Rina Risper, President & Publisher of The New Citizens Press (Pandemic photo 2020)
Dear Readers,
This is our last edition for The New Citizens Press’ 20th year. I can believe that we are still publishing. Life is so fascinating, as we come upon the second year of the pandemic. The year 2022, is already appearing as though we are not close to eradicating COVID-19. I am afraid the COVID-19 variant Omicron is here and will be here for a while. We want to feel optimistic for what lies ahead and to begin on a “the way it was before” note. I am not sure that the current envi-ronment is moving towards helping our country heal. Omicron is hospitalizing and killing our children.
I was watching a program recently about children who are in therapy. The therapists were treating children who brought home COVID-19 and a parent in the household died as a result of bringing it home to their parents. I had not thought about that aspect of what the pandemic is doing to families.
COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions like heart issues, lung disease or diabetes seem to be at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness, including death. Like a storm pushing through stretching the world thin, it seems as gun violence, the supply chain issue, destructive wildfires and tornadoes, acerbic politics, attempted kidnapping of Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Witmer, over-worked parents, vaccines, social justice, domestic space travel, overworked medical workers, exasperated employees, scrambling employers, erratic drivers, angry and rude customers, booster shots, etc. (take a breath here and realize how much more you can add to this list).
We want to also be a newspaper that informs, inspires and educates. We want to continue to focus on our neighborhoods and our people who show up and respect each other. Helping our readers to keep moving forward is going to be important for The New Citizens Press staff. Your mental, spiritual and physical health is a reason to continue to print stories that you are interested in. Even though there are stories that will be printed that are not from Michigan, they are to provoke thought, educate and make you aware of others’ thought processes.
We are dedicated to you regardless of where you live.
Love people,
Rina Risper
