Congrats to Graduates, Governor Appoints First Yooper to Appeals Court, the UP and Canada, Opinion in Rural Insights, and Stats Around Michigan

– INFORMED BREVITY –

Coming Up On Rural Insights

On Wednesday we will be publishing a new article by Russel Magnaghi called Tourist-Camper Liked U.P. Trip, an account from an anonymous Grand Rapids couple in 1921 who took a trip to the U.P.

Congratulations to Graduates at Our Upper Peninsula Universities, Colleges and High Schools

Lake Superior State University, Michigan Technological University and Northern Michigan University will be conducting commencement ceremonies in the coming weeks. There will be thousands of families and friends visiting our communities and seeing why the Upper Peninsula is such a wonderful place and why the people who live here are so special.

These visitors will be spending tens of thousands of dollars in our communities in hotels, restaurants and retail outlets. This is a special time for each and every one of these graduates and their families and congratulations from all of us at Rural Insights. We should also send congratulations to the Upper Peninsula graduates at universities around the country.

Governor Appoints First Yooper to Appeals Court

Governor Whitmer has appointed Chris Trebilcock to the Michigan Court of Appeals. He was born and raised in the Upper Peninsula. As we have written here many times, it is important that our appellate courts have a rural voice on them and this is an important appointment. Now we need a person from the Upper Peninsula and a rural voice on the Michigan Supreme Court.

The Upper Peninsula and Canada

Our friends and neighbors in the US Sault Ste. Marie and the Canadian Sault Saint Marie truly live in an international city. They are connected by an international bridge, commerce, culture and friendship that is bigger than tariffs and border issues.

However they feel the impact of these tariff issues more than many of us across the Upper Peninsula and Michigan. Approximately $77 billion dollars in goods cross the Canadian border into Michigan each year. A large percentage of those goods cross international borders in Sault Saint Marie.

Trucks carrying these goods sometimes go to Michigan and midwest ports and locations. Many of the trucks cross the bridge and drive across the Upper Peninsula on their way to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Chicago ports.

Border crossings are down 11% from Canada into Michigan at all the international border crossings. Car travel is down 18% at the crossings.

As the saying goes, all politics is local and that is true of the politics of tariffs and international trade. We hope to be writing more about this issue in coming weeks and months.

Opinion in Rural Insights

Some of our readers have asked if we publish opinion pieces. The answer is yes. If you look at our website we have an opinion tab and we try to place opinion pieces we publish under this tab and mark them as opinion. By the way, Whispers, Rumors and Noise publishes facts, history and information. It also includes opinions by me and others.

From Around Michigan

UNEMPLOYMENT IN MICHIGAN:

• 5.5%. Only Nevada was higher at 5.7%.

POVERTY IN MICHIGAN:

• The United States has one of the highest rates of children living in poverty amongst wealthy nations. In 2023 it was 13.7%. In 2021 the rate was 5.2%. Many cite the expiration of the Expanded Child Tax Credit for the large increase.
• 22% of senior citizens live on $15,000 a year or less.

OUR AGING POPULATION:

• Michigan is aging faster than most other states. 1.5 million seniors are already 65 or older. That is 1 in 5 of Michiganders.

NON CITIZEN VOTING IN MICHIGAN:

• A Michigan Committee has been formed to require a voter to present proof of US citizenship and to put that issue to a vote of the people. In order to get this on the ballot in 2026 they will need to present 446,198 signatures of Michigan voters to the Board of Canvassers.

Quotes That Make Us Go Hmmm

“Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time and your government when it deserves it.” Mark Twain.

“Power without prudence and humility invariably fails. Then comes the hard work of political renewal.” David Brooks.

Talk To Us

Keep your raves, laurels, rants and darts coming. Send them to us at david@ruralinsights.org. We love to read them.

About Us

Rural Insights connects policy, information, news and culture to raise topics and stories/information you might have not seen or overlooked. We bring you original writing from Rural Insights and other researchers, change makers, and storytellers, as well as our latest research and analysis.

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