Today’s guest post was written by my new friend Sally Tyler. Sally lives in Washington, DC. and is a public policy analyst for a national labor union, who spent time in Wisconsin in 2011, and who occasionally reads poetry. She writes today about Philip Levine, a U.S. Poet Laureate who died last month. Levine is best known for his poems […]

The following post was originally posted at Ramona’s Voices. Note that there is an ask at the end of this post: several groups are looking for stories from workers both who have and don’t have paid sick leave with their jobs. Please check out the links and share your stories. There’s a fuss going on in Michigan over whether the […]

I have been writing about the efforts of a tea party-driven group called “American Christian Classical Academies” (ACA) to open a religion-based school in Brighton and their push to have Brighton Area Schools to be their chartering organization. Having purchased the Lindbom Elementary School from BAS for the tidy sum of $1.45 million, ACA, led by extremist Pasquale Battaglia, are […]

Dr. Stephen Wellinski has been on the forefront of the battle to end the interlocal agreement between Eastern Michigan University and the Education Achievement Authority (EAA). EMU’s connection to Gov. Snyder’s failed experiment with Detroit students is a stain on an otherwise well-earned reputation as a university that teaches teachers and Dr. Wellinski’s leadership on this issue is an important […]

I have updated the post to give details on the EMU Board of Regents meeting. See the end of the post. Today’s guest post is from Eastern Michigan University College of Education faculty member professor Stephen Wellinski. Prof. Wellinski has been a leader in demanding that EMU end its partnership with Gov. Snyder’s failed education experiment on Detroit school kids […]

Below I am crossposting a piece written by Walt Sorg and published at his blog The Michigan Curmudgeon. Walt has held senior positions in all three branches of Michigan state government, serving under Speaker Bobby Crim and Governor Jim Blanchard as well as at the State Bar of Michigan. He began his 48-year tenure in or around Michigan government as […]

Could this be the end of Pure Michigan? The following guest post was written by Janis Bobrin, Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner from 1989 to 2012. The Pure Michigan advertising campaign is so compelling because it touches on a fundamental Michigan value – the sense of place fostered by the state’s majestic waters, lands, fish and wildlife. No one who […]

I first encountered my dear friend Michael Rains on the streets of Ann Arbor. He had a cart he has dubbed “the Democracy Machine” and there was a crowd of people around him, waiting to sign petitions to recall Governor Snyder and to repeal Michigan’s anti-democratic Emergency Manager law. If there is a crowd of people in Ann Arbor – […]

This post was written by my dear friend Amy Hunter. Amy and I have known each other for several years thanks to Facebook and Twitter but only met in person for the first time this past summer at the Netroots Nation conference where we appeared on Lizz Winstead’s “Morning News Dump” together. Amy is President and Chair of the Kalamazoo […]

Eclectablog reader Mark was in attendance at the one-and-only debate between Republican Governor Rick Snyder and Democratic candidate Mark Schauer on Sunday night. He sent me his observations as someone who was actually in the room and has agreed to allow me to share his comments with you. As you will see, the atmosphere inside the debate venue was considerably […]

Steve Lambert is a Michigan artist with impressive list of accomplishments. In addition to his visual art, he has done things like creating an add-on for the Firefox web browser that replaces ads with art, he founded the Center for Artistic Activism, and he has spoken at the United Nations about his research on advertising’s impact on culture. Lambert was […]