The biggest villains in this reporter's opinion are the ones who choose to be public servants and use that opportunity to protect themselves and their peers from accountability, transparency, and responsibility.Using procedures under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in early 2024, we requested from the Ludington Police Department (LPD) three different segments of body worn camera (BWC) footage of arrests made by LPD officers that, diplomatically put, did not go according to accepted…See More

Just got confirmation from city officials that a hidden problem I brought up ten years ago is not in my backyard; it's in my front yard.  Nowadays, when I get a letter from the City of Ludington, I expect something coming from the Mason County prosecutor soon to follow.  This reporter has been prosecuted three times over the last 16 months arising from charges crafted by the city's police department, each one a variation of a common theme of trespassing on public land, public land that was…See More

"We're putting the band back together."While this may have been the goal back in the classic 1980 movie "The Blues Brothers", it was not necessarily the objective when this reporter got a call from former Pere Marquette Charter Township (PMCT) Trustee Ron Soberalski asking me some questions about what's happening up in Hamlin Township.  He was hearing indications that the Hamlin Township's Board was undergoing some internal conflicts, read some of the Ludington Torch's articles on the topic and…See More

While we normally are concerned with keeping Mason County's public bodies accountable, transparent, and operating lawfully, we sometimes visit other Michigan communities that have problems which arise from public servants behaving badly.  And when servants are not acting good and faithful they deserve the crisp taste of the whip, at least that's what my dominatrix always tells me.Let's transport ourselves south to the Charter Township of Comstock in Kalamazoo County, where there is an active…See More

The first meeting of Ludington City Council (agenda packet) in the year of our country's 250th birthday went down at 6 PM on January 12th.  Most of what happened this Monday evening will be lost in the course of our city's history, but this meeting should be remembered primarily for an…See More

This reporter has been arguing with those who coordinate the release of public records from the City of Ludington for 19 years running, so it's not surprising that we find ourselves at loggerheads again with them over proper responses that comply with the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law.  This time it's in regard to a credible report that one of Ludington's finest, LPD Officer Trey Forfinski was their representative at an accident happening early in the morning of December 24,…See More

One of our contributors notices a disturbing trend that may come to the local McDonald's, a trend that may carry over to other area fast food chains and some of our mom-and-pop restaurants that encourage their patrons to stay hydrated on their own terms.  Let us know in your comments about how you feel about this potential shake-up of what many consider an expected convenience and whether you've noticed any local business removing self-service soda machines-- or bucking the trend and putting…See More