The Issues
Recent Articles
NMU professor shares expertise on COVID-19 stimulus and unemployment
Northern Michigan University Economics Professor Gary McDonnell was featured on the website WalletHub.com as an expert panelist for an article analyzing states affected most by unemployment claims.
Whispers, Noise & Rumors: June 8, 2020
Students returning to UP campuses, Soo Locks expansion, Copper Country wifi hotspots, and airport service in the UP. Read more in this week’s Whispers, Noise & Rumors.
Rural students face unique technological challenges amid COVID-19 pandemic
Educational challenges affect students in rural areas differently than in urban and suburban areas. Without sufficient access to technology like computers and high-speed internet, rural students are not going to have the same educational opportunities simply because of where their family calls home.
Whispers, Noise & Rumors: June 1, 2020
State budget cuts, UP budget cuts, and COVID coordination. Read more in this week’s Whispers, Noise & Rumors.
Paper examines challenges faced by veterans in rural America
Rural Insights contributor Jesse Sherman examined some of the challenges faced by veterans in rural America, in a recently-published paper.
Can the UP economy overcome COVID-19?
Former Marquette City Manager Bill Vajda weighs in on a question occupying many people’s minds these days: can Upper Peninsula communities overcome the economic challenges wrought by COVID-19?
Whispers, Noise & Rumors: May 25, 2020
Read more in this week’s Whispers, Noise & Rumors.
Becoming a rural veteran
“Nothing was the same. The friends I had known two decades ago were gone, or exactly as they had been 22 years earlier; my family were older, many had passed, and the number of people crowded all around me was a difficult situation to adjust to.” Army Veteran Michael Rutledge, who served two decades in the service, provides insight into the challenges returning home and how the rural lifestyle of Marquette and the Upper Peninsula helped him readjust.
What is rural? My experience in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
“My experiences growing up in a small rural town have given me a unique understanding of and appreciation for rural communities–so much so that I, like many others, have happily chosen to return to a rural area to work and raise my family.” Dr. Greg Ghiardi of Marquette gives an insightful personal account of what “rural” means to him in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Whispers, Noise & Rumors: May 18, 2020
Michigan revenue estimates, state employee workforce cut, veterans enrolling at UP state universities, and the significance of our zip codes. Read more in today’s issue of Whispers, Noise & Rumors.
