jriddle@thealpenanews.com
News Photo by Julie Riddle
TOP: Its twin set of 375-pound rotor blades drooping like an old ceiling fan, a massive CH-47 Chinook Army National Guard transport helicopter hulks on a snowy runway in Alpena on Thursday as Capt. Charles Auer explains how the Winter Strike training held this week at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center prepares military personnel for overseas missions.
ALPENA Helicopters have had a busy week at the Alpena Combat Readiness Center.
Two Army National Guard battalions out of Illinois and U.S. Marine Corps squadrons from North Carolina converged at the CRTC this week to practice helicopter maneuvers as part of Winter Strike, a joint military exercise.
Jan 23, 2021
For months, now, closing in on a year, we have heard about the dangers of the coronavirus and heard that some of us the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions or compromised immune systems are especially at risk of serious complications if they contract the virus.
While that remains true, a recent analysis by News staff writer Julie Riddle of the demographics of the infected shows we all have to be careful.
While Northeast Michiganders who’ve died after being infected have all been elderly, those who’ve contracted the virus span all age groups, with twentysomethings making up the second-largest group of infected residents.
jriddle@thealpenanews.com
News Photo by Julie Riddle
Alpena Fire Department firefighter/paramedic Chris Morrison smiles during a visit from Loki, the husky he helped save from the Thunder Bay River on Jan. 8.
ALPENA “They even watched it in Australia,” Alpena Fire Department firefighter/paramedic Chris Morrison marvelled, shaking his head at the hubbub over a video of a dog rescue that went viral.
The icy waters of Thunder Bay River were both perpetrator and backdrop as Morrison, encased in protective gear, swam to the rescue of a husky on Jan. 8.
Caught on video and shared online, the rescue became an international sensation in days, viewed and shared across the country and as far away as Australia.
Alpena News editorial
For months, now, closing in on a year, we have heard about the dangers of the coronavirus and heard that some of us the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions or compromised immune systems are especially at risk of serious complications if they contract the virus.
While that remains true, a recent analysis by News staff writer Julie Riddle of the demographics of the infected shows we all have to be careful.
While Northeast Michiganders who’ve died after being infected have all been elderly, those who’ve contracted the virus span all age groups, with twentysomethings making up the second-largest group of infected residents.
Alpena News editorial
A recent two-day series of stories by News staff writer Julie Riddle showed us public officials have few tools at their disposal to help people whose mental illness brings them into contact with the criminal justice system.
At any given time, some 40% of Alpena County Jail inmates have a diagnosed mental health condition, Riddle reported.
Police and prosecutors often find themselves with no tools but incarceration when they are put in the position of having to protect public safety and help someone with a mental illness.
There aren’t enough places for treatment, and there are few tools outside of the criminal justice system to compel someone into what treatment there is.