By Chris Bunch/ Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy The Michigan Legislature is taking aim at land conservancies, the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, the Department of Natural Resources and land conservation in general. The land conservancies in Southeast Michigan, along with the rest of the natural resource conservation community here, are surprised, frustrated and dismayed. […]
Guest column: Pure Michigan’s natural assets are under assault
Posted inTalent & Education
Education reform discussion headed for Dexter, Lansing, Pontiac, more
Michiganians from Dexter to Lansing to Pontiac have opportunities in September and October to discuss K-12 education and reform as part of the Center for Michigan’s ongoing townhall series on the topic: WHEN: Sept. 24, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. WHERE: Dexter District Library, 3255 Alpine St. Dexter RSVP: Daniel Lai, Dexter Patch — daniel.lai@patch.com or (734) […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Legal painkillers fuel spike in fatal ODs
On any given day, what’s worrying Michiganians about the illicit drug scene is likely to reflect what’s been in the news lately. When a Farmington Hills teenager allegedly beat his father to death with a baseball bat earlier this year, his lawyer blamed his use of synthetic marijuana. When a man in Miami attacked another […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Marijuana users explore law's limits
In 2008, Howard Lutz watched a loved one die. The business his family tended for more than 70 years — Lutz News Co. – became a victim of the seismic shift in the ink-on-paper business. Lutz moved on to build another business – one that rests on how Michigan handles a controversial state law. Iron […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Rx drug abuse propels heroin use, too
For years, the popular perception of heroin was that of a drug consumed mainly by edge-walking musicians and people who sleep under bridges. Somewhere between Kurt Cobain and the kid down the street, that changed. Today, if heroin were a record on the charts, it would have a bullet next to it. Scott Masi, outreach […]
Posted inMichigan Government
House narrows, approves ‘4 strikes’ bill on felons
Concerns about prison costs this year have not deterred the Legislature’s appetite to tweak Michigan sentencing rules. Last week, the House, following the Senate, approved a version of a “four strikes” bill designed to put violent offenders behind bars for a minimum sentence of 25 years. Senate Bill 1109 passed the House last week on […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan bucks trend – in good way – on family incomes
Michigan finally bucked a national trend in a positive direction as median household income rose while the national median was falling last year. More about that after the national news. Fall is almost here and the time has come for the Census Bureau to release its latest analyses of the economic health of the country […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“Doubt grows with knowledge” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 18th century German poet. * Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, has filed a bill that would address what he termed “economic stonewalling” from government agencies confronted with Freedom of Information Act requests from the public. (Hat tip to Gongwer News Service.) The stonewalling technique, for the unitiated, is […]
Posted inPhil's Column
West Michigan gets serious about global race for talent
Anybody who still thinks Grand Rapids is a stodgy and unexciting city either hasn’t been there lately; is in need of a big attitude adjustment; or both. I got a powerful dose of the new Grand Rapids last week, when I was there for the West Michigan Policy Forum’s annual conference. The town was jumping […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Truth Squad calls flagrant foul on new round of bridge ads
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “Why People Are Voting Yes on Proposal 6“ “The People Should Decide, As Simple As That“ Who: The People Should Decide What: TV ads Truth Squad call: Flagrant foul The People Should Decide is a ballot question committee funded, according to available campaign finance statements, almost entirely from interests linked to […]