→ Headlines in 2026 July 10 issue
¶ Happy Semiquincentennial! America 250 [special edition]
¶ Remember the Bicentennial when “1976” was all new ¶ Our (second-largest in Michigan) data center will be less than thirty minutes from the largest, 25 miles west of here ¶ Fifty years ago, this community had a widely-respected newspaper called the Belleville Enterprise ¶ Whole-house generator maintenance ¶
¶ Issue of Importance—
“Semiquincentennial,” “Bicentennial Quarter,” and “Sestercentennial” are words, we’re told, that say “America250,” or “the 250th Anniversary of the Founding of the United States.” They tie to our Declaration of Independence, signed July 4th, 1776.
Appropriately, then, this issue of the Tri-Community covered that here, feet- on-the-ground, from a variety of perspectives. Taken as apiece, they encapsulate what this time was like for those who call this place home.
Importantly, mechanically, that includes consideration of a first-world issue of timely attention to whole-house generator servicing.
“Freedom” was ostensibly raison d’état for holiday celebrations this past weekend; certainly some form of brand and packaging. But at least insofar as this neck of the woods is concerned, it relies upon civility — or “common courtesy,” if you will — as part and parcel of that. An indispensable element of same, were anyone interested in solving an equation for key variables.
Locals on the city-side of Belleville Lake who watched fireworks Saturday evening can attest to that. There was every reason to complain twenty-six-plus hours sans electricity. A symphony of generators cycling in and out of phase with one another served as reminder lest anyone forget.
Yet one obviously intelligent and quite creative young shutterbug noted that a lack of juice to power lights meant less “light pollution,” and thus a more enjoyable fireworks experience for photographers. Others around her, too. Like magic: She had made that the conversation.
It would seem that the same could be said of this Special Issue. Consider as part of that the interaction between government and newspaper in the days when the Enterprise was our written voice. Or the way in which Mayor Marl took the fait accompli that his neighbor had invited AI into its township.