It’s October and Lansing resident Kennedy Barnwell, 4, who is eligible for the Great Start Readiness Program, is still not in school. Her mother Brittany Johnson, 27, has made several attempts to get her daughter in a classroom, without success. So Kennedy is stuck in what she likes to call “day-care school” to let everyone […]
Lansing mom bumps up against preschool rules
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“Our treasure lies in the beehive of our knowledge. We are perpetually on the way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind” — Friedrich Nietzsche, 19th century German philosopher. * “Stray dogs and beloved pets alike leave behind approximately 30 tons of excrement on (Buenos Aires’) sidewalks each day, according to […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Foul called on Medicare claim in Stabenow attack on Hoekstra
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “The Truth About Pete Hoekstra” and “Through Me” Who: Stabenow for U.S. Senate What: TV ad and website pages Truth Squad call: Foul The campaign material for incumbent U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, attacks Republican Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra for his stand on Medicare, abortion, taxes and other issues. Questionable statement: “Hoekstra supports […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Everyone gets a foul in House 67 campaign, Truth Squad rules
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: Jeff Oesterle v. Tom Cochran Who: Friends of Jeff Oesterle (http://www.jeffoesterle.com/), Committee to Elect Tom Cochran (http://votetomcochran.com/), Michigan Republican Pary (“Loyalties” mailer, “Sand” mailer), Michigan Democratic Party (“Example” mailer, “Polluter” mailer) What: Websites and mailers Truth Squad calls: Flagrant foul and Foul on Democratic mailers; Foul and Technical foul on GOP […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Proposal 5 seeks end to majority rule on taxes
The signal moment in the budget reform agenda of Gov. Rick Snyder came by a margin of one, as the state Senate voted 20-19 in May 2011 to approve a $1.7 billion tax cut for business and impose a variety of changes to Michigan’s personal income tax. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley cast a rare tie-breaking […]
Posted inMichigan Government
California is poster child for tax limitation rules, for advocates and critics alike
In the depths of the Great Depression, California lawmakers devised a bold prescription for balancing the state books. Called Proposition 1, the 1933 measure called for a complicated shift in taxes between state and local governments and boosted state spending for schools. Almost as an afterthought, it required a two-thirds vote in each chamber to […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Prop 5 advocates say taxes are high, but figures show Michigan in the middle
It is an article of faith among small government advocates that Michigan residents are overtaxed, especially in relation to other states. That might have been true in 1985, when Michigan ranked seventh in the nation with a state and local tax burden of 10.4 percent, compared to a national average of 9.7 percent. The data […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Prop 1 is fight over local control, with backdrop of fiscal crisis
Of the many laws Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has championed during his first 21 months in office, few have proved as divisive as the one that gave emergency managers sweeping new “superpowers” allowing them to dismiss elected leaders and rip up union contracts to help balance budgets in financially distressed cities and school districts. If […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Film Office starts new year with more dollars, higher hopes
With a new fiscal year ahead, the Michigan Film Office is emerging from a “rebuilding year” with more money to give away and a mission to support locally grown filmmakers. After seeing the movie industry turn from red-hot to cold with the end of an open-ended 42 percent subsidy, Michigan has a new pool of money […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Charter school bill should add protections for quality
By Amber Arellano/Education Trust-Midwest The Oakland Academy in Portage has fulfilled much of the bold promise of the Michigan charter school movement. The elementary school, run by the nonprofit Foundation for Behavioral Resources, routinely exceeds state averages in math and reading. But in the northeast corner of Michigan, a more troubling portrait of charter quality […]