Word on the Street

08/16/2024

The Last Time You’ll… I give up. I’ve been in denial for the past five years, but it’s time to acknowledge what has been apparent for some time now. Marquette is finally Traverse City North. Unlike us, they don’t have a bypass, and without ours, traffic jams downtown would be similar to th...

08/09/2024

https://wotsmqt.com/book-bans-at-the-tipping-point/

  DID YOU SEE THE STORY coming out of downstate Alpena about their county library? It seems members of that conservative community have a problem with books they feel are inappropriate for young people being placed on shelves intended for use by anyone… regardless of age or maturity. And they’r...

08/02/2024

It’s now, officially, laughable. Not because it’s funny, because it isn’t. Particularly to the business owners trying to make a living out there. In the “You can’t make this stuff up” department, on Tuesday, TV6 News kicked off a three-part investigative series on the bill-paying woes....

07/26/2024

  South Lake Street is about to go through some changes. The power poles lining the street, placed obtrusively in the front yards of the street’s ever-evolving homes, are about to come down in favor of buried lines. A few years ago, when the Marquette Board of Light and Power was making plans to ...

07/19/2024

Death and/or Taxes

  IT WAS ALL THE WAY BACK in 1789 when Ben Franklin declared, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” After Marquette property owners looked at their summer statements, some might question which is worse. In most cases, tax bills went up 5%. That’s the most the city can increase property...

07/12/2024

Law & Order MQT

  THE HEADLINE ABOVE WAS from a TV6 report originally published on August 19th, 2021. You might think the case against Klint Miller and UP General Contracting would have been settled by now, but alas… after multiple delays for a number of different reasons, there’s still no resolution. If you r...

07/05/2024

Welcome to Marquette! Where are you staying?

  THOSE OF US WHO call Marquette home know all too well the cost of living here. Whether you rent or buy, your monthly tab looks nothing like it did just a few short years ago, and that’s if you can find a place. And the taxes? Statements are out, and to say a few ... Continue Reading

06/28/2024

Copy and Paste… the Westwood Mall Story • High on the HOGS • Free Films at Thomas Theatre

No Power to the People Don’t kill the messenger. Some of you haven’t cared for Word on the Street’s continued coverage of the MSHS nickname saga, and I get it. I’m tired of it too. Well, here’s another one that won’t go away… power outages at the Westwood Mall. Yes, it happened again, ...

06/21/2024

The Great Outdoors

  The local office of the National Weather Service reported a high temperature of 86 degrees here in Marquette this past Tuesday. It’s been hotter, but not much, and not very frequently. If you’re like me, that’s about 10 or so degrees more than you need. Am I complaining? A little. Would I p...

06/14/2024

Just when you thought...

  Apparently, it’s not over until it’s over. At least if Margaret Brumm has anything to say about it. I had hoped I wouldn’t be writing about this anymore since earlier this year when the MAPS School Board approved the new school nickname and logo. Silly me. I thought once the painful process...

06/07/2024

Pride and Prejudice in the Queen City

  The Queen City. That used to be the tag line associated with Marquette. I think it had something to do with the fact that Marquette was the U.P.’s biggest, and possibly most important, city. Kind of a royalty thing. But times change and at some point in the last century, “queen” took on ano...

05/31/2024

Street Talking • Friend Making

Words on the Street You might remember a couple months ago the city approved the addition of North Third Street to the downtown TIF district, administered by the Downtown Development Authority. Simply put, that means more financial resources will be available for improvements to North Third, which s...

05/24/2024

Ben and Breakfast

  MOST OF YOU PROBABLY didn’t know Ben Lauren. I didn’t. I never met the young man. Much of what I know about him is what I’ve gleaned from his obituary and the many other tributes dedicated to him since his tragic passing in 2020. Here is what I’ve learned … Ben grew up in ... Continue R...

05/17/2024

Updating the LDC!

  The Marquette City Commission and the Marquette Planning Commission held a joint work session Tuesday to discuss proposed changes to the city’s Land Development Code. For residents who didn’t attend… that’s everybody but me and Margaret Brumm, I’d like to share some of the ideas present...

05/10/2024

Just Wondering...

  Why aren’t dogs allowed in bars? The question comes up every now and then when dog lovers, who just want to have a beer while out for a walk with their favorite pet, find their fury friend is not welcome inside. It’s particularly vexing when outdoor seating is available in a business that doe...

05/03/2024

Unfortunate Endings • A Heartfelt Thank You

  I USED TO COUNT ON it as my personal first sign of spring. It was the letter I received inviting my team of underachievers to play in the annual Negaunee Invitational Basketball Tournament. Tournament director John Basolo’s familiar handwriting on the envelope was all I needed to see to know wi...

