Rebutting Brown, LGBTQ attacks – Macomb Daily

Letters to the editor

Brown’s rationale for camp questioned

In the June 10 edition of The Macomb Daily, county Commissioner Don Brown omits some key reasons why the DNR refused to lease an additional 162,000 acres (253 square miles) to the National Guard, which would have doubled the size of Camp Grayling (“Camp Grayling agreement balances respect for environment, national security”). Instead they came to an understanding to only lease an additional 52,000 acres (82 square miles).

The Kalkaska County Board of Commissioners studied the environmental impact study (EIS), held town hall meetings with the residents and concluded the expansion and the reason for expansion didn’t justify further ruining the environment and disrupting their lives. EGLE also requested the DNR refuse the request to expand based on the EIS and the guard’s past dismal response to cleaning up the environment including PFOS that had migrated to the drinking water aquifer that local residents had depended on as well as a local lake and river.

I don’t understand why the DNR relented in their decision to not lease any land. However, a new DNR director  was installed by the governor after the original request was denied and a memorandum of understanding was then developed.

I wonder how Commissioner Brown would react had the Guard requested to lease, or utilize all the townships and villages in his district, which includes Armada, Bruce, Ray, Richmond, Washington, Shelby and don’t even total 252 square miles the guard wanted.. Would he even lease parts of Armada and Richmond giving the Guard the 52 square miles they ended up getting?

The Camp Grayling expansion request by the guard was coupled to the effort to change the mission of Selfridge ANG Base from supporting the A10 Worthog fighters and accompanying air refueling support aircraft to F35 Foreign Sales and Foreign Pilot training. Unlike the Kalkaska County Board of Commissioners, Mark Hackel demanded all the municipalities in Macomb sign a letter supporting Selfridge’s sustainability and the F35 foreign sales mission at Selfridge. The sustainability study and EIS contained issues that would only affect Chesterfield Township as the Selfridge runway ends and planes become airborne at Chesterfield’s border.

Joe Katich

Chesterfield Twp.

‘Bigots’ running out of options

Recently opponents of the LGBTQ community have railed against any number of companies for said companies LGBTQ-inclusive advertising and other activities. In many cases the targeted companies have been active in this arena for many years. But, since 2023 seems to the year of moral outrage over almost anything LGBTQ-related, anger from the right seems to have increased. I wonder how many of those who are outraged enough to start boycott campaigns realize how many companies support this marginalized community.

The Daily Signal web site put together a list of 60 companies that have designed advertising campaigns, products or other activities to show their support for the LGBTQ community. Companies on the list include Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple. How many of the potential boycotters will essentially give up using and shopping on the internet to attempt to bring these companies to heel? Further, their entertainment options may be limited considering that Disney, Netflix, HBO Max, even Fox News have various LGBTQ initiatives. The list of retailers and product manufactures supporting this community is quite long. They may even go hungry since McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Dominos, and Starbucks are on the list of supportive companies.

It’s going to be harder and harder for the bigots to avoid companies that support the LGBTQ community.

Chris Charron

Eastpointe