Travel often gives you new ways of looking at things … and that is certainly true of travel to China. My wife Kathy and I just got back from visiting our son, who lives and works in Shanghai. We were there for 10 days, and it’s good to be home. But even through the fog of […]
Michigan, let's target and sideline special interests
Posted inQuality of Life
Vaccine 'gap' costs Michigan $500 million a year
On the subject of vaccines, medical opinion is widespread and settled: They are among the triumphs of public-health medicine, preventing thousands of deaths every year — not to mention millions in lost sick time and other productivity. And yet, getting a fully vaccinated populace, from infants through senior citizens, remains an elusive goal for doctors […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Web helps Upper Peninsula stores bolster hometown success
No one would mistake Marquette’s Front Street for the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. There’s only so much foot traffic retailers are going to see in this city of 21,000 on the southern shore of Lake Superior. Two Marquette retailers, though, have found ways to thrive both as a “brick and mortar” shop for their hometown […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Double-duty fire chief serves two Lansings
Randy Talifarro has dealt with his share of dangerous situations during nearly three decades in firefighting. Perhaps that’s why the veteran East Lansing fire chief didn’t exactly charge into the fray when asked to assume the task of also running the city of Lansing’s Fire Department. “Candidly, I was a little hesitant,” said Talifarro, 51, […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives” — James Madison, “Father of the Constitution” and fourth president of the United States. * The overall student loan debt number isn’t cause for panic, argues Andrew Rotherham, the man behind […]
Posted inMichigan Government
In some cities, it's cash that's burning
In Michigan, your home address says everything about how much you spend for fire protection. In Midland, a city of 41,000, residents paid $155 per person in 2010 for their Fire Department. But in Wyoming, a West Michigan city of about 72,000, they paid less than half that, $59 per capita. Fire departments spend about $400 million […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Medical calls dominate fire run stats
When the dispatch call goes to a typical Michigan fire station, chances are it has nothing to do with fire. In fact, odds are about four in five it’s some kind of medical emergency. And even then, it may well turn out to be a false alarm. Not exactly the kind of sirens-blaring drama many […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Negotiating with 'heroes' no simple matter
In 2009, Ann Arbor became the poster child for critics of Michigan’s public safety binding arbitration law, as a labor settlement cost the city $1.5 million in retroactive pay raises. The judgment came as police and fire departments consumed 55 percent ofAnn Arbor’s budget and the city stared down a $2.4 million deficit. The case […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Troy's hybrid force keeps fire costs in check
Troy, an Oakland County city of 80,000, has pioneered an approach unique in Michigan for urban fire departments. Its department relies on a force of about 170 volunteers, augmented by 10 career firefighters. With six stations, it reaches 87 percent of fires within 10 minutes. Troy earns a fire protection rating of 3 from the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Pension costs burn through city budgets
Lansing’s taxpayers were doused with some difficult news last week: The city’s pension fund for police and fire retirees could use a nearly $2 million boost from the city’s general fund. And the city’s already fighting a budget deficit. Big-city fire departments across Michigan continue to wrestle with the legacy costs of public safety pensions, […]