In January, the state started handing out money to local governments as incentives to consolidate public services with neighbors. Fire protection sharing figured prominently in the first round of 27 grants totaling $4.3 million. But it’s the lack of money, rather than the prospect of more, that should force more communities to look at service […]
Merging fire services is tricky business
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“Mistakes are, after all, the foundations of truth, and if a man does not know what a thing is, it is at least an increase in knowledge if he knows what it is not” — Carl Jung, Swiss psychologist. * Ice in winter has positive effects, too: http://greatlakesecho.org/2012/05/15/continued-ice-loss-on-the-great-lakes-may-cause-widespread-change-in-ecosystems/ * It was suggested, in comments to […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Not much above par on Michigan's scorecard
Gov. Rick Snyder campaigned for the state’s top elected office in 2010 with a promise to “reinvent” Michigan. The Center for Michigan’s 2012 Michigan Scorecard, compiled in partnership with Data Driven Detroit, shows there’s still plenty of reinventing to do. Although Michigan’s economy has performed a U-turn from a decade of job losses, most other […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
State's exports lift economy as they leave
One of the biggest — and largely unheralded — signs of Michigan’s economic recovery is the state’s impressive jump in exports. The 2012 Michigan Scorecard ranked exporting as “good,” up from “average” in 2010. But the state’s performance in selling Michigan-made goods around the world has improved even more since the 2012 Scorecard data was […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Poverty rises even as economy turns
One trend belies the notion that a rising economy lifts all boats: Michigan’s growing poverty rate. Michigan’s economy bottomed out near the end of 2009, and employment and incomes have been creeping upward ever since. But so has poverty. The share of Michigan residents living in poverty jumped from 13.5 percent in 2009 to 16.8 percent […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Michigan's air cleaner, but watch out for carp and friends
Michigan may be best known as the home of the domestic auto industry, but state officials are focusing more on creating a wider public image, focusing on the spectacular natural world found so near the auto assembly lines. The state’s highly successful Pure Michigan tourism advertising campaign showcases many of them, including the Great Lakes, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Rusty and rutted, infrastructure holds state back
While Michigan’s roads and bridges crumble, lawmakers in Lansing dither. “Our infrastructure is in terrible shape,” said Michael Nystrom, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association, a trade group. “There is a unanimous recognition of the need among elected officials,” he added. “But no one can really figure out where we go […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
The poison-pill politics of the personal property tax
Michigan residents trust local government far more than they do state government, according to the latest survey released Wednesday by Michigan State University’s Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. Nearly twice as many say they seldom or never trust state government than those who say they seldom or never trust local government. Municipal employees […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom” — Isaac Asimov, American science fiction novelist. * Here’s a thorny one: Some Great Lakes shoreline property owners want to be able to groom the section of beach between the water’s edge and the ordinary high water mark […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
State waits for Legislature to do its job on transit
By Timothy R. Fischer/Michigan Environmental Council and Michele Hodges/Troy Chamber of Commerce Our state’s leaders must stop dithering and approve the regional transit authority bills (Senate Bills 909, 911-912) before the Michigan Legislature. An RTA matters for the entire state. It would control transit tax expenditures in Southeast Michigan, cut duplicative service, force efficiencies and […]