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Fresh Thoughts

The Dillon Recall Charade

April 17, 2008 – 1:53 pm

Think Michigan legislative politics are all sweetness and light these days, following last year’s partisan bruising budget wars?
If so, you might want to take a look at what’s going on in the 17th State Representative District. It consists of a corridor of land that is mostly shaped like the northern part of Idaho, and includes [...]

By Phil Power | Also posted in Columns, The Center at Work | Comments (10)

Faith Restored

April 17, 2008 – 1:41 pm

"The other night, I attended a fabulous community meeting — the kind of gathering that restores your faith in mankind to solve our common problems," former Michigan Teacher of the Year Nancy Flanagan wrote recently in the Livingston County Press & Argus.
"Part of an initiative called Michigan's Defining Moment, it was an assembly of community [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (3)

When MI was Silicon Valley

April 11, 2008 – 12:49 pm

Michigan sometimes can seem like a place stuck in time, caught between a past that relied on cutting giant white pines and digging copper out of the Upper Peninsula mines, and a future that seems tied to an endlessly shrinking or "restructuring" automobile industry.
Why, many ask, is our state so unwilling to try new [...]

By Phil Power | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (3)

Shackling All of Us

April 11, 2008 – 12:09 pm

Michigan's on pace to reach 55,000 prison inmates by 2012 - a 77% increase since 1991.
That's the most troubling finding in new state projections of future prison populations.
At a cost of more than $30,000 per prisoner per year, that's another $150 million per year taxpayers would have to spend on prisons. That's enough money to [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (9)

The "Part-Time" Debate

April 11, 2008 – 11:15 am

The Michigan Legislature's recent two-week spring vacation seemed like the perfect time to discuss legislative reform. So we engaged the thinking of Oakland County attorney Henry Woloson, who deserves wide praise for democracy in action. He’s one citizen who's spent countless hours pushing for change in Lansing.
Henry is one of the leading advocates of a [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (1)

Packing His Bags?

April 11, 2008 – 11:01 am

This letter came our way this week from a highly paid member of the Michigan economy who wonders how long he can stay...
I am recently being recruited by several Sun Belt institutions, and it has made me think about what it would take to make Michigan a really attractive place for me to live. Some [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (6)

Join Us on the River!

April 11, 2008 – 10:41 am

Please join us in Lansing on May 22 as the Center for Michigan celebrates the one-year anniversary of the statewide Michigan's Defining Moment Public Engagement Campaign.
To date, more than 1,500 community leaders and engaged residents have taken part in some 150 community conversations in every region of the state. Collectively, they've spent more than 6000 [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (0)

The Indiana Pitch

April 11, 2008 – 10:32 am

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels got pretty agressive this week in touting his state's advantages over its northern neighbor.
As the Freep's Dawson Bell summarized: "Indiana's economic development agency has been putting up 'Come on Over' billboards near the border and has been running a radio ad campaign for months touting the state's lower business taxes and [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (1)

Quick Guide to Michigan Water

April 4, 2008 – 12:00 pm

Great Lakes expert and author Peter Annin this week declared Michigan a "water cowboy" and cast doubt on the Great Lakes states' long-term ability to keep other regions' thirsts at bay.
Another Great Lakes expert, Wayne State University law professor Noah Hall, sees greater promise. And, in this special guest column, Hall quickly outlines Michigan water [...]

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (4)

20 in their 20s

April 4, 2008 – 11:48 am

They are entrepreneurs, artists, leaders of non-profit organizations. Some of them are getting rich quick. All of them are thriving. In Michigan...
Scan Crain's new list of "20 in their 20s" and you may rethink the notion that Michigan lacks opportunity or hip lifestyles for young peole.

By John Bebow | Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments (0)

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