Latest news with #St.Onge
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Mackinac Island Fire Department rescues stuck climber near Arch Rock
MACKINAC ISLAND — The Mackinac Island Fire Department helped a climber who got stuck on a cliff near Arch Rock on Thursday, May 22. According to a Facebook post from Fire Chief Jason St. Onge, members of the fire department set up a rig for a technical rescue after a young man went over the cliff and got stuck. Both St. Onge and 1st Deputy Chief Larry Rickley were on the mainland and unable to respond to the initial call, St. Onge wrote in the post, adding he was proud of how the department handled the incident. "In my 35 years on the department, this is probably our 15th technical line rescue, maybe more," he wrote. "It was great to listen in on the radio to the members getting it done." Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage The cliff is located near the popular landmark, which features a natural limestone arch that is more than 50 feet wide, according to It also rises more than 140 feet above Lake Huron waters, according to Mackinac State Historic Parks. Tourists often visit the formation, drawn to the scenic views and photo opportunities. People can get to Arch Rock by foot, carriage or bike, and it can also be viewed from below around the perimeter of the island. — Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@ Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @KarlyGrahamJrn. This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Mackinac Island Fire Department rescues stuck climber near Arch Rock formation
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Billionaires boomed in Biden era as Fed became 'engine of income inequality' powered by COVID policies: expert
The nation's wealthiest residents saw their billions grow even larger in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic due to policies from the Federal Reserve that have deepened the chasm of income inequality, economic experts report. "If you look at the amount of federal regulation, the amount of federal taxes, if anything… the economy has gotten less friendly toward big business, and toward rich people," economist Peter St. Onge told Fox News Digital in a May phone interview. "What's actually been happening is that the Fed has been driving income inequality. And, I think for a long time, Republicans were sort of in denial – not just Republicans, but sort of free market types were in denial – and they didn't want to talk about income equality." "I think they should absolutely talk about it, because what's causing it is not free markets," he said. "It's something that I think everybody should oppose, which is government manipulation of the monetary system." St. Onge was reacting to data showing that billionaires' share of the GDP increased from 14.1% in 2020 to 21.1% in 2025, as reported by Johns Hopkins University economic professor Steve Hanke. JPMorgan Chase's private bank estimated that the number of billionaires in the U.S. increased from 1,400 in 2021 to nearly 2,000 as of 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported in April. Doge Should 'Definitely' Look At Federal Reserve Costs, Elon Musk Says Read On The Fox News App The Federal Reserve is America's central bank, which sets monetary policies and oversees banks. It acts independently, meaning it does not require approval from the president or Congress when enacting policies. St. Onge explained to Fox News Digital that "debt is a rich man's game" and that billionaires have benefited financially since the pandemic as the Fed worked to "manipulate interest rates" down below market value, which subsidized loans. "During COVID, you could get a mortgage for, you know, three, three and a half percent, when inflation was running higher than that," he explained. "You were literally being paid to borrow money, which is not a free market outcome.… So it makes loans cheap and the rich overwhelmingly borrow money." Elon Musk Warns Federal Reserve May Face Doge Audit The average debt for the top 5% of Americans sits at about $600,000, he said, while the average debt for the vast majority of Americans is roughly $74,000. "That's about a nine times difference," he said of the data. "So if you make loans too cheap, you are giving nine times more money to rich people.… If you make loans cheap, you're functionally giving $9 to rich people for every $1 to give everybody else." Assets are even more skewed, he explained, with the top 5% of Americans holding $7.8 million in assets compared to the average American's $62,000 – notching 130 times the difference between the two demographics, he said. "The value of a stock or even a house are based on the future stream of income, and those are all discounted by the interest rate," he said. "And so pretty close to mechanically, if you cut interest rates in half – long-term interest rates – you are doubling the value of stocks." St. Onge pointed to the American economy in the 1970s and the early 2000s, outlining that growth "took a big step down" in the 2000s while asset values, such as housing prices and the stock market, skyrocketed. "The reason is because, since the 1970s, the Fed has very aggressively held rates low, and so this has caused all those assets to go up. So stocks have gone up, housing has gone up. And again, those are rich men's games. Overwhelmingly, people who own stocks are rich. Housing is even more skewed." "So if you've got a nine times difference on loans between the bottom 50% and the top 5%, and then you've got 130 times on assets, then the Fed manipulating rates down – they're not doing it to make rich