July 1, 2009
Detroit Prospect: Pivot Man |
Facing the city’s most daunting crisis since the ’67 riots, Mayor Bing needs to lead in a highly public way. | more•
Press Box: Who Will Tell Michiganders? |
Educating the public now ranks dead last on the priority list for most newspapers. | more•
June 16, 2009
Making Sausage: Hollywood Moochers|
Michigan’s film production experiment has become a horror flick for taxpayers. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Hypocrites, Plutocrats, Poseurs and Free-loaders |
Democrats who blame conservatives for the financial mess, and Republicans who blame liberals, are all missing the point. | more•
Craig’s Grist: Good Reads |
Some summer reading to remind you that reading is a pleasure. | more•
Foreign Correspondent: Don’t Blame It on the Rain |
California’s failure to protect its most valuable resource — the ocean — is difficult to swallow. | more•
June 1, 2009
Oakland County: In the Shadow of a Giant |
A lot of us in Oakland County have lived to see a day we never expected — announcement of the final days of the Pontiac automobile. | more•
Press Box: The J-School Influx Paradox |
The newspaper industry is dying, but enrollment in journalism programs is soaring. | more•
May 16, 2009
Making Sausage: Winds of Change |
The election of Dave Bing as mayor signals a new direction for Detroit. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Diminishing Democracy |
Why do the greatest advocates for limiting legislative terms in office call themselves Conservatives? | more•
Craig’s Grist: Wild About Government |
A trip to the local post office drives this columnist postal. | more•
Foreign Correspondent: Down the Drain |
The Mitten can’t keep some college grads from leaving — but it can lure them back. | more•
May 1, 2009
Detroit Prospect: Reading a Classic |
Forget the national characterizations. Detroit is The Great American Novel. | more•
Press Box: Ban the Beat-Sweetener! |
The silly, trumped-up outrage against profiling the powerful. | more•
April 16, 2009
Making Sausage: Up for Grabs |
With 18 months to go, here’s how the race for governor is shaping up. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: The Bird and The Gov |
Always unscripted, Mark “The Bird” Fidrych came to the aid of his state. | more•
Craig’s Grist: Why Not Enjoy the Absurd? |
The theater of the absurd merits a comeback — on Broadway, in D.C., in corporate boardrooms, state capitols, county courthouses, and entertainment media. | more•
Foreign Correspondent: A Demographic of One |
You think the mitten has problems? The Golden State’s economy is also really blue. | more•
April 1, 2009
Oakland County: Automation Alley |
Here’s what the nonprofit economic development organization really does to help create new businesses and jobs. | more•
Press Box: Goodbye to Great Expectations |
Forget Dickens. For journalism students today, it’s a Brave New World. | more•
March 16, 2009
Making Sausage: Spring Break |
Michigan needs a fresh start — and stimulus dollars won’t pave over all the financial potholes of the past six years. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Why Are Kids Flunking Writing? |
Is the writing of college graduates really getting worse all the time, or is that simply the talk of a bunch of old fogies? | more•
Craig’s Grist: Too Much of Too Much |
3,000 units of government and 22,000 elected officials produce inefficiency. | more•
Foreign Correspondent: Look to the Cookie |
Look to the cookie for an important lesson in fundraising. | more•
March 1, 2009
Detroit Prospect: Post-Racial America? Not Where I Live |
Rejected Cobo deal shows how southeastern Michigan’s history still weighs us down. | more•
Press Box: Journalism’s Loss is Politics’ Gain |
It’s no surprise journalists are leaving the declining business for government jobs. | moreFebruary 16, 2009
Making Sausage: The Path Unfortunately Still Taken |
What started out as an effort to stimulate the economy has turned into a trillion-dollar Obamaboondoggle. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Hail, Chief! Lose the Barackberry |
Irrational decisions get made on instant “deciding devices.” | more•
Craig’s Grist: Hope |
We must grasp our deep-rooted hope, not others’ clichés about Michigan. | more•
Foreign Correspondent: Power of the Mouse |
It’s not magic that there’s still a magic place where recessions can’t ruin your mood. | more•
February 1, 2009
Oakland County: Patterson for Governor |
We could at long last have an executive capable of pulling Michigan government back from the brink of fiscal disaster. | more•
Press Box: Reviving Your Right to Know |
The Freedom of Information Act is the public’s last line of defense. | more•
January 16, 2009
Making Sausage: Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is |
The one thing we can all do to help fix this economic mess is buy more from Michigan businesses. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet |
Just when you thought you had seen it all, something jumped up in 2008 to remind you that “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” | more•
Craig’s Grist: Michigan Prophet of the Year |
Enter the contest to be crowned Michigan’s best soothsayer for 2009. | more•
A Young Life: Puppy Love |
The DC-jaded cynic becomes a believer in miracles — at least miracles of the canine variety. | more•
January 4, 2009
Press Box: Reader Rage |
It’s not “democratizing” the news, it’s unleashing the mob. | more•
Tie Bar: Five Stages of Lame-Duck Grieving |
Lame duck can be magical or, more often, humiliating. | more•
December 16, 2008
Making Sausage: Bailout Mania |
A look at the future Senate Banking Committee hearing when Michigan comes calling for a bailout. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Can Obama Change Republicans Back? |
Sometime around the beginning of the Reagan Revolution, Republicans changed. | more•
A Young Life: Run Over by the Auto Bailout |
I’ve become a natural target in the raging national debate over aid to the Detroit 3. | more•
December 1, 2008
