I really wish the Free Press reporters would stop writing articles about gems in Michigan.
It is ruining the small towns and gems of Michigan by bringing in outsiders from the state, and bringing their needs and wants to the area and thus destroying the way it was. This isn’t progress, this is destruction.
Traverse City is too big now, and the recent article on Petoskey is only going to draw more to an area that is a true gem, and ruin it. (“Rock hunting, historic homes. What to do in Petoskey this summer,” Aug. 6) Ruin it for people that appreciate it’s feel and quite way. Please stop writing articles such as these.
Ben Kroeger
Canton
Flock should only be used for speeding
Flock cameras that screen every car passing seem to be clearly against the Sixth Amendment which ”forbids unreasonable searches.”
What they should be used for is to catch excessive speeders on our highways and streets by using portable license plate readers whose pictures can not be stored electronically. Instead, a picture of the license plate, the time, place and speed can be printed out with three hard copies – one for the police to keep in a paper file, one for the judge and the other to be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle along with a big fat ticket.
In this way, only the violators of our speed laws will be ticketed. The cameras have to be portable so lawbreakers can never be sure of exactly where the cameras are.
Don Siefkes
Clinton Township
This bill could guarantee menopause treatment insurance coverage
Nearly half of Michigan’s workforce is made up of women. And almost all of those women will have one shared experience: Menopause.
Untreated menopause symptoms can unnecessarily lead to reductions in female workers’ productivity. This often goes untreated and unaddressed, because many treatments are only newly available, expensive and not always covered by insurance. This is bad for women, and also bad for Michigan businesses.
Menopause can strike at any age, and contrary to traditional belief that menopause only lasts weeks, now we know it can last up to seven years. Some women experience symptoms so severe, they end up dropping out of the work force.
Women are forced to suffer symptoms such as hot flashes, dry mouth, fatigue and headaches, among numerous others.
Michigan’s Senate Bill 717 would mandate insurance companies to cover menopause treatments, including often out-of-reach hormone therapies. While it was introduced in December of 2025, this bill hasn’t been put to vote in the Health Committee. Contact Senator Kevin Hertel, Health Committee Chair, and encourage him to put this bill on the committee agenda for discussion, public testimony and a vote.
Crystal Zavicar
Brooklyn
I’m no longer proud to support ‘that woman from Michigan’
I agree wholeheartedly with Nikki Sapiro Vinckner’s opinion piece on our once-bold, now sell out of a governor. (“Gretchen Whitmer used to have a bold backbone. What happened?” Detroit Free Press, Aug. 3.)
I have followed Whitmer since she was censored in the state Senate, and was an enthusiastic supporter. I was proud to support, and campaign for, “that woman from Michigan,” but no more. As a union member and public educator, I am appalled at her blatant disregard for the public workers of the state. It is clear to me she has chosen corporations over the working folks, and others, of Michigan. It is clear to me that she will never hold elected office again ‒ regardless of how the National political pundits try to spin it ‒ she has spent every penny of her political capital. Bye, “Big Gretch.”
Letitia Simmons
Ann Arbor
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Flock cameras should only be used to stop speeding | Letters
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