04/26/2024

Dear Diary,

  Dear Diary, Sorry I haven’t cracked you open in a while. A long while. You know I’ve been busy writing Word on the Street. But some recent events have caused me to break the seal on this journal and record a couple happenings I found interesting. Interesting to me, at least. And I guess ... C...

04/19/2024

https://wotsmqt.com/street-words-a-grisly-bear-coffee-talk-brits-brews/

  Sharing the Streets NEVER HAVE THE words of Word on the Street been more about the streets… specifically, the streets of Marquette. In case you haven’t seen it, there’s a congenial tug-of-war taking place between those who favor vehicular transportation versus those who want to see a better...

04/12/2024

(Anti)Social Media

  THE UNWRITTEN RULES LOOSELY woven through the brief history of social media continue to unravel. What “unwritten rules,” you ask? Well… one in particular. Civility. I guess it was inevitable. Provide an open forum to anyone with access to a keyboard and you’re essentially pulling the loos...

04/05/2024

U.P. Pride Fails to Measure Up in Portland

  YOU NEEDN’T HAVE BEEN following basketball’s March Madness to have heard about the snafu in Portland, Oregon. It’s been covered on news outlets across the country… not just those focusing on sports. In review, the three-point lines painted on the court for the women’s tournament games b...

03/29/2024

Round and Round We Go • Real Estate for Dummies • Power Play at the Westwood Mall

A Roundabout at the Crossroads? After the Michigan Department of Transportation announced plans to put a roundabout at the intersection of M-35 and CR-492, the cry went out… again, for one at the crossroads of CR-480 and M-553. Those who arrive at that 4-way stop, particularly when people are head...

03/22/2024

A Director on the Hot Seat • A Street Up for an Upgrade • A Setback on a Land Swap

  The Heat is on at Community Action IT WAS A LITTLE LESS THAN a year ago when Word on the Street reported on a disturbing level of discontent at and with Community Action-Alger Marquette. The multiple grievances we uncovered for that article focused mainly on the leadership of agency Executive Dir...

03/15/2024

Finished Yet? Projects and Their Progress

  AS SOME OF OUR SPRING flowers begin to show their faces, possibly prematurely, we can take a look at some area projects which are also trying to blossom. Some are closer to seeing the sun than others, but as long as there’s a breath of life, they’ll remain on our radar. Here’s a little ... ...

03/08/2024

First Impressions… A Texas Roadhouse Review

  AS A FREE SERVICE to the dining public, Word on the Street is happy to bring you our first and only installment of “At The Plate…The Sights, Sounds and Tastes of the New Restaurant Taking the Area by Storm, Texas Roadhouse.” My goodness, with the early rush of customers, you’d think we’...

03/01/2024

Delivering the Music • The Queen of All Media

  Special Delivery THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE got a bump last month when we were introduced to a group not many of us had even heard of. Surprisingly it took an article in Rolling Stone magazine, the bible of the music industry, to familiarize us with the work of Liquid Mike, seen above at a ... Continu...

02/23/2024

Where are you going, Marquette?

  INTERESTED COMMUNITY MEMBERS got a look into the future of Marquette Wednesday night when the Planning Department hosted a presentation of the new Master Plan draft. Russ Soyring of Beckett & Raeder, a landscape architecture consulting firm, explained most of the whys and some of the hows include...

02/16/2024

They Talk a Good Game • They Play a Good Game • Ten More Years for Tara

  Knowing how much Word on the Street readers enjoy hearing about the world of media, I was going to write about the job Jim and Tony did announcing last Sunday’s Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they didn’t take my calls or respond to my emails. Probably some administrative mix-up. So… rather than...

02/09/2024

Bigger Than A Boathouse

  IT WAS JUST A WEEK AGO that Word on the Street reported about a proposal to put a storage facility for human-powered boats at the former Shiras Power Plant property, adjacent to South Beach, on South Lake Street. Little did I know at the time of the potential opposition to such a project. Unbekno...

02/02/2024

Doggone It! • Housing for Boats • Technical Difficulties

  Bummer. That’s about all we can say about the news that the U.P. 200 Sled Dog Race has been cancelled… for the second year in a row. The unsurprising announcement came yesterday in a press release from U.P. Sled Dog Association President Darlene Walch. “This is a difficult decision to make ...

01/26/2024

Downtown Doings • Another Pizza Joint?

  THE RECENT REPORT of new ownership at the Masonic Center has to be welcomed news to those ushering in the continued growth of downtown Marquette. The Masonic Center is a huge anchor down there, in both size, and more recently… activity. The new owners are no strangers to running a successful bu...