Election year 2012 has started out well for Republicans now in control of the 110-seat Michigan House of Representatives. House Republicans managed to dispatch four Democratic incumbents without having to field a viable challenger, send a piece of mail or run a radio or TV ad. As incumbent legislators are re-elected at a 90 percent-plus […]
Democrats bloody one another in redrawn House districts
Posted inQuality of Life
In Detroit, wheels on the bus go round and …
At a time when many of his peers are finishing college to find a still-depressed job market, Andy Didorosi isn’t waiting for anyone to offer him a slot. At 25, the college dropout describes himself as a “social entrepreneur” and is currently at work on his latest start-up — the Detroit Bus Company, founded with […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Where will Michigan get its energy in 2030?
Michigan citizens may be hearing a great deal of power-plant technology, carbon emissions and renewable energy standards this fall if a ballot proposal to require a larger share of state electricity come from renewable sources makes the statewide ballot. Prior to that determination being made, Bridge Magazine asked representatives of a large Michigan utility and […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand” — Albert Einstein. * Power failures are increasingly common in the United States, a consequence of our culture’s inability to actually address an infrastructure problem. We do want the lights to come on, don’t we?: http://www.psmag.com/environment/electric-forecast-call-for-increasing-blackouts-43395/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+miller-mccune%2Fsummary_feed+%28Pacific+Standard+-+Summary+Feed%29 * Here’s a conundrum: As energy efficiency grows, demand for […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Truth Squad issues flagrant foul to Schmidt, foul to Bolger on election scheme
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: What: Public statements concerning state Representative Roy Schmidt’s political party switch. Who: Schmidt (a Grand Rapids Republican) and House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall. Truth Squad Call: Flagrant foul against Schmidt; foul against Bolger. In May, at the filing deadline for this year’s state House of Representatives elections, Schmidt switched parties, from […]
Posted inPhil's Column
School reform push focuses on learning results, not funding buckets
They say great oaks from little acorns grow. Maybe the same thing will happen as a result of last Tuesday’s meeting in Lansing to consider how to re-work the School Aid Act into the “Michigan Education Finance Act of 2013.” The School Aid Act was originally written in 1979. It’s been amended many times since. At […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Sorry, baby: Delivery docs in short supply Up North
Kristin and Warren Scaife fishtailed along the gravel road that winds south out of Grand Marais, on the rocky shores of Lake Superior. Kristin was in labor, but she couldn’t go to the closest hospital. Helen Newberry Joy Hospital didn’t have a birthing unit. A decade earlier, Kristin’s mother-in-law had found that out when she […]
Posted inQuality of Life
CMU eyes locals to relieve doctor shortage for rural Michigan
Northern Michigan needs to take a gardening approach to solve its shortage of medical services, and grow its own doctors. That’s the advice of Ernie Yoder, dean of the yet-to-open Central Michigan University College of Medicine. The shortage of physicians in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula and in the U.P. causes some rural […]
Posted inSuccess
Michigan firm has bright idea to make camping a sunny experience
Dustin Denkins has fueled his interest in renewable energy into a successful company that makes portable generators. Except he doesn’t use fuel. In 2010, Denkins created Suburb Solar, Inc., which he operates out of his solar-powered, off-the-grid home in Cooks, a small town near Manistique. “Really, it kind of formed because of a lifelong passion […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: 'Doctor shortage' doesn't affect everyone in Michigan equally
By Marianne Udow-Phillips and Josh Fangmeier/ Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation Ron French’s recent piece in Bridge highlighted concerns about the supply of primary care physicians in Michigan, today and into the future. In 2014, assuming the Affordable Care Act takes full effect in Michigan, the state’s primary care system will be further strained […]
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