* We are letting thousands of our best teachers walk out the door each year, says a new report: “So who are the Irreplaceables? They are, by any measure, our very best teachers. Across the districts we studied, about 20 percent of teachers fell into the category. On average, each year they help students learn […]
Land O Links
Posted inMichigan Government
Truth Squad calls foul on ‘birthday tax’ claim on Snyder road proposal
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “Happy Birthday From Governor Snyder” Who: Joel Charles Featured Material: Web video Truth Squad Call: Foul To background sounds of the Beatles’ “Birthday,” Gov. Rick Snyder is portrayed in a clownish birthday hat, noisemaker in mouth and birthday cake in front of him. What follows is an attack on Snyder’s plan […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Analysis: Political reality may flatten Snyder's tires
Let’s just say that when Gov. Rick Snyder made his most robust case yet for boosting the annual budget for fixing Michigan’s highways last week, no one on the Senate or House Appropriations committees asked what might be the most appropriate question: “Why only $1.2 billion?” Actually, a plan that raises the gas tax and […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Hunters, anglers get Michigan licenses cheap
Much has changed in Michigan since 1997: Gasoline prices have tripled, food prices increased more than 40 percent and health-care costs have skyrocketed. It seems that everything costs more today than it did 16 years ago — unless you hunt or fish in Michigan. The price of hunting and fishing licenses here hasn’t increased since […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Where Michigan stands on hunting, fishing fees
As Bridge reported last week, Gov. Rick Snyder is taking aim at Michigan’s outdoor bargains: “The cost of shooting a deer in Michigan would double next year, under Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed 2014 budget, and more conservation officers would patrol the state’s woods and waterways. “Released Thursday, Snyder’s budget calls for $354.3 million for the […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Michigan cities firing flares over funding
By Tom Ivacko/Center for Local, State and Urban Policy Michigan local government leaders are waiving a red flag, warning that the state’s system of funding local government is broken and that we can expect fewer public services in the future if the system is not fixed. In recent days, both Flint’s emergency manager, Edward Kurtz, […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Snyder tries to sell long-term investment strategy to Michigan
Give a man a fish, and you feed him a day; show him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled his proposed state budget for the next two years last Thursday. If there is a core idea in his $50.9 billion budget message, it’s the distinction between investments […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* So much for Michigan’s fracking boom. Remember when media outlets – including this one — were full of references to the Antrim shale formation and how the natural gas there would be a big deal. Well, not so much, according to these charts from ProPublica. The wellhead price of gas has dropped by half since […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Census alert: Michigan needs babies!
Remember the lousy movie “Mars Needs Women,” the 1967 cult classic in which Tommy Kirk leads his fellow Martians to Earth on an interplanetary quest for females? Well, Michigan has the women (though maybe not so many in their child-bearing years). The state really needs babies – and the women who want to have them. […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Deer, fishing fees headed for change under Snyder plan
The cost of shooting a deer in Michigan would double next year, under Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed 2014 budget, and more conservation officers would patrol the state’s woods and waterways. Released Thursday, Snyder’s budget calls for $354.3 million for the Department of Natural Resources, which would allow the agency to hire 41 more conservation officers, […]
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