A slow fade in, and a tinkling piano picks out a familiar phrase. The camera watches a familiar Metro Detroit main drag bathed in the golden light of a summer afternoon, while a mellow man’s voice speaks: “Downtown Royal Oak brings to mind one word.” The shot dissolves to a quartet of young men walking […]
Grosse Pointe
Posted inTalent & Education
'Common app' hits star student with uncommon adversity
Danny Schrage is cruising into the home stretch of his high school career with an impressive resumé in hand. He scored a 30 on his ACT and earned a 3.91 grade-point average through his junior year, with 17 honors-level or Advanced Placement classes. He’s president of Grosse Pointe North High School’s National Honor Society, and […]
Posted inQuality of Life
When MLK came to Grosse Pointe
Three weeks before he was assassinated in Memphis, Martin Luther King Jr. made one of his last speeches to a Michigan audience. And not just any audience; he went deep into the belly of the segregated beast, speaking to an audience at Grosse Pointe High School (now Grosse Pointe South) on March 14, 1968. At […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
'Shadow Tax Cut' deepens local budget crises
A $900 million cut in property tax revenues since 2007, the “Shadow Tax Cut,” has devastated the budgets of local governments that heavily rely on these taxes to provide police and fire protection — and a host of other services. They’ve laid off hundreds of firefighters, police officers and other employees; cut pay and benefits; […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Fund-equity deals break teacher contract logjams
In March 2010, members of the Grosse Pointe Education Association held a noisy demonstration before a meeting of their district’s board, calling attention to the fact they’d been working without a contract for six months, and negotiations were going nowhere. The district was planning layoffs and pushing for concessions to cover a shortfall of around […]