News & Articles

Pancake ice. Photo by Mary Meierotto.

Hold the syrup!

Have you ever had the pleasure of seeing pancake ice on Lake Superior in the winter? I have observed this phenomena twice this winter and three times in my life. These are circular shapes from 1 to 10 feet in diameter and about 4 inches thick. Pancake ice forms when very thin ice called grease ice moves back and forth by continuous wind and waves.

I was surprised to find many local residents had never seen pancake ice. I did some research. A joint study in 2020 by the University of Washington and the University of Alaska found the presence of increased thin ice and strong winds due to climate change made pancake ice appear more frequently.
According to climatecentral.org winters are warming faster than any other season across nearly 75% of the U.S. Warmer winters in the Northland and our decrease in snowfall affect the winter sports industry, water scarcity, spring allergies, summer fruits and pancake ice.

The simplest thing we can do is talk about it. Have conversations about climate change. In the past year I decided to join our local Chequamegon Chapter of citizensclimatelobby.org. Citizens Climate Lobby is an active bipartisan community. There is sure to be a local group in your area. Please consider checking it out. As unique as it is, increased pancake ice can be seen as another herald of the changes to come due to climate change.

Mary Meierotto
Bayfield, Wisconsin

Stand up!

The jolting news came out that EPA’s political leadership is serious about trying to eliminate most of the functions of its Office of Research and Development, which could close the 58-year-old Great Lakes Toxicology and Ecology Division Laboratory, which many of you know is located on our Great Lake Superior on Congdon Boulevard in Duluth

The legacy of this laboratory’s contribution to science and environmental protection, and its ever-relevant mission to understand the risks to ecosystems, wildlife and people from human intervention, is something every American should be proud of, if only they knew about it. Certain people have decided it would be best to make this and other EPA research efforts go away before most folks can’t fully grasp what it is that they are destroying.

Phone calls to Stauber, Smith, Klobuchar, the White House, etc have their place, but visible support is another way to let folks know you’re watching and active, AND it sends a message of support to all those people working at the Duluth  lab who are wondering how this can be happening, folks who can’t speak out in the current climate of recriminations and intimidation.

Leo Babeu
Duluth, Minnesota

No surprise from that guy

President Trump’s sending all those immigrants out of the country doesn’t surprise me after all he did it during his other term as president. I remember seeing on ABC news where when they were filming what would you do in Arizona they arrested John Quinones for being here illegally because he didn’t have his birth certificate to prove that he was an American citizen even though they were told who he was. It was only after his arrest was on the news that they let him go with no apology. It was only because he was Hispanic and it’s happening again. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next group of people to either be arrested or deported will be Muslims or people of Arab descent for being here illegally or terrorists. If someone commits a crime and is here illegally then they should made to leave. But to kick people out because of where their ancestors or they are from is wrong. We didn’t do it to trump’s relatives who came here from Germany.

Cecilia Hill
Duluth, Minnesota 

Walking a tight wire

I’ve often wondered why President Biden has been accused of “wanting genocide” in letters to the Reader, since he has been trying to influence Netanyahu to allow more aid to come into Gaza as well as to allow more ceasefires. However, Netanyahu is a stubborn leader who has spent decades fruitlessly seeking peace via two state solutions! And since none of them have worked, Netanyahu may have decided to give up seeking peace, in favor of completely annihilating Hamas. But no matter how hard we may want it so, Biden simply had no power to force Israel to do anything! And all Biden really could have done is try to persuade Netanyahu not to let the people of Gaza and Palestine starve to death or have no access to medical aid, while news reports told us that Biden and his administration tried to convince Netanyahu to change his actions many time!

During their Oct 7 invasion, Hamas and its allies breached Israel in multiple places! And Hamas continued killing, raping, and torturing women for five days — before Israel was even able to to mount an effective defense!

What did Israel’s enemies do to the many women who Israel’s troops were unable to protect? They raped, injured and brutalized them for several days, while videos confirmed their ruthless attacks and unthinkable Hitler-like hate on women who were recorded their actions, including rape, and such depraved attacks by Hamas, that just reading about them would make most of us cry. But OK, maybe Netanyahu’s long unrelenting attacks killed more in Hamas, and one great evil does not justify another.

But once again, remember that the free press reported many times when Biden repeatedly tried to convince Netanyahu to authorize more cease fires and provide more food and medical help to every person trapped in Gaza.

Netanyahu’s unrelenting military campaign in Gaza began (after) Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took 240 hostages? So, if Biden tried repeatedly to convince Netanyahu to seek a two state solution wouldn’t it be more accurate to conclude that Biden (failed) to convince Netanyahu to end his his devastating hatred?

But how do you go from there to concluding that Biden must “want genocide? Even though as the leader of a sovereign nation, he had absolutely no authority to tell another sovereign nation’s leader what to do!

When Einstein was asked what would cause WW III he said he didn’t know, but that World war IV would be fought with sticks and stones! And any kind war would be just as horrible if Israel were destroyed by its enemies? Thus the first option in diplomacy is (always) finding a path to compromises and concessions.

Peter W. Johnson
Superior, Wisconsin

Douchebag Oligarch’s Genuine Evil

Elon Musk, the head of D.O.G.E. (Douchebag Oligarch’s Genuine Evil) had a privileged childhood in apartheid South Africa. That made him a perfect fit for Trump’s Turd Reich. He is a sadistic ghoul who thinks we “little people” do not deserve democratic self-governance. He (the richest man in the world) is eliminating aid to the poorest people in the world, and ruining the lives of thousands of federal workers. This is not being done for the sake of “efficiency.” The goal is to eliminate or privatize vital federal agencies, all for the benefit of oligarchs like him. One quote reveals the true evil of this pathetic excuse for a human being: “The fundamental weakness of western civilization is empathy.” - Elon Musk. 

David A. Sorensen
Duluth, Minnesota