people rich, hopefully – but that's sort of the consequence of doing that," he said. "Holding long-term interest rates low is to shower money on rich people and to shower it in proportion to which they're rich, right? So the most extreme version of that is going to be billionaires." Federal Reserve Holds Key Interest Rate Steady Amid Economic Uncertainty Economist Steve Hanke discussed how the Federal Reserve has fanned the flame of income inequality through its policies at a conference earlier in 2025 at the Mises Institute, an economics-focused think tank based out of Alabama. "In 2020, billionaires' share of GDP was 14.1%. Now, it's 21.1%. The Fed increased the money supply, asset prices went up, & guess who owns the assets? Billionaires. By ignoring the money supply, the Fed is an ENGINE OF INCOME INEQUALITY," he posted to X in April of his findings. "Take the Federal Reserve's excessive money printing during the pandemic," Hanke said in an interview published by the think tank in April. "The transmission mechanism of monetary policy roughly dictates that changes in the money supply are followed by changes in asset prices in 1–9 months' time, changes in real economic activity in 6–18 months' time, and finally changes in the price level in 12–24 months' time." "Thanks to the Fed's helicopter money drops beginning with COVID, the annual growth rate of the US broad money supply peaked at 18.1% per year in May 2021," he added. "Lo and behold, the transmission mechanism followed – the S&P 500 reached a local maximum in December 2021 (6 months later), and inflation peaked at 9.1% per year in July 2022 (14 months later)." Us Job Growth Cooled In April Amid Economic Uncertainty The result, he said, was skyrocketing wealth inequality to the tune of billionaires increasing their share of the GDP by 7.6 percentage points in just four years. St. Onge said the Fed's policies have been political in nature, while remarking he would welcome "naive" Democrats who bang the proverbial campaign drum of income inequality to jump onto the "end the Fed bandwagon." "They have a naive argument where they look at rich people and they say, 'Hey, this is so terrible. We live in this dog-eat-dog jungle of an economy,'" St. Onge said of Democrats who campaign on income inequality. "And that is inaccurate," he added, citing Federal Reserve policies that have amplified income inequality. On the opposite side of the political coin, Vice President JD Vance has railed against the Biden administration and "Wall Street barons" for policies he said have hurt the working class. During his acceptance speech after officially becoming the vice presidential nominee in July, Vance said an affordability crisis is strangling the working class, while touting that the Trump administration would end economic "catering to Wall Street." "Wall Street barons crashed the economy and American builders went out of business," Vance said from Milwaukee in summer 2024. "As tradesmen scrambled for jobs, houses stopped being built. The lack of good jobs, of course, led to stagnant wages. And then the Democrats flooded this country with millions of illegal aliens. So citizens had to compete – with people who shouldn't even be here – for precious housing. Joe Biden's inflation crisis, my friends, is really an affordability crisis." The Federal Reserve Board declined comment when approached by Fox Digital regarding St. Onge's and Hanke's article source: Billionaires boomed in Biden era as Fed became 'engine of income inequality' powered by COVID policies: expert
CBC
18-04-2025
- General
- CBC
Rare Catholic prayer book printed in 1596 uncovered at McMaster University had librarian 'freaking out'
Social Sharing Ruth-Ellen St. Onge was busy preparing for an upcoming exhibition that will showcase a variety of texts published by the renowned Plantin Press when she saw something in the McMaster University Libraries catalog records that had her "freaking out." "I saw this note on something called the universal short title catalog that said 'lost book,' and my heart started beating really fast," St. Onge told CBC Hamilton. "I was like, oh, what's going on here?" St. Onge — McMaster University Libraries' distinctive collections cataloguing librarian — uncovered a rare book titled Officium beatae Mariae virginis, which translates to The Book of Hours of the Virgin Mary, published by Plantin Press in 1596. The tiny prayer book, which the public can view in early May, was written in Latin and sold across Europe, typically purchased by devout Catholics or members of religious orders. Known as a 'book of hours' for its structured prayers designated for specific times of day, these volumes were often used daily, making their survival over centuries quite rare, according to the university. St. Onge said the term 'lost book' indicates that scholars knew from financial records that these books were printed, but no copies were known to exist. After double checking her work, St. Onge said she shared the news with her boss and with colleague Myron Groover, archives and rare books librarian, with whom she's co-curating the Plantin Press exhibit. "It's very exciting for McMaster and I think for scholars in general, because not only are there no surviving copies of this specific edition of The Book of Hours, most of the small format books of hours produced by the Plantin Press do not survive, so there's only a handful," St. Onge said. "So, it's really significant that we have this book at McMaster." St. Onge said she's also sent an e-mail, which included some photos of the book, to the Plantin Press Museum in Belgium. "The curator there, whose name is Zanna