* Michigan Democrats probably would like to deliver this story to households across the state: “Democrats were taking chambers from Republicans in places where the lines were the product of courts (Minnesota), independent commissions (Colorado) and bipartisan compromises (Oregon). They mostly lost in places where Republican elected officials were in charge of redistricting. “That list […]
Land O Links
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Michigan needs counterweight to autos
By Todd Anson I love my Michigan. I have spent my entire career in California, but I love my home state. It is painful to watch the state’s economic struggles. She sorely needs a plan. Thirty years at the epicenter of the tech revolution in California as a tech lawyer, businessman and investor, plus my […]
Posted inMichigan Government
$152 million, and not even a T-shirt?
For $152 million, you could buy dinner and a cocktail for every Michigan voter who cast a ballot in the Nov. 6 election. Or you could give every man, woman and child in Michigan their very own Chia Obama or Chia Romney, depending, of course, on their political persuasions. Or you could have spent that […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Water expert says conservation is in Michigan’s future
The Great Lakes could reach record low water levels next year. With the state’s defining natural features dropping after a hot, dry summer, Bridge asked Alan Steinman, president of the Annis Water Resources Institute at Grand Valley State University and a leader on water issues in the Great Lakes region since moving here in 2001, […]
Posted inChildren & Families
Starfish group leads charge for Inkster families
Helping vulnerable children all across Metro Detroit is the goal of Starfish Family Services, but the Inkster-based nonprofit decidedly recent it needed to go local with its work – like right outside the door local. Of Inkster’s 26,000 residents, about 1,500 children under the age of 5 are considered high-risk, according to an assessment done […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* Lou Glazer at Michigan Future Inc. has new reports out on metropolitan economies in Michigan between 2001 and 2010. He writes on Grand Rapids: “From 2001-2010, the seven county Grand Rapids regional economy performed better than the Michigan economy. That said it was a decade of decline. And the region in 2010 was one […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Money doesn’t buy happiness – or amendments
Michigan voters did something Tuesday that caught some by surprise: They made their own decisions. More than $33 million in advertising by one motivated billionaire, including out-spending his opposition by twenty-fold, couldn’t get a ballot proposal passed. Persistent campaigning by the governor for another ballot proposal didn’t work either. After months of robocalls and fliers […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Bid to head off ‘Right to Work’ may propel its adoption in Michigan
While voters defeated proposals to lock collective bargaining rights in the constitution and restore bargaining rights to home health workers on Tuesday, the battle over labor rules is far from over in Michigan. The defeat of Proposal 2, the collective bargaining ballot issue, clears the way for a possible Right to Work bill to be […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Political winds bolster bridge, fuel-tax review, but not renewable energy
On energy, bridges and taxes, voters spoke volumes on Tuesday. Defeat of Proposal 3 means, for the foreseeable future, that Michigan will pursue a more limited investment in wind power and renewable energy than neighboring states. Defeat of Proposal 5 means a simple legislative majority remains the threshold for statewide tax increases, perhaps opening the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
For the Legislature, an active and speedy 'duck,' followed by a cautious 2013
The smoke is still clearing from the statewide legislative elections, but Michigan residents should not be surprised if Lansing provides a two-pronged response to the voter’s will: First: A flurry of activity on legislation in the “lame-duck” sessions of the Legislature scheduled through the end of 2012. Hot topics for action include changes to the […]
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