One of the last times I saw Mike Wallace, he was in my rearview mirror, back bent, pushing my car down Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor. He had a huge smile on his face. I had a look of terror on mine. It was Spring, 2003, and I was in the midst of an eight-month […]
Ron French
Ron French is the senior enterprise reporter at Bridge Michigan, covering a wide range of topics including rural communities, federal policy impacts, education and public health. Born and raised in Indiana, Ron came to Bridge in 2011 from The Detroit News, where he was a project reporter, and previously reported for newspapers across Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University.
Rooted in Okemos, Ron has become a true Michigander — complete with a family cabin Up North.
Posted inChildren & Families
Michigan Radio continues look at welfare reform's consequences
How are Michigan families faring after losing welfare cash assistance? Tracy Davenport lost her house and her car — and can’t find work because of a medical condition that causes her to fall down constantly. Learn her story at Michigan Radio, which has teamed up with Bridge Magazine to chronicle the first year after welfare […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Welfare reform: Back to the drawing board
What would you do if you could reform Michigan’s welfare system? That may be a question state leaders are asking today, after Michigan’s massive welfare reform was thrown out in court. Calling it an “end-run around the Legislature,” a Genesee County Circuit Court smacked down a Department of Human Services policy that knocked between 11,000 […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Two parties, lunchmeat and pants afire
Here’s the thing about the media: We’re not supposed to call people liars. We get quotes from both sides, even when we know the claptrap on one side of the issue is, as Gongwer News Service subtly suggested Wednesday, “what some might call a lie.” That story (subscription only), along with this from the Detroit […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Welfare reforms put care-givers in a wrenching bind
Todd Stafford has an uncontrollable neurological disorder that causes him to beat himself in the head hundreds of times a day. The beatings have made him blind and caused his head to “look like Frankenstein,” he says. His wife, Tina Stafford, doesn’t have a job because someone needs to be at their St. Joseph County […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Will Michigan's universities look like Indiana's?
Doubling the number of college degrees and certifications. Cutting costs. Tracking job placement rates. Those are the latest proposals for Indiana’s public universities. Why does that matter to Michigan? Because those goals are tied to formula funding – the same type of funding now being proposed in Michigan. Indiana bases part of its funding for […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Does college prep begin in grade school?
If Michigan wants more minority college graduates, it needs to invest in quality school counseling. Grade school counseling. That’s one of the recommendations in a report released today by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. The report, “The Quest for Excellence: Supporting the Academic Success of Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics […]
Posted inTalent & Education
At Wayne State, easy to get in, difficult to get out
Since LaQuanda Pratt enrolled at Wayne State University three years ago, many of the African-American students she shared classes with are gone. Some left the college because of family difficulties, Pratt recalled. Some ran out of money. Others couldn’t cut it academically. “A lot of students aren’t prepared,” said the 20-year-old psychology major from Detroit. […]
Posted inTalent & Education
A new Detroit turnaround plan: Wayne State's
After spending most of his career as an executive at Ford Motor Co., Wayne State President Allan Gilmour knows plenty about retooling. Taking a redesigned car from the drawing board to the showroom can take three or four years. Building a successful student retention program could take longer. From free housing for the summer to […]
Posted inChildren & Families
$400 prom dress, in shades of gray
The headlines practically write themselves. “Taxpayers on the hook for $400 prom dress.” “$2,000 cheerleading camp on the state tab.” Scrape away the easy sensationalism, and the story is more complex. The Michigan Department of Human Services paid almost $400 for a prom dress for a foster care teen — one of several eye-popping expenditures noted […]