Prison reform — once considered a ticket out of office for politicians — is spreading around the country, and in some unlikely places. In many states, the efforts to reduce prison populations are being led by “law-and-order” Republicans. In 2011, half of the 26 states that passed prison reforms were led by Republican governors; in 10 of […]
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 inMichigan Government
An unlikely advocate for review of Michigan prison sentences
Joe Haveman is about the last person in the State Capitol you’d expect to advocate for softer prison sentences. The 50-year-old Holland native is a conservative Republican legislator from a conservative Republican district, the kind of pedigree associated with the attitude of locking them up and throwing away the key. “We tried that,” Haveman noted. […]
Posted inChildren & Families
More families set to lose welfare assistance
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 […]
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 […]
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