Good morning, Marquette.

TV6 will hold a Canathon this Friday at Walmart, where Brady Meyer and Grace Blair will collect perishable + nonperishable donations and cash from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; businesses can still volunteer to be drop-off sites, with organizers especially seeking participants in Delta County.

NMU Theatre will open the satirical play POTUS on Thursday, with 7:30 p.m. performances Thursday through Saturday this weekend and next at Forest Roberts Theater, featuring a cast of seven women handling a presidential PR crisis.

The Upper Peninsula's unemployment rate fell to 4.3% in September, with 5,700 people jobless, 1,000 fewer than in August.

Marquette County's rate was 4.2%, Dickinson 3.9%, and Iron County had the U.P.'s highest rate at 5.8%.

MSU Extension is inviting middle and high school students to enter its Aquaculture Challenge to design, build, and monitor aquaponics systems and complete a community outreach project; registration will open soon, so sign up for the email list to be notified.

Flow Water Advocates named Katrina Shankland its new executive director, and she started this week; founding director Liz Kirkwood moves into a new strategic partnership officer role as the group expands capacity to protect the Great Lakes Basin.

DEA and Michigan State Police are marking Red Ribbon Week to educate residents about drug dangers, including fentanyl and youth vaping, with outreach running through Saturday, Oct.

31 in the Marquette area.

Healthcare IT staff + leaders from across the U.P. met Tuesday at the Northern Center to discuss burnout, limited rural coverage, and plans to protect patient records and patient care during cyber incidents.

UP Health System–Portage in Hancock completed its 500th robotic-assisted surgery recently, expanding locally offered minimally invasive procedures since the da Vinci system arrived after a more than $2 million Lifepoint investment (now used for hysterectomies, hernia repairs, appendectomies, and bowel resections).

Jason McCarthy, Marquette Township planning and zoning administrator, said a pending ownership change at Westwood Mall could lead to major interior demolition and a multi-million-dollar retail rebuild, with demolition possible before the end of the year.

Marquette boys soccer advanced by winning a regional semifinal on Oct.

27, and U.P. girls competed in the cross country finals at the Michigan Tech trails; WZMQ 19 Sports also aired high school volleyball coverage + NMU football highlights at 11 p.m.