When I broke into the newspaper business back in 1965, there were maybe a couple busloads of reporters working in Lansing. Today, you can count them on your fingers. Of course, this is the result of the decades-long deterioration of “mainstream media,” mostly newspapers. Information and advertising, especially, have migrated to the Web. Although newspapers are trying […]
Center for Michigan seeks your ideas to bolster coverage of state
Posted inMichigan Government
New ads on Canada bridge carry same old problem, Truth Squad rules
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: Multiple ads on bridge question Who: The People Should Decide What: Television ads Truth Squad call: Flagrant foul Questionable statement: “The bridge to Canada. $500 million just in interest payments. And with hidden costs — up to $8 billion.” The source of these claims is an Aug. 12 study commissioned by […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Democrats slip up on couple of points about Bolger, Truth Squad rules
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS: “End Jase Bolger’s Reign” Who: Michigan Democratic Party What: Web video Truth Squad call: Foul. Michigan Democrats have ramped up attacks on the House Republican speaker since revelation of a secretive scheme between Bolger and Grand Rapids House Democrat Roy Schmidt to have Schmidt file as a Republican minutes before the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Large employers help cities keep good company
Most large Michigan cities owe their economic successes — and downfalls — to an astounding number of entrepreneurs who turned their businesses into major corporations. Detroit was the Silicon Valley of its day, as Henry Ford and dozens of his competitors put America on wheels in the early 20th century. Dr. William Upjohn founded the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Dow and Midland: It's just good chemistry
Midland’s key ingredient to its long-term economic success can be summed up in one word: Dow. The Dow Chemical Co. has had an outsized impact on this handsome, prosperous mid-Michigan community of about 42,000 since Canadian immigrant Herbert Henry Dow arrived in 1890 and started manufacturing bleach. Dow Chemical’s influence can be seen throughout the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Battle Creek merger kept Kellogg popping
Battle Creek is unequivocally the “Cereal City.” But relations between the city and Kellogg Co. — its largest employer — haven’t always been as sweet as a bowl of Froot Loops. In the early 1980s, Kellogg threatened to pack up its cereal boxes and leave town unless the city and Battle Creek Township merged. didn’t […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Motor City rolls on to tech, health care
Detroit has long been known as the Motor City. Don’t trying telling city officials that it isn’t anymore. Much of the city’s automotive production left long ago, as manufacturers and suppliers moved operations to lower-cost southern states. But Detroit officials will quickly remind you of significant auto operations that are still here — and are, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Dutch titans left their mark on West Michigan
Rich DeVos and the late Jay Van Andel were known as the “gold dust twins” as they built Amway, the direct-selling consumer products giant they founded in 1959 near Grand Rapids. They spread a lot of that gold around West Michigan to support the construction of hospitals, sports and entertainment facilities, research institutions and many […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: A small town keeps growing its own
By Maurita Holland When Roger Chard steps onto the stage to sing and I take the piano bench in southeastern Michigan, the audience generally numbers in the hundreds. This month, we will perform in my hometown, Manistique, for about 30 people. The attendees, enticed by the promise of Swedish desserts and coffee, along with an […]
Posted inSuccess
It's been a year already? Bridge turns 1.
Bridge Magazine is a year old today. Can it just be a year ago that we were “discussing” the best name for a new online news and analysis magazine focused on Michigan’s pressing problems … Beacon, 42 North, Bridge? To celebrate the first of what we are planning to be many years covering Michigan events, […]