beach in Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore? You may fall in love with Lake Michigan. Commentary. By Emily Rizk. FOR LEELANAU, TRAVERSE CITY AND ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY TRAILS: Trails beckon us outdoors, even in cities, and can be surprisingly alive with wildlife, including Canada geese, turtles, red-winged blackbirds and even transplanted shrews. An East Lansing walker’s trail tale. By Vladislava Sukhanovskaya. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
WASTEWATER PRIVACY: Ever since John Snow, the father of epidemiology, linked an 1854 cholera outbreak in London to contaminated water, wastewater surveillance has been a tool for scientists to track disease. But some are raising medical privacy concerns in the modern age as wastewater is used to track COVID-19. In the Great Lakes Basin, universities are teaming up to join a national network, including the University of Toledo, Northwestern University, Notre Dame, Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin. By Mackenzie DeRaad. COMMENTARY FOR LANSING AND ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY GREEN MENTAL HEALTH: Dreaming about photographing exotic places around the world is fine, but it’s rewarding for our mental health to also treasure the wildlife around mid-Michigan – the red-tailed hawk, the tree frog, the deer, the possum, even the squirrel. By Jonus Cottrell. FOR ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY BLUEBERRIES: Summer brings back memories of growing up on a blueberry farm near Saginaw where some of the same customers have been returning for decades. But climate change threatens that way of life and the sense of community. By Danielle James. FOR HOLLAND, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS and ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY SUBURBAN PONDS: Suburban ponds threaten water quality and dog walkers. Once full of ducks, geese, fish, frogs and birds that could be heard from a mile away, with cattails thriving on the perimeter and kids fishing, some have been stripped bare of most vegetation and are coated with algae. By Caroline Miller. FOR DETROIT and ALL POINTS.
COMMENTARY ROCKY BEACHES: Childhood memories of collecting rocks at the beach confront the reality of rock armoring, a costly and unsuccessful attempt to prevent beach erosion on the Great Lakes. The director of the Michigan Geological Survey says rock armoring worsens the situation, a conclusion backed by research from the U.S. Geological Survey. For news, commentary and outdoors sections. By Genevieve Fox. FOR MARQUETTE, ALCONA, ALPENA, CHEBOYGAN, SAULT STE. MARIE, BAY MILLS, HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, OCEANA COUNTY, BENZIE COUNTY, MONROE, TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, PETOSKEY, ST. IGNACE, MANISTEE, HARBOR SPRINGS and ALL POINTS.