Chinook salmon have been the bread and butter of Lake Michigan’s sport fishing industry for nearly 50 years, but the popular fishery now faces many of the same threats that wiped out Lake Huron’s salmon fishery a decade ago. The similarities between Lake Michigan’s salmon fishery and the Lake Huron salmon fishery in 2003 — […]
Fishing captains’ nerves rattled by Lake Michigan salmon catch
Posted inGuest Commentary
Disinvestment, structural flaws driving school funding crisis
John Austin and Casandra Ulbrich/courtesy photo The State Board of Education is responsible for ensuring that Michigan’s public schools are providing a high-quality education for the state’s youth. Part of that responsibility includes advocating for sufficient and stable funding. A recent analysis conducted by researchers at Michigan State University’s Education Policy Center, on behalf […]
Posted inPhil's Column
The scapegoat in Washington is process, not people
I don’t know just how close our country came to economic disaster last week, but I do know most Americans are sick and tired of the entire mess in Washington. Up to now, I never thought the country was close to ungovernable, but I’m beginning to wonder. It’s no secret we came near to chaos […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Water, water everywhere in Michigan – but is it enough?
Bernard and Phyllis Senske encountered many challenges over the years while operating a sheep farm in Kalkaska County, but water scarcity was not among them. That changed earlier this year. Shortly after a Canadian firm attempted to hydraulically fracture a deep shale natural gas well nearby, the water table on the Senskes’ property went down […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Up or down? Which way are Great Lakes water levels headed?
In January, when Lake Michigan’s chronically low water level reached its nadir, Leland Harbormaster Russell Dzuba faced the prospect of closing the popular harbor to keep commercial fishing vessels and pleasure boats from running aground in the shallow channel. Leland is one of dozens of Great Lakes harbors that have struggled for two decades with […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Redistricting reform is key to fixing our “jerry-rigged” government
Jocelyn Benson and Joe Schwarz (courtesy photo) Washington is broken. Those three words may have become the most common description of the sad state of affairs in our nation’s capital. But they don’t begin to capture the frustration, anger and disgust that Americans feel when they watch our Congress careen from one manufactured crisis […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Visiting a diminished D.C. still productive for Nature Conservancy
WORTH A VISIT: Washington D.C. may be a ghost town in a government shutdown, but they left a few lights on, and Nature Conservancy staff and volunteers are glad they did. (Photo by Flickr user Kevin Burkett; used under Creative Commons license) By the time you read this, let’s hope the federal government shutdown is […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Six weeks in the woods that restore the soul
PALACE IN THE POPPLE: Inside sits a man composing poetry. Or maybe just a few raccoons. (Photo by Flickr user Charles Dawley; used under Creative Commons license) I don’t keep an archery hunting journal, but if I did, a typical edition would read like this: Oct. 1: Opening Day. Warm; light south wind. In my […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
The race to join the middle class: it’s a steeper climb for minorities
ON TRACK: Students learn machinist skills in a Focus: HOPE classroom. The program is designed to put them on a career path to a middle-class income. (Courtesy photo) Craig Vanderburg will be the first to tell you that he’s worked hard for what he has, but caught a few breaks along the way. He came […]
Posted inTalent & Education
In a game ruled by PACs, Michigan higher ed stays on the bench
One represents a special interest group of about 20 property owners. The other serves an institution known around the world, with thousands of employees, tens of thousands of current users and hundreds of thousands who once passed through its doors. Both have an abiding interest in how Michigan’s state government sees their activities. So of […]
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