I’ve been happy to see hear coverage of the takeover of Benton Harbor on Michigan Public Radio over the past three days. They’ve done a three-part story which is pretty balanced, on the whole. Wednesday, April 27 – Benton Harbor called “ground zero” in fight over emergency manager powersThursday, April 28 – People in Benton Harbor disagree about what’s best […]

Back in March, I wrote about Michigan Republicans’ efforts to further penalize teachers who go on strike in our state. From the article I linked (no longer available): State Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, on Tuesday introduced legislation creating penalties for public schoolteachers and the Michigan Education Association for inciting or participating in strikes. House Bill 4466 would fine the […]

Check out this Eclectagoodness from The Rachel Maddow Show last night: Watch the full piece with Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero HERE. I’m still stunned that most of the Michigan coverage is being done by me (and Rachel Maddow, of course) and that none of the major newspapers in Michigan is following this story. I’m just sayin’…

Jesse Jackson at the Counterpunch website: Benton Harbor may become to economic justice what the small town of Selma was to civil rights. For in Benton Harbor, the powers that be now are wreaking the final indignities on the town’s beleaguered residents — stripping them not only of their schools, but of their democracy, taking away not only their jobs, […]

There is a delivery guy where I work who spends a lot of his time driving around to deliver packages for us. He’s also our company’s taxi service and recently picked up an Aussie colleague of mine. On the trip back from the airport, Aussie asked him if he thought Obama was good for America. Aussie had no idea that […]

The image below of Jean Klock Park and part of the Harbor Shores golf course is fully interactive and goes all the way around, 360-degrees. Use your mouse to drag in the direction you want to spin the image. You can also use the buttons to do these actions. Clicking “FULLSCREEN” (bottom right corner) gives the most dramatic effect, allowing […]

This Saturday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder will be the commencement speaker at the University of Michigan, quite a departure from last year when President Obama was the speaker. A massive protest is being organized that involves a rally as well as action by the students themselves. The protest rally is being organized by the Washtenaw Community Action Team, Working Michigan, […]

The federal government is about to get back more of the money it loaned to American automakers. This time it’s the Chrysler Corporation. They are going to sell some debt and take out bank loans to pay back the U.S. government.  Chrysler says it will take out bank loans and sell debt later this quarter to repay $6.6 billion in […]

There’s a developing story in Allegan County, home of the Saugatuck Dunes that I have been writing about. A Michigan law passed in 2008 called the Michigan Planning Enabling Act PA 33 of 2008 (discussed at length HERE [pdf]) requires county Planning Commissions to be created by Ordinance rather than by a Resolution and this must be done by July […]

Video I shot today from one of the holes on the Harbor Shores golf course that were built on public land donated to the City of Benton Harbor for use as the Jean Klock Park. I should note that I made an error in the commentary I was giving while I shot this video. The City of Benton Harbor did […]

Well, it’s a rainy day but that hasn’t stopped organizers in Benton Harbor from moving forward with their planned rally and march. We have relocated the staging location to the Benton Harbor library, across the street from the City Hall. It’s a full house with at least 250 people crammed into the library’s auditorium. Organizer John Waltz from Heartland Revolution […]