Citing a lack of adequate funding, Fair Michigan, a coalition of groups and individuals headed up by civil rights attorney Dana Nessel and that included noted Republicans like Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, Gov. Snyder’s former press secretary Sara Wurfel, and Lansing attorney and political mover-and-shaker Richard McClellan, has ended its attempt to put the civil rights of LGBTQ […]

It’s been a busy week of news regarding the poisoning of Flint’s drinking water by the Snyder administration, so much that it’s simply not possible to post separately about each one. That’s where the news round-ups come. So here is a compilation of the latest news coming out of Flint and Lansing. Enjoy. Amid complaints of water, Snyder admin quietly […]

Art Reyes III is Director of Training and Leadership Development at Center for Popular Democracy. He along with the Genesee County Hispanic Latino Collaborative and a powerful group of organizers from around the country are working in Flint to be sure undocumented immigrants in Flint are getting the help they need in the midst of the water crisis there. The […]

Citing a report putting Michigan dead last in terms of ethical transparency in state government, the progressive watchdog group Progress Michigan is launching a GoFundMe drive to raise funds for a variety of activities related to shining a light on the actions of our elected officials. Top on their list is to overturn Michigan’s disgusting law that allows the Governor […]

Last night Anne and I were privileged to watch the taping of Rachel Maddow’s Flint Town Hall. It was an astonishing experience for a variety reasons and I think it has the potential to be a game changer in terms of how the poisoning of Flint’s drinking water by the Snyder administration is perceived by people outside of Flint and […]

One of responses that Gov. Rick Snyder has had to his administration’s poisoning of Flint’s drinking water is to hire public relations people. LOTS of public relations people, in fact. Back in December, he brought on PR specialist Chris DeWitt. Then, even before he had given his State of the State Address, he hired Bill Nowling, another communications expert. Then, […]

When Rick Snyder needs to have something done, he often turns to one man: Richard Baird. Baird has long been Snyder’s “right hand man”, enjoying a position in the governor’s Executive Office and listed as his “Transformation Manager”: Baird has a list of scandals in Michigan that he is tied to. He was originally paid from a fund set up […]

A bill to shield oil and gas companies from having information about details of their pipelines and other infrastructure from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests was introduced as House Bill 4540 last May. It sat in the House Committee on Oversight and Ethics without action until last December. At that point, it was clear that supporters on the the […]

The outrageous working/learning environment in some of Detroit school buildings has gotten national and even international attention over the past few months. Over the past month, teachers have staged multiple “sick-outs” to protest the deplorable conditions they are forced to try to teach in, resulting in multiple school closings. Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Emergency Manager Darnell Earley has tried twice […]

NOTE: A big thanks to Eclectablog reader Meaghan Allen who sent me the video shown below along with some most-excellent analysis of it. Despite widespread reporting otherwise, many defenders of the Emergency Manager policy in Michigan and of Gov. Rick Snyder’s role in the poisoning of Flint’s drinking water continue to claim that the Flint City Council voted to move […]

“Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Political Suicide” by by DonkeyHotey First, just a reminder that Rachel Maddow will be broadcasting from a townhall meeting she’s holding in Flint on Wednesday evening. Watch the video announcement here: The Rachel Maddow Show heads to Flint! Wednesday 1/27 at 9pm ET! https://t.co/TAhlCLYdjP — Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) January 23, 2016 Guests will include Flint Mayor […]