GREENVILLE – The line began forming an hour before the food truck arrived, starting in the parking lot next to the barren acreage where once stood the nation’s largest refrigerator factory and winding around the front of the former UAW hall. Men and women, some with children, held empty boxes and laundry baskets they soon […]
Moving from ‘we had money’ to ‘they want money I don’t have’
Posted inBusiness Watch
So you think you are a member of the middle class?
Charles Ballard, a Michigan State University economist, says everyone likes to think they are middle class in America to avoid the negative connotations of the extremes of wealth (greed) and poverty (sloth). (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Marketers aim for its money, politicians insist they are looking out for its best interests, and the […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Snyder needs to tell Legislature that budget is far from finished
Peter Luke was a Lansing correspondent for Booth Newspapers for nearly 25 years, writing a weekly column for most of that time with a concentration on budget, tax and economic development policy issues. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University. A governor working in a politically divided government often has no choice but to […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Thousands of low-income, minority students missing out on college-prep classes
(courtesy photo) Only 3 percent of low-income and African-American high school students in Michigan are enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes that help them get a toehold in college. That’s one of the lowest rates in the nation, according to a study conducted by Education Trust. The AP gap puts an estimated 12,000 poor and […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) *Maybe this is a great idea for Atlanta, Ga., and maybe it isn’t. But just note the difference in ambition between this project and Michigan’s inability to figure out a reliable funding stream to fix the transport net it now has: “His vision was to transform the mostly abandoned railroad […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Communities are built, not conjured for our personal convenience
NO MAN IS AN ISLAND: Solitude can be solace against an abrasive community, but if you want one more to your liking, you have to wade in and work for it. (Courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Born in 1945 on the edge of Fremont, across a gravel road from Cook’s hatchery, my childhood had […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
U.P. natives reveal the good places to eat, without a pasty among them
HAY THERE, PICKFORD: That’s the Main Street Café in the background, but if you show up between July 31 and Aug. 4, you can enjoy Pickford’s Hay Days festival along with the whitefish special. (Courtesy photo/Pickford Community Library) Novelist Jim Harrison once observed that the farther north you travel in Michigan, the worse the food […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: It’s past time to extend ‘exquisite beauty’ of early learning to all of our children
By Bob Sornson/Early Learning Foundation (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Across our nation there is a growing debate. How much should we spend to support early childhood programs? How should we spend it? Why should we spend our money on other people’s kids? The debate is often poorly informed, but at least we […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan economy grew again in 2012, but pace was well off ’10,’11 rates
Kurt Metzger is director of Data Driven Detroit, a nonprofit in Detroit established by foundations to build greater capacity for people to work together, and improve lives and communities affiliated with the Michigan Nonprofit Association. He was research director for United Way for Southeastern Michigan from 2005 to 2008 and before that, was a director […]
Posted inMichigan Government
In charity poker vs. regulators, who's holding the cards?
RUN OF THE CARDS: In the last decade, public poker games have proliferated across Michigan as a quirk in the state’s bingo law allows such gambling in support of charitable groups. As play, and revenue, has grown, casinos have cried foul, arguing that these “millionaire party games” are poorly regulated and vulnerable to criminal activity. […]