Oakland County: Road Taxes Now! |
Michigan’s roads need immediate action, not prolonged debate. | more•
Press Box: Punditry 101 |
A quick spin through the rules of political commentary. | more•
November 16, 2008
Making Sausage: End of an Era |
No longer can Michigan’s Republican leadership live off the successes of the Engler era. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Seven Deadly Sins Revisited |
The cause of the global financial crisis is far more basic than subprime mortgages. | more•
Craig’s Grist: None Dare Call It Socialism |
Beyond partisan gains and a fiercely populist mood, global markets and corporate competitiveness drive America toward democratic socialism. | more•
A Young Life: Kahliefohnya |
Why was the Terminator waking me up and talking politics? | more•
November 1, 2008
Tie Bar: Slacker Lobbyist |
Jean Doss takes a day off. | more•
Press Box: Ode to Newspapers |
Death of newspapers shifts greater power to politicians. | more•
October 16, 2008
Making Sausage: A Look Ahead — and Back — at Campaign 2008 |
With all the focus on national issues, is anyone paying attention to Michigan’s future? | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Better Buy a Thermos |
A healthy dose of pondering how medical insurance is about to change. | more•
Craig’s Grist: What Does a 91-Year-Old Know? |
A person living through 91 years of intermittent hells doesn’t deserve 2008’s economic train wreck. | more•
A Young Life: On the Road Again |
After three exhausting years of gaining “real life experience” in DC, I was about to realize my childhood dream. | more•
October 1, 2008
Oakland County: Playing Budget Defense |
Lansing’s red-ink finances hurt locals who don’t know what’s coming. | more•
Press Box: Palin’s Pyongyang-Style Press Policy |
McCain-Palin antics show contempt for the media and utter disdain for the public. | more•
September 16, 2008
Making Sausage: Slash this Hockey Mom at Your Own Risk |
Sarah Palin has changed the nature of this campaign because the personal attacks on her have backfired. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: I Finally Saw Obsession |
Mass distribution of the Obsession “shock-umentary” raises suspicions and basic issues. | more•
Craig’s Grist: The Year of Authenticity |
Voters are on higher-than-normal alert to the genuine and the fake. | more•
A Young Life: A Foot Out the Door |
A heavy door to a committee hearing room provides a moment of career clarity. | more•
September 1, 2008
Tie Bar: Granfalloons and the Sacred Pilgrimage of Door Knocking |
Door knocking — what it reveals about a campaign and ourselves. | more•
Press Box: Sex Sells (and Sells Readers Short) |
Where should journalists draw the line on reporting sex scandals? | more•
August 16, 2008
Making Sausage: Reefer Madness in Michigan? |
Are we about to open a Pandora’s pot box we won’t be able to close? | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Unsung Heroes of MET |
Looking back at the birth of the nation’s first state-run tuition pre-payment fund. | more•
Craig’s Grist: Ban the Banal |
The seven words and phrases we should ban in politics. | more•
A Young Life: Eye-Opening Tour |
Not even a cheat sheet could save this doomed tour of the Capitol — my first. | more•
August 1, 2008
Press Box: All News Ain’t Local |
Reducing coverage of state government is no way to cure what ails newspapers across Michigan. | more•
Oakland County: Filling the Leadership Pothole |
Impatient with the state’s road mess and leadership vacuum, Oakland County wants Lansing’s okay to raise new funds. | more•
July 16, 2008
Making Sausage: Constitutional Con Job |
The “Reform Government Now” proposal isn’t about reform — it’s all about control. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Dump the Eggs in a Dumpster? |
The right to life debate is open again and bound to carve another deep scar in the back of otherwise civil neighbors across Michigan. | more•
Craig’s Grist: Mayhems vs Miracles |
Michigan’s rival populaces battle it out for the heart, soul — and future — of Michigan. | more•
A Young Life: Trying to Be a Tourist in My Own Town |
The heat and humidity of the swamp that is Washington have claimed many a victim. Unsuspecting tourists are especially vulnerable. | more•
July 6, 2008
Tie Bar: Abortion…Or Why I Don’t Hate P.L. |
For pro-choice lobbyist, not all enemies are created equal. | more•
Press Box: Campaigning 101— Pile on the Press |
Both presidential hopefuls are walking a tightrope with the press corps. | more•
June 16, 2008
Making Sausage: Fieger — Dumb Like a Fox? |
Ignorance is not only bliss, but also apparently a good enough excuse for breaking the law. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Maybe Obama Can |
Obama’s win is liberating for all ages, races, religions and economic classes.
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Craig’s Grist: ‘Endowded’ Wisdom |
The American mood, the darkest since 1974, coincides with the potential of the nation’s fourth transformation. | more•
A Young Life: Making a Difference…the Mumps Way |
My mystery ailment, not bio-terrorism, threatened to shut down the U.S. Congress. | more•
June 1, 2008
Press Box: Little Piggy Who Cried Wolf |
Recall crusader’s fall from grace provides valuable lesson for news media. | more•
Oakland County: Staring Inefficiency in the Face |
‘Pride of place’ no obstacle to eliminating proliferation of local governments. | more•
May 16, 2008
Making Sausage: Desperate in Michigan |
The only taxes involved in the new film rebate program are those of Michigan taxpayers. | more•
Rick Cole At Large: Putting the Marble on the Green |
A jar of marbles helps keep you focused on the really important things in life.
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Craig’s Grist: A Kinder, Gentler Year? |
How current political comparisons compare to Peggy Noonan’s immortal words. | more•
A Young Life: Singin’ the Dues-Payin’ Intern Blues |
The glamorous aspects of the Hill provided an ironic contrast to our utterly banal duties. | more•
