PicoBlog

GREAT NEWS FOR late-nighters…A new sandwich shop will be moving in to the old Rotations venue downtown before the end of the year…It’s called Sando’s Eatery…“We’re going to focus on Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches to start,” says one of the three partners, Ross Mulder. “We’ll be pretty simple off the bat, with maybe six or seven sandwiches to start.”…The other two partners are Craig Colombo and Will Gencay…They expect to be open five days a week…and the big news? On Friday and Saturday nights, they’ll stay open until 2 am, maybe later if the demand is there…Sando’s has previously worked as a pop-up at festivals, but this is their first venture in a permanent spot.

PLANS ARE STILL alive for another new sandwich shop—this one at the Third Street Marketplace…Owner Mike Glenn, who operates a Beefs restaurant in Houghton, wants to bring a second one to the Marketplace in Marquette…In need of some cash, he recently started a crowdfunding campaign offering donors free meals, gift certificates and such…but then a monied donor stepped forward and suggested that he, himself, might invest $50,000 into the Marquette expansion…Negotiations are now underway. Nothing definite yet.

BIG CHANGE FOR “Ladies Night Out” on November 16th…It’ll be “Ladies Day Out,” instead…In previous years, the promotion was held from 4-8 pm. This Fall, it’ll be all day and all night, with businesses operating offering the special discounts and promotions the entire day… “This was something that both merchants and attendees requested,” says Mike Bradford, the DDA’s Business Outreach and Promotions Director. “The shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and extended hours for merchants made it a real challenge for everybody.”…Absolutely true, and the new arrangement will make the discount shopping more accessible to everybody, but it does seem that the specialness of the event—the bonding, the rushing from store to store on a chilly night, the dining and drinking together—might be diminished.

DIRECT PRIMARY CARE...It’s a new model for practicing medicine in the US. The idea behind it is pretty simple: For a monthly fee (usually $100 or less), patients sign up with a doctor or a group of doctors who guarantee them thorough, highly personal, no-wait care…“Accessibility is a big part of it,” says Dr. Katie Brang who, with her husband Ryan, operates Northcountry Health on Washington Street. “We can see people the same day they call, or the next day at the latest. And we schedule long appointments so we can talk to patients not only about their problems but also about prevention and the patient’s goals.” They also make house calls.

The one drawback: DPC doctors do not take insurance. They don’t have to file long, drawn-out forms. They just deal with their patients face-to-face, and most of them also communicate with their patients by phone, texting, and email.

The average primary care doctor in the US has about 2000 patients; the average DPC doctor has only about 400-500…Further, a 2016 study found that, on average, for every hour that doctors spend seeing a patient, they spend two hours on paperwork.

Something else—the Brangs and many other DPC doctors have many basic and popular prescription medicines that they can sell for pennies on the dollar. No middleman. The Brangs can also perform basic procedures in their office—stitches, joint injections, mole removals, skin biopsies, among others. But if specialists or outside labs are needed, DPC doctors can send you to them, and those appointments would be covered by insurance.

Dr. Katie Brang concedes that she and her husband don’t make as much money as they made when they were employed as conventional doctors in a large group. “But it’s never been about money for us,” she says. “It’s what makes us happy.” They own their business, they have flexibility, they get to really know their patients, and they don’t have to rush their patients out the door after 20 minutes because another patient is waiting. And they don’t have to fill out those time-consuming insurance forms.

The other Direct Primary Care practice in Marquette is Irish Family Practice, with Dr. Colin Irish, on Third Street. We tried unsuccessfully to reach the clinic but what we can say is what’s listed on their website: Dr. Irish, too, offers easy accessibility, long appointments, unlimited clinic visits, telehealth, discounted prescriptions and imaging, house calls, acupuncture, and osteopathic manipulation…The cost? $100 a month for adults, $150 for couples. His Google rating? A near-perfect 4.9 out of 5.

Sounds like we appreciate old-time medicine—a family doctor who takes time to know you, long appointments, no rushing, no insurance companies to deal with. The idea is growing—20 years ago, there were only a handful of DPC practices throughout the US; today there are more than 2000.

WE’RE LOSING OUR religion, according to Axios…A recent Gallup poll found that just 47% of us belong to a house of worship. In 2018, the figure was 50%, and in 1999, it was 70%…No surprise, this trend toward a more secular society is being led by our youngest citizens—Gen Z and Millennials—although even Gen X and Baby Boomers are also showing declines in church membership.

YOU WANNA SEND your child to Michigan State but you don’t think you can afford it?…Help may be on the way. MSU is offering free tuition for some in-state high school graduates, starting next year, according to Bridge Michigan…It’ll be offered to graduates who come from families with an income of $65,000 or less…That’s a big deal because tuition and fees for two semesters at Michigan State cost about $16,000.

TWO YEARS AGO, two of Marquette’s most prominent and popular citizens retired. Greg Trick, the smooth-talking, telegenic TV 6 anchor, and Aoy Lachapelle, the brash and inimitable owner of the Rice Paddy restaurant, said goodbye to their jobs and opened a new chapter in their lives…“We’re traveling a lot now,” says Greg. “We just got back from Italy and Greece.” Aoy interjects with this observation: “Rome is the Holy City, but holy s###!!” She’s referring to the large amounts of dog manure they found on the sidewalks.

“She still cooks every day,” Greg continues. “It’s in her blood. It makes her happy to cook for friends.” They also hunt for mushrooms and blueberries in the woods together. Would Greg, himself, consider returning to some type of work? Maybe, he concedes. Aoy disagrees. “Nobody has enough money to pay my husband!” she exclaims. “Except for me!”…Clearly, Aoy has not lost any of her brashness in her retirement.

POEM OF THE DAY

Poem

The night is beautiful,
So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,
So the eyes of my people.

Beautiful, also, is the sun
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

—Langston Hughes

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