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Articles
Opinion | How bad are Michigan’s roads? It’s even affecting food banks
The executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan says investing in our roads is vital to the state’s future.
Opinion | ‘Medicare for All’ would hurt Michigan businesses
Former lieutenant governor Brian Calley argues that politicians should stop messing with the health care system because it will hurt Michigan small businesses.
Opinion | Fund the child, not the ZIP code, in Michigan school budget
A Michigan superintendent takes issue with a recent Bridge guest commentary that argued for equal, rather than equitable, school funding.
Opinion | Michigan conservation officers save lives. Don’t cut our budget.
At least 31 people have been saved by Michigan conservation officers since 2015. A budget proposal in the House threatens to eliminate some of those positions at the Department of Natural Resources.
Opinion | Great Lakes need protection. But shutting Line 5 is foolish.
Enbridge is taking steps to safeguard the pipeline that pumps $160 million in taxes into Michigan’s economy. Politicians’ knee-jerk proposals to decommission the pipeline would only hurt the working class.
Opinion | Enough is enough – don’t fix Michigan's roads with classroom dollars
Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey’s idea doesn’t fix the damn roads – it kicks the can down the damn road.
Opinion | School equity proposal exacerbates system of winners vs. losers
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $1 million school research collaborative has drawn widespread support statewide. There’s one problem: It doesn’t even the playing field.
Opinion | Michigan school libraries are still in limbo. Why?
Michigan cut back on school librarians during the recession. It’s time to bring them back.
Opinion | DTE’s plans for gas plant pose climate risk
Why build a new gas-powered plant when renewables are the future?
Opinion | Give visas to skilled immigrants in places Michigan is stagnant
Many places in Michigan are losing population. The solution: Visas specifically for skilled immigrants willing to move there. It’s an idea based on successful programs in Canada and Australia.
Opinion | Dana Nessel: Line 5 must close to protect all of Michigan
Michigan’s attorney general explains why she sued to close the controversial Line 5 gas pipeline that passes beneath the Mackinac Straits.
Opinion | U-M’s investment is helping us improve Detroit, not evict people.
Two developers respond to a Bridge Magazine article about their investments in Detroit. ‘Our focus is increasing availability of affordable, quality housing for the city’s residents.’
Opinion | Benton Harbor’s school crisis needs more than a bandage fix
Benton Harbor is in danger of losing its high school because of poor academic performance and debilitating debt. A former state superintendent says the district’s struggles should be a wake-up call for Michigan.
Opinion | Please, Michigan Supreme Court, restore public will on minimum wage
Michigan’s Supreme Court justices should restore the minimum wage increase that the public wanted last year – and the Legislature weakened in lame duck.
Opinion | I’m an economist and I support payday loans
Sure, payday loans charge 400 percent interest. But they can help low-income Michigan residents make it to their next payday, says a Hillsdale College economist.
Opinion | Want Michigan kids to learn science? Take them outside.
There’s a growing movement to take students out of the classroom and into nature to learn about the environment and nature. That’s happening in schools and programs around Michigan.
Opinion | I’m a 7th-generation Michigan commercial fisherman. 13 are left.
Robert Ruleau’s family business has survived weather and invasive species. Now it’s trying to survive the Department of Natural Resources.
Opinion | For Flint’s lead-exposed children, a sobering lesson from Toledo
The Flint water crisis impacted thousands of young children. A researcher who has studied the impact of lead exposure says there are interventions that can help.
Opinion | Urgent need for clean energy should unite Michigan, not divide us
Listen to one another. Keep an open mind to new concepts (as well as some old) and collaborate so Michigan can be a national leader in clean and safe energy
Opinion | Medical costs are an emergency. I know, I’m an ER doc.
An emergency room doctor describes the anguish he sees every day as patients are forced to choose between urgent medical care and playing their bills.