Bridge Feed- Ah, so! Second thoughts for Hoekstra’s star?
- Guest post: K-12 ‘increase’ is actually a cut
- More families set to lose welfare assistance
- Reactions to Snyder budget coming in
- Guest post: Speak out on SE Michigan roadways
- Budget translated: Don’t get excited
- Bridge reports, budgets rise
- Detroit neighbor losing population, too
Make A Donation
Category Archives: North Coast
SPECIAL REPORT: Drilling for Dollars — Would we balance the budget with natural resources?
By Susan J. Demas
Michigan isn’t used to getting a lot of good news these days, but the state hit upon an unexpected bonanza last month.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) held an oil and gas lease auction on May 4 that netted a record $178 million – almost eight times the previous record [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place Comments closed
Tourism Marketing: Why mess with MI's great success?
Michigan’s eye-popping tourism marketing web site — www.michigan.org — is the most popluar state tourism web site for the third year in a row, the Grand Rapids Press reports.
Let’s hope the good folks on the Michigan Senate Finance Committee see that good news. Because they continue to sit on a package of bills that could [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts Comments closed
Favorite Asian Carp links
Here at the Center we’ve always found joy in celebrating bipartisanship wherever we could find it.
Right now, that bipartisanship is on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan.
Hopefully, Asian carp are not.
What bipartisanship am I talking about? Well, the generally bipartisan outrage among members of Congress from Michigan, the governor, and the attorney general over the [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts Comments closed
Beg these senators to stop a tourism travesty
Remember those great Pure Michigan ads that captured the airwaves the past couple years?
Here’s a reminder…
You can still watch these great ads online, but not many other places.
…
The Freep explained in a pointed editorial this week
Coming off a yearlong cycle that pushed “Pure Michigan” scenes deeply into the national consciousness, the state needs to sustain [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts Comments closed
Lake Michigan's new Paul Revere
If Asian Carp are already past the last barriers and beginning to feed voraciously in Lake Michigan, it’s not because Andy Buchsbaum sat idle and hoped for the best.
Buchsbaum, the fiery executive director of the National Wildlife Federations Great Lakes office, just launched a new blog called “Great Lakes on the Ground.”
You’ve no doubt seen [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts Comments closed
Revving northern Michigan's economic engine
If “quality of place” is an important factor in 21st Century economic growth, Northern Michigan should have big advantages. And the latest economic forecasts for the region are rosy by comparison to Michigan’s past decade of doom.
A recent special report in the Traverse City Record-Eagle included the following hopeful signs…
AN IMPROVING JOBS PICTURE: Northern Michigan [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts Comments closed
Will tourism funding fall away like autumn leaves?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Among the many strategic priorities caught up in Lansing’s never-ending budget mess is the no-lose proposition of state funding for tourism marketing. The state’s Pure Michigan campaign has won national attention — and, more importantly — swarms of new tourists, for the state. Despite the fact that tourism marketing returns far more to [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts Comments closed
'Forging common solutions'
Bill Milliken’s legacy as Michigan’s longest-serving governor is a legacy that includes bipartisan spirit, natural resources protection, and heavy investment in core cities. Now 87, Milliken touched on all of those themes in a “common ground” speech at the recent dedication of Milliken State Park on Detroit’s riverfront. His speech can serve as an inspiring [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts Comments closed
GUEST COLUMN: Disinterest, disinvestment, and disillusion
EDITOR’S NOTE: As the Michigan League of Conservation Voters argues below, Michigan citizens are eating our seed corn by sitting passively by while political leaders in Lansing continue to disassemble decades of nationally recognized natural resources protection. Disinvestment in Michigan’s breathtaking natural environment threatens to destroy the very tourism economy the state works to promote. [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work Comments closed
Don't let Pure Michigan ads go dark
The Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association said this week that three-quarters of its members saw an increase in out-of-state visitors this year, even in the national recession.
The credit goes to the state’s Pure Michigan advertising campaign, with loads of visitors offering up anecdotes about the eye-popping ads.
But tourists’ memories can be short, especially if the [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work Comments closed
