Guest Commentary
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Articles
Opinion | Beware of unintended consequences of Michigan Medicaid work demand
Most adult Medicaid recipients already work, are in school or face real obstacles to jobs. And without investing in childcare or other support, many low-income parents would face a bind.
Opinion | Denhollander: MSU, please stop lying about Nassar victims
Rachael Denhollander says MSU interim leader John Engler and his team are using the same smears against Larry Nassar’s female victims as Nassar’s defense lawyers.
Opinion | Healthy rivers and lakes attract investment to Michigan communities
A Huron River study suggests that Michigan’s blue economy can bring businesses, workers and joy to towns across the state
Opinion | English as Michigan’s official language? How Lansing spends its time.
Victoria Crouse recalls the fear associated with learning English when she came to Michigan as a child. She wonders if the point of a bill making English the official language is to make immigrants more fearful.
Opinion | Michigan Teacher of the Year: 5 ways to motivate students
Math teacher Luke Wilcox disputes the notion that it isn’t a teacher’s job to motivate students. He offers his top strategies for motivating students to care.
Opinion | An all-white slate is a disaster for Michigan Democrats
President Trump’s unpopularity should have made this an easy election year for Democrats. But they shot themselves in the foot with the least diverse slate in years.
Opinion | I was discussing gun policy. He threatened to shoot my campaign worker.
Sen. Margaret O’Brien understands if you disagree with her about guns. But when a discussion at the front door a constituent ended with the resident threatening to get an AR-15, she wrote that the tone of politics has to change.
Opinion: I bought a $500 house to help save Detroit. The city saved me instead.
A writer makes a home in Detroit. In a captivating TED talk, he calls ‘radical neighborliness’ the city’s finest attribute.
Opinion | $2 more a month for Michigan’s poor isn’t help. It’s an insult.
A less than 1 percent increase in cash assistance for Michigan’s most needy has state Sen. Coleman A Young II angry.
Opinion | Michigan bill to lower Rx drug costs instead would raise them
A House bill promises to increase transparency and lower prescription costs. Don’t believe the hype. Real reform is needed but should focus on middlemen who keep customer prices high.
Opinion | Nestlé water deal is bad economics – and bad policy – for Michigan
For just $5,000 and a small annual fee, the giant corporation will extract thousands of water that it will mark up to consumers. Michigan inevitably will get stuck with the bill.
Opinion: Women-led startups are underfunded. We need to fix that.
It’s time to talk about another gender gap: There’s not enough female venture capitalists, and the imbalance isn’t just bad for diversity. It’s bad for business.
Opinion: Clueless Betsy DeVos has defender-in-chief in Bill Schuette
Michigan’s attorney general continues to defend the charter schools champion, long after the rest of Michigan realized her policies were destructive.
Opinion | Michigan infrastructure rebuild can’t be borne by local communities
The Trump infrastructure plan reminds Michigan that many local governments can’t self-finance their own renewal
Sen. Arlan Meekhof to Michigan residents: Leave politicians alone!
Michigan is the only state that exempts the governor, lieutenant governor and legislature from its public records laws. And Meekhof, the Senate Majority Leader, aims to keep it that way.
Opinion | Criminal justice reform is the right thing to do, for all of Michigan
Doug DeVos urges passage of bipartisan bills aimed at making our criminal justice system smart on crime but soft on taxpayers.
Let’s get strategic in improving third-grade reading in Michigan
Michigan needs to follow the path of leading states, with high-caliber training and support of principals and teachers in literacy instruction.
The future of work in Michigan
Leaders who promise manufacturing will provide full employment for unskilled laborers are not serving our state or nation well. Sticking your head in the sand would be a better strategy.
Success for every child, and how one Michigan county falls short
When we invest in early childhood services, especially for the most vulnerable, babies are born healthy, families are strengthened and children are on track for growth and success.
A Valentine’s Day in which children actually come last
Our lack of concern for children begins far earlier than their exposure to gunfire by intruders with assault weapons.