van Loon, she wrote back and she said they were very excited to hear this news." "Actually, I had already planned to go there this summer to do some research on another book, so now I'll be researching both of these books and meeting with the curator there to speak in person. So, that's very exciting as well." University acquired the book in 1965 St. Onge said the book had been at McMaster University since 1965. Its previous owner was Aldo Caselli, an Italian professor who moved to the United States during World War II. "He had a collection of around 100 or so books from the Italian Renaissance and McMaster acquired that collection from him in 1965," St. Onge explained. "We're not sure where he acquired this book, and because this book was actually not Italian — it was published in Antwerp in Latin — it's a bit unusual in that collection." Book 'in pretty good shape' According to St. Onge, the book has 645 pages, is printed in red and black ink, is "quite sturdy"and "very small." "It's about seven centimetres high and it's quite a small, thick little book. It fits about in the palm of my hand," she said. "The binding is probably not original. The binding I would say is probably from the late 18th century and it's protected the book very well and so we can look at it carefully and not worry too much about it falling apart. "So, it has been well cared for in its lifetime, and since 1965 it's been at McMaster where we've had temperature and humidity control and secure facilities for most of that time, so it's in pretty good shape, considering how old it is," she added. Women involved in producing book Another reason why this book is really fascinating, St. Onge said, is that women were involved in producing it. They include Plantain Press founder Christophe Plantin's daughter, Martina, as well as his widow Jeanne Rivière. "The name of Jeanne Rivière … appeared on Plantin Press books printed between 1589 and her death in 1596, as she was still involved in the family business," St. Onge said. There is a name that does not appear on the book, but which I think is important to mention. That is of the woman printer, Lynken Van Lanckvelt. She was employed by [Plantin Press] from 1594 to 1600 to print copper engraving illustrations for books. These illustrations had to be printed separately from the text, on a rolling press. Lynken's mother, Mynken Liefrinck, was also a printer who worked for Christophe Plantin." 'We knew we had it … We just didn't realize the significance' St. Onge said despite being listed as lost, it was known that McMaster had the book, though its significance was not emphasized in catalogue descriptions. This is because the book was acquired by McMaster prior to the publication of the first major Plantin Press bibliography. "We knew we had it, someone cataloged it when it was acquired. We just didn't realize the significance of the book until now because of all these new resources that are available to us," St. Onge said. "It was lost in the sense that the Plantin scholars and bibliographers had never seen a copy and one hasn't been described before. It's kind of like we're rediscovering it." Of nearly 75,000 copies printed by the Plantin Press between 1589 and 1610, only 81 surviving copies have been identified, with McMaster's being the only known surviving copy printed in this size and format with copper engraved illustrations. According to St. Onge, many of these books did not survive, owing to a combination of their small size, extensive everyday use, and the ways religious practice changed over time. 'News of the discovery is timely' Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, Msgr. Murray Kroetsch, said the book provides a good insight into how Christians, most especially members of religious institutes prayed each day in the late 16th and early 17th century and an important primary source for liturgical scholars who study the Church's public prayer. "The news of the discovery is timely as the Christian world enters the holiest week of the year and will gather publicly to celebrate one of the most central mysteries of our faith," Kroetsch wrote in an email to CBC Hamilton. "[It's] a good reminder that as we pray today, we are participating in a deeply rooted tradition of public Christian prayer and devotion." Wade Wyckoff, associate university librarian at McMaster University Libraries, said uncovering the significance of the book highlights the importance of archives and research collections. "The hidden special collections project is proving tremendously valuable," Wyckoff said. "We are cataloguing hundreds of items in our collection for the first time through this work, and, as exciting as it is to open those new resources for use, we are also making significant discoveries about our collections by revisiting previously catalogued materials. "This project, along with the work done by others in the department, emphasizes the importance of preserving, describing, and returning to these rare and unique resources," Wyckoff added. Meanwhile, St. Onge said the book will be included in the upcoming exhibit at the McMaster University Libraries archives starting in early May. "So [people] could look at it in person, it'll be behind a glass case," she said. "There'll [also] be an online version of that exhibit, so if you can't come in person to McMaster, you can look at the online version." St. Onge said she is working on updating catalogue records to reflect the book's significance, and she also plans to write a short article in a scholarly journal to inform others of the book's existence.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rare Catholic prayer book printed in 1596 uncovered at McMaster University had librarian 'freaking out'
