It’s not a statistic highlighted in college pamphlets or admissions websites, but it’s a data point freshman should think about as they set up their dorm rooms this week: Not all of them have the same chance of graduating. White students are more likely to graduate than African-American students at almost all Michigan universities. And […]
Your graduation rates may vary
Posted inTalent & Education
MLK’s dream not yet realized at college graduation – it’s not even close
Why is one of these college students more likely to graduate than the other? Michigan colleges are struggling to figure it out. (Bridge photo by Monique Belser) Paulette Granberry Russell remembers walking on the sprawling campus of Michigan State University as a scared, under-prepared freshman. “I was an African-American woman and first-generation (to attend college […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Bipartisanship registers a heartbeat
Finally. After months of struggle, Michigan’s state senate passed legislation last week to accept Washington’s offer to extend Medicaid to nearly half a million of our state’s working poor. The vote was close – 20 to 18 — and the run-up to it was complicated, intense and very partisan. But when crunch time came, eight […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Breaker breaker one-nine, trucking jobs dying on the vine
With a fleet of some 60 trucks, Ottawa County-based Luther Logistics is primed to expand. If only it could find the drivers. “I could put four or five people in a truck today,” said Jordan Luther, the firm’s owner and operations manager. “It used to be that we would get four or five people a […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Military vets find civilian work behind the wheel
After 12 years in the Navy, John Kutrich was ready to try something else. Following his discharge in 2007, he worked for a military contractor in South Carolina for about 18 months until the work dried up. He moved to Michigan, got his commercial driving license and found work with Flint-based E.L. Hollingsworth & & […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Empty cabs: Are driverless vehicles the answer to Michigan’s trucker shortage?
With no obvious near-term answer to the shortage of truck drivers, could it be that science fiction delivers the final solution? Caterpillar is already operating driverless trucks in mining operations in remote parts of Australia, a move company officials say saves both money and mistakes. In July, a driverless car navigated the streets of an […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Iraqi immigrants flow into Michigan, but state lags in attracting new residents
While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has yet to issue their 2012 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, they have just released 2012 tables on the number of persons obtaining legal permanent resident status (also known as “green card” holders) by state and major metropolitan area. Immigrant numbers dropped by 2.9 percent nationally, from 1,062,040 in […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan draws thin in new, high-stakes Indian casino tax negotiations
After 20 years of legalized Indian casino gambling in Michigan, the state is trying to claw back a piece of the action from six tribes as high-stakes talks to extend gaming compacts proceed. At stake: A share of a multi-billion-dollar industry and upwards of $40 million in potential annual revenue for the state. The tribes […]
Posted inMichigan Government
State seeks tighter oversight of Indian casinos’ local revenue sharing
Since Indian casino gambling in Michigan began in 1994, seven tribes have doled out more than $200 million in communities surrounding their casinos. It was widely presumed, under a federal decree governing these payouts, that 2 percent of slot machine and video gaming profits would go to local government to compensate for economic costs of […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Summer swan songs from the U.P. and below the bridge
“Michigan, My Michigan.” That’s the refrain of a song widely believed to be our state song. Sung to the tune of “Oh Tannenbaum,” the lyrics were originally composed in 1862 but recast in 1902 by Douglas Malloch to include the fine lines: “The whisper of the forest tree The thunder of the inland sea Unite […]