Needy families who kept their cash assistance after last fall’s massive welfare reform shouldn’t get too comfortable. Almost 500 more families per month are projected to lose cash assistance during the second year of reform, which begins in October of this year. According to Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget proposal released Thursday at the Capitol, 7,130 […]
Ron French
Ron reports on a variety of subjects across the state. Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron graduated from Purdue University. He reported for newspapers across Indiana before moving to Michigan in 1995. Ron lives in Okemos, and like the true Michigander he’s become, he now has a family cabin Up North. You can reach him at rfrench@bridgemi.com or 517-214-3636.
Posted inMichigan Government
Bridge reports, budgets rise
After years of being ignored, the Michigan State Police forensics lab got a $3.1 million big, wet kiss from Gov. Rick Snyder today. And the lab may have Bridge Magazine to thank. In Snyder’s annual budget proposal presented today, the governor proposes $3 million for additional staffing for the lab that tests alcohol and drug […]
Posted inChildren & Families
27 Mich. counties dodged welfare cuts
How big of an impact has welfare reform had on you and your neighbors? It depends on where you live. According to the Department of Human Services, 15,799 fewer families were receiving cash assistance at the end of 2011 than were receiving assistance in September, before the state imposed a lifetime limit on welfare. Here’s […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Welfare reform leaves families without a net, and off the radar
Three months after the launch of an aggressive welfare reform, Michigan has kicked more people off the dole than expected and saved the state millions of dollars. How the approximately 15,000 families cut off from cash assistance are surviving, though, isn’t as clear. We may never know. The state isn’t monitoring the impact on those […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Daily life gets harder for three families
Nearly 16,000 Michigan families were banned from cash assistance last fall, in the biggest one-day reduction of welfare recipients in the state’s — and possibly the nation’s — history. Did those families blend into the work force? Did they lose their homes? Did they find help from charities, churches and nonprofits? Over 12 months, Bridge […]
Posted inTalent & Education
We already did your college report card, Mr. President
Speaking at the University of Michigan today, President Barack Obama blasted rising college costs and called for a “report card” that families can use to check the true cost of attendance. Michigan families now have that information in a special report on college costs published in Bridge Magazine earlier this month. Obama echoed the findings of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Feeling unloved, skilled public employees are hitting the exit
Michele Glinn loved her job, and she was good at it. As the only Ph.D toxicologist working in the Michigan State Police toxicology unit, she analyzed blood samples for alcohol and other drugs — and crisscrossed the state testifying in court. Frustrated by unpaid furlough days, a shrinking staff and a negative public perception of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
An 'eye-opening experience'
As readers of Bridge Magazine today may know, the last Ph.D toxicologist working for the Michigan State Police resigned in November, leaving the state with no one who can offer expert testimony interpreting the results of alcohol and drug tests. That’s bad news for the state, but it could be good news for Rep. Bob […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan job forecast bright – for 2030
The Michigan economy is recovering. For those of you with weak hearts, let’s leave it at that. Spend a few minutes watching a kitten stuck in a hamster ball. For those of you still here: the economy is recovering slowly. Just how slowly? I could show you a chart, but this will give you a […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Senate Dems toss hat into college costs debate
College would be cheaper for Michigan families under a proposal made in Lansing the day after Bridge Magazine published an analysis of public university costs. That analysis, published Tuesday, found that Michigan families pay more to attend their state’s public universities than do families in almost any other state. Twelve of Michigan’s 15 public universities […]
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