In parts of Michigan, a “For Sale” sign in front of a house is quickly followed by another: “Sold.” Realtors from Grand Rapids to Ann Arbor to Traverse City are reporting trends notably absent in Michigan for years. Home values are rising. And marketable houses in decent shape are often snapped up in a matter […]
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 inMichigan Government
ID gap makes streets meaner for ex-cons
GRAND RAPIDS — Jeff Lowery figured it was going to be a tough road as he left state prison in late February, hoping to find work and housing. But without proper identification, he feared it would be impossible: “There is nothing you can do. It’s absolutely horrible.” Six months before was discharged, Lowery said, he […]
Posted inSuccess
Tom Izzo thinks this guy is great
In 1974, Marc Schupan took a leave from his job as a high school government teacher and coach to sort out his future. He thought about law school. Or maybe college coaching. First, he planned to spend a year helping with his family’s modest Kalamazoo scrap metal operation. But just a few weeks into the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan’s obesity straining more than waistlines
If Michigan took an honest look in the mirror, the reflected image would reveal far more than a few unsightly extra pounds. Now ranked fifth in the nation in obesity, state residents are on track to rack up 1.4 million new cases of type 2 diabetes, 2.9 million cases of coronary heart disease and 2.6 […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Road out of Fat City started with a stroll
About a decade ago, a flight of stairs was enemy territory to Kimiko Adolph. She was all too fond of fast food. Her favorite refuge: Sleep and the living room couch. At 268 pounds, this single mother of three realized she could change – or die. “I was having breathing problems,” Adolph recalled. “I had […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Who's to blame for Michigan's road woes?
There is no shortage of fancy electronic charts, graphs and statistics to document the crumbling state of Michigan’s streets and highways. Grand Rapids auto repair shop owner Jay Ziomkowski, though, charts it by the customers who walk through his door. He recalled a recent winter, when “the roads were just horrific. Certain sections were like […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
In West Michigan, evidence mounts of statewide road crisis
A few weeks ago, Grand Rapids TV station WZZM posted a request on its Facebook page: Tell us about about the worst roads in West Michigan. Comments poured in. An Ottawa County resident described James Street, a road near Holland, as “horrible, has been for a long time. Not only filled with potholes but way […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Bad roads throw up barriers to farmers, auto firms, tourists
Better than most, Cass County resident Cliff Poehlman understands how bad roads raise the cost of doing business. Poehlman farms about 2,000 acres of corn, wheat and alfalfa in southwestern Michigan. He is also a 22-year veteran of the Cass County Road Commission. In recent years, Poehlman said, the commission has been forced to issue […]
Posted inSuccess
Leader of Grand Rapids homeless shelter keeps the focus on accountability
NO FREEBIES: Stuart Ray’s philosophy in leading the Guiding Light Mission in Grand Rapids is that giving a homeless people food and shelter without requiring work or effort in exchange is self-destructive to the men he’s trying to help. (Bridge photo/Lance Wynn) GRAND RAPIDS — A decade back, Stuart Ray was immersed in the business […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Labor says it will prevail, but RTW experts are skeptical
FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Given recent events in Indiana, third-shift General Motors worker Roxanna Lucas was “not surprised” when Michigan followed suit by adopting a Right to Work labor standard. Lucas, like many coworkers at the sprawling suburban Fort Wayne GM assembly plant, sees RTW as nothing less than a calculated scheme to take down […]
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