Who: GrowMIjobs.org (created by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce) What: Internet ad — “Michigan: From worst to 1st in job growth” Truth Squad call: Warnings Questionable statement: “Did you hear the news? Michigan leads the nation in job growth, from worst to first in the nation.” After making that assertion, the ad scrolls through a […]
Truth Squad issues warnings on biz-backed ad on union measure
Posted inQuality of Life
Poverty, then pregnancy for teen mothers
The Catherine Ferguson Academy is on its summer schedule, and the custodians’ floor-polishing has pushed much of what is unique about the Detroit charter high school into the halls. A line of high chairs blocks a row of lockers. A table with built-in chairs for four infants stands near a pushcart designed to hold nine […]
Posted inSuccess
Don’t fit in school? There’s a different WAY
Jessica Cooper was so turned off by all the drugs and the social drama at her Livingston County high school that she finally dropped out during her junior year. “You had to be popular, or in a specific group,” she explained. “It just made me want to be alone.” Soon after she enrolled in the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Election 2012: Community stays attached to its government; confusion crops up on citizenship query
Michigan’s primary election did not pass without a couple of bumps — one for poll workers navigating Michigan election law, another for advocates of a plan to actually dissolve one of Michigan’s 1,000-plus local governments. In Onekama, southwest of Traverse City, a proposal to abolish the government of the village of Onekama — and thereby […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Truth Squad issues warning over ad opposing union ballot proposals
Who: Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution What: “Auction” – radio/Web ad Truth Squad call: Warning This ad comes from Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution, a group based out of the offices of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and formed to advocate against a variety of constitutional amendments headed for Michigan’s November ballot. The largest contributors to the […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
“All science requires mathematics. The knowledge of mathematical things is almost innate in us. This is the easiest of sciences, a fact which is obvious in that no one’s brain rejects it; for laymen and people who are utterly illiterate know how to count and reckon” — Roger Bacon, 13th century English philosopher. * Doug Luciani, […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Going green, getting green with new mileage standards
By Mark Schauer/ BlueGreen Alliance The first Model T rolled off the assembly line to great excitement about the future of an emerging industry — and the potential for this new product to take Americans places they’d never been before. More than 100 years later, the auto industry is a keystone of the American economy. […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Forecasting a slower, pricier car industry
Cars might cost $50,000 on average by 2025. Vehicle sales in the United States may never bounce back to the levels of a decade ago. And electric vehicles aren’t likely to catch on with consumers for years, if at all. So says Sean McAlinden, executive vice president of research and chief economist at the Center […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Onekama provides test case on government consolidation
Most Michigan voters who find their ways to the polls today will be making decisions on who will run their governments and how they’ll fund such operations. The residents of the village of Onekama have a bigger question to answer: Keep the local government we have, or live under the neighbor’s? The 400 or so […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Consolidating government easier said than done
By Tom Ivacko/Center for Local, State and Urban Policy With the citizens of the village of Onekama and Onekama Township voting today on whether to merge – and with local governments across Michigan looking for ways to save dollars while continuing services – Michiganians might be wondering: Will consolidation be coming to my community anytime soon? Not […]