Ruth-Ellen St. Onge was busy preparing for an upcoming exhibition that will showcase a variety of texts published by the renowned Plantin Press when she saw something in the McMaster University Libraries catalog records that had her "freaking out." "I saw this note on something called the universal short title catalog that said 'lost book,' and my heart started beating really fast," St. Onge told CBC Hamilton. "I was like, oh, what's going on here?" St. Onge — McMaster University Libraries' distinctive collections cataloguing librarian — uncovered a rare book titled Officium beatae Mariae virginis, which translates to The Book of Hours of the Virgin Mary, published by Plantin Press in 1596. The tiny prayer book, which the public can view in early May, was written in Latin and sold across Europe, typically purchased by devout Catholics or members of religious orders. Known as a 'book of hours' for its structured prayers designated for specific times of day, these volumes were often used daily, making their survival over centuries quite rare, according to the university. Ruth-Ellen St. Onge, McMaster University Libraries' distinctive collections cataloguing librarian, was busy preparing materials for an upcoming exhibition when she uncovered the book. (Brad Leenstra) St. Onge said the term 'lost book' indicates that scholars knew from financial records that these books were printed, but no copies were known to exist. After double checking her work, St. Onge said she shared the news with her boss and with colleague Myron Groover, archives and rare books librarian, with whom she's co-curating the Plantin Press exhibit. "It's very exciting for McMaster and I think for scholars in general, because not only are there no surviving copies of this specific edition of The Book of Hours, most of the small format books of hours produced by the Plantin Press do not survive, so there's only a handful," St. Onge said. "So, it's really significant that we have this book at McMaster." St. Onge said she's also sent an e-mail, which included some photos of the book, to the Plantin Press Museum in Belgium. "The curator there, whose name is Zanna van Loon, she wrote back and she said they were very excited to hear this news." "Actually, I had already planned to go there this summer to do some research on another book, so now I'll be researching both of these books and meeting with the curator there to speak in person. So, that's very exciting as well." University acquired the book in 1965 St. Onge said the book had been at McMaster University since 1965. Its previous owner was Aldo Caselli, an Italian professor who moved to the United States during World War II. St. Onge says uncovering the book is "very exciting for McMaster" and for scholars in general. (Brad Leenstra) "He had a collection of around 100 or so books from the Italian Renaissance and McMaster acquired that collection from him in 1965," St. Onge explained. "We're not sure where he acquired this book, and because this book was actually not Italian — it was published in Antwerp in Latin — it's a bit unusual in that collection." Book 'in pretty good shape' According to St. Onge, the book has 645 pages, is printed in red and black ink, is "quite sturdy"and "very small." "It's about seven centimetres high and it's quite a small, thick little book. It fits about in the palm of my hand," she said. "The binding is probably not original. The binding I would say is probably from the late 18th century and it's protected the book very well and so we can look at it carefully and not worry too much about it falling apart. "So, it has been well cared for in its lifetime, and since 1965 it's been at McMaster where we've had temperature and humidity control and secure facilities for most of that time, so it's in pretty good shape, considering how old it is," she added. Women involved in producing book Another reason why this book is really fascinating, St. Onge said, is that women were involved in producing it. They include Plantain Press founder Christophe Plantin's daughter, Martina, as well as his widow Jeanne Rivière. "The name of Jeanne Rivière … appeared on Plantin Press books printed between 1589 and her death in 1596, as she was still involved in the family business," St. Onge said. There is a name that does not appear on the book, but which I think is important to mention. That is of the woman printer, Lynken Van Lanckvelt. She was employed by [Plantin Press] from 1594 to 1600 to print copper engraving illustrations for books. These illustrations had to be printed separately from the text, on a rolling press. Lynken's mother, Mynken Liefrinck, was also a printer who worked for Christophe Plantin." 'We knew we had it … We just didn't realize the significance' St. Onge said despite being listed as lost, it was known that McMaster had the book, though its significance was not emphasized in catalogue descriptions. This is because the book was acquired by McMaster prior to the publication of the first major Plantin Press bibliography. "We knew we had it, someone cataloged it when it was acquired. We just didn't realize the significance of the book until now because of all these new resources that are available to us," St. Onge said. "It was lost in the sense that the Plantin scholars and bibliographers had never seen a copy and one hasn't been described before. It's kind of like we're rediscovering it." The book's previous owner was Aldo Caselli, an Italian professor who moved to the United States during World War II. (Brad Leenstra) Of nearly 75,000 copies printed by the Plantin Press between 1589 and 1610, only 81 surviving copies have been identified, with McMaster's being the only known surviving copy printed in this size and format with copper engraved illustrations. According to St. Onge, many of these books did not survive, owing to a combination of their small size, extensive everyday use, and the ways religious practice changed over time. 