An education commission created by Gov. Rick Snyder has concluded that one way to reverse the slide of public schools is to give the governor’s office more control over education policy. Other recommended reforms would require significant state money.
Ted Roelofs
Ted Roelofs of Kentwood, has written extensively on healthcare as well as prison and juvenile justice reform. Roelofs spent nearly three decades at the Grand Rapids Press where he covered politics, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rural poverty and mental illness among the homeless. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. Reach Ted at ted.roelofs@gmail.com
Posted inBusiness Watch
On Michigan farms and in restaurants, who will fill the jobs?
Fruit and vegetable growers across the state say immigration crackdowns will scare away seasonal workers, with few Americans eager to fill in.
Posted inMichigan Government
Trump’s travel ban could spark crisis in state’s doctor shortage, healthcare leaders say
Foreign-born doctors play a huge role in underserved areas of Michigan, particularly among the state’s rural and urban poor. The president’s immigration policies are causing many to reconsider their future in Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Government
Broken: The human toll of Michigan's unemployment fraud saga
Even with settlement of a federal lawsuit, thousands of Michigan workers accused of unemployment insurance fraud await justice
Posted inMichigan Government
In bid to eliminate state income tax, fears of another Kansas
Michigan Republican lawmakers propose eliminating a $9 billion source of revenue, the state income tax. Bridge dives into the numbers to see how that revenue would be replaced, if it is replaced.
Posted inMichigan Government
From lawmaker to lobbyist. Should the state slow down the revolving door?
Most states have a “cooling-off” period before a departing lawmaker can become a lobbyist. Not so in Michigan, where most who take the leap are lobbying their former colleagues within six months.
Posted inChildren & Families
Revision to ‘Kevin’s Law’ means quicker treatment for the mentally ill
With about 300,000 Michigan adults with serious mental illness, the changes allow judges to order outpatient treatment more quickly, before a crisis
Posted inMichigan Government
We hope you enjoyed your stay at the county jail. Here’s your bill.
Michigan’s county jails charge inmates up to $50 per day for housing, fees that can saddle ex-offenders with five-figure debt loads.
Posted inMichigan Government
The price of Michigan's cash bail system
Critics say locking up criminal defendants before trial because they can’t post bond screws the poor while needlessly raising jail costs borne by taxpayers. Is there a better way?
Posted inMichigan Government
Among rural Trump supporters, an America that has lost its way
Voters in rural areas of northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula say they have found their blunt savior in Donald Trump. Some are bracing for a fight if he loses