CELEBRATE MENTAL HEALTH: Little of the coverage of the Oregon Medicaid study has noted the huge improvements in mental health for the insured vs. the uninsured, notes Marianne Udow-Phillips of the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) Recent reports about a Medicaid experiment in Oregon reveal a major disconnect […]
Oregon Medicaid study shows value of investment in mental health
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
In Michigan, we celebrate – and ignore – nature’s rhythms of change
WATER MEETS WATER: Lower Lake Herring flows into Lake Michigan between Arcadia and Frankfort. (courtesy photo) Our family tradition every summer is a special week amongst the magnificent dunes along Lake Michigan. The first thing we do when we arrive is run down to the lakeshore to the outlet where Lower Lake Herring connects to […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Mammoth Belle Isle Park poses huge challenge for citizen-saviors (with video)
Michele Hodges, 45, became the first full-time president of the Belle Isle Conservancy in January 2013. A Grosse Pointe Park resident, she will guide the year-old organization, with a budget of approximately $1.3 million, as it seeks to improve Detroit’s singular, but neglected, park, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead in the late 19th century. PARK ADVOCATE: […]
Posted inQuality of Life
A photographic tour of Belle Isle
Belle Isle Park is Detroit’s signature green space. According to the city of Detroit’s records: “Detroit’s city fathers purchased the 983-acre island in 1879 for $200,000, against the opposition of those who thought the price was too high. They elected to retain the name Belle Isle (beautiful island) by which the property was popularly known. […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Pursuit of auto coverage cap insures problems for legislators
If you and your family are in a major auto accident, do you care what the hospital billed the auto insurer for your child’s neurosurgery? 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 […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Survey: Michigan can do much better on volunteering, being neighborly
Fewer Michigan residents may be freely offering their time and energy to good causes — or even saying hello to the senior citizen down the block — a recently released study on volunteerism and social interaction has found. A 2012 survey on the state’s “civic health” found that the percentage of Michigan residents volunteering their […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) *Troubling information as Michigan charges into gardening season: “Heavy use of the world’s most popular herbicide, Roundup, could be linked to a range of health problems and diseases, including Parkinson’s, infertility and cancers, according to a new study.” *An analysis of financial results found that people who choose to […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Founders knew the value of unions to our land
By Al Churchill For a while now, unions have been taking a public beating without much pushback. (courtesy image/used under Creative Commons license) During earlier protests against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s bill to emasculate collective bargaining by public unions, Sarah Palin said, “… these union bosses that are acting like thugs are misleading their union […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Labor belabored: MEA losing members, losing fights. Will it lose its grip?
(Bridge illustration/A.J. Jones) Michigan’s largest teachers union is struggling to keep a toehold as change-minded foes with growing momentum seek to topple the MEA — one of the state’s traditional political giants. The 152,000-member union’s finances are deteriorating. Its growth strategy is uncertain. And it faces an unrelenting political offensive by opponents who see the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Long-simmering GOP-MEA ‘war’ intensifies going into 2014
The Michigan Education Association and Michigan Republican Party are on speaking terms – sort of. SIGN OF TIMES: An MEA-financed billboard from last year’s elections reflect the heated rhetoric that has come to mark the union’s relationship with the Republican Party. (courtesy photo) Last year, the two sides regularly exchanged plenty of words – words […]