'News of the discovery is timely' Chancellor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, Msgr. Murray Kroetsch, said the book provides a good insight into how Christians, most especially members of religious institutes prayed each day in the late 16th and early 17th century and an important primary source for liturgical scholars who study the Church's public prayer. "The news of the discovery is timely as the Christian world enters the holiest week of the year and will gather publicly to celebrate one of the most central mysteries of our faith," Kroetsch wrote in an email to CBC Hamilton. "[It's] a good reminder that as we pray today, we are participating in a deeply rooted tradition of public Christian prayer and devotion." Wade Wyckoff, associate university librarian at McMaster University Libraries, said uncovering the significance of the book highlights the importance of archives and research collections. "The hidden special collections project is proving tremendously valuable," Wyckoff said. "We are cataloguing hundreds of items in our collection for the first time through this work, and, as exciting as it is to open those new resources for use, we are also making significant discoveries about our collections by revisiting previously catalogued materials. The book will be included in an upcoming exhibit at the McMaster University Libraries archives starting in early May. (Brad Leenstra) "This project, along with the work done by others in the department, emphasizes the importance of preserving, describing, and returning to these rare and unique resources," Wyckoff added. Meanwhile, St. Onge said the book will be included in the upcoming exhibit at the McMaster University Libraries archives starting in early May. "So [people] could look at it in person, it'll be behind a glass case," she said. "There'll [also] be an online version of that exhibit, so if you can't come in person to McMaster, you can look at the online version." St. Onge said she is working on updating catalogue records to reflect the book's significance, and she also plans to write a short article in a scholarly journal to inform others of the book's existence.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Public guardian accused of stealing $100,000 enters plea
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A West Michigan guardian who stole from people she was supposed to protect faces up to ten years in prison. Kimberley St. Onge pleaded no contest in a Kent County courtroom Thursday afternoon to three counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult between $20,000 and $50,000. St. Onge's attorney told a judge that her client pleaded no contest due to potential civil liability; a no contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but it's treated as such for sentencing purposes. Each of the three counts carries up to ten years in prison, and 17th Circuit Court Judge George J. Quist could order those sentences to run consecutively instead of concurrently, which is more common. Chihuahua killed in Grand Rapids park after structure fell on him 'Unfortunately, this woman took a lot of money from a lot of vulnerable people,' Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker told Target 8. 'Caused a lot of harm.' Becker said St. Onge stole more than $100,000 from 13 vulnerable adults for whom she served as guardian. St. Onge had no criminal record when she applied to become a public guardian through Kent County Probate Court. The guardianship program confirmed that St. Onge served in that role from May 2023 to May 2024. The program also confirmed that it runs criminal record, central registry and credit checks on all who apply to become guardians. According to a police report obtained by Target 8, St. Onge convinced the Social Security Office to put her name on one of her ward's benefit checks and mail it to her private P.O. Box. Grand Rapids Police reported that St. Onge also wrote checks to her own family on her wards' bank accounts, made unauthorized transfers and ATM withdrawals, and spent the money on gas, a hotel, Taco Bell and T-Mobile, among other purchases. Grieving families say estate sale manager owes thousands 'The real tragic part is they're not getting their money back,' said Becker. 'I mean, yeah, there will be a restitution order, and they'll be told they have to pay this, but when you're talking about this kind of money, it's not like they're putting it in a savings account. It's gone. We don't know where exactly the money went. It's not like (St. Onge) had a whole lot of assets.' Becker encourages people to watch out for each other, especially the most vulnerable among us. 'I always ask the people around the vulnerable people, be the eyes and ears,' explained Becker. 'If a vulnerable person has a guardian, they usually have some sort of mental incapacity, some short-term memory loss. They don't know what's happening. But if they're being isolated, that's the biggest thing, if they're isolated without any other contact with anybody else, that's when they're really susceptible to being a target and being victimized like this.' St. Onge is scheduled for sentencing in Kent County Circuit Court May 12. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
