This transgender woman soared into a brave new world and isn’t looking back. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. The day Ellie Webster decided to begin transitioning from the male body she was assigned at birth, she knew it was a leap of faith. But it was a leap […]

Today marks the half-year mark since Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder publicly admitted that Flint had a problem with lead in its drinking water. Since that time, he’s continuously told us he and his administration are doing everything possible to fix the problem. “Everything”, however, does not include the removal of a single lead pipe through the efforts of his administration. […]

These are stormy days for Donald Trump, who is increasingly demonstrating both the glow and consistency of a rotting peach. As he nears the Republican nomination, or at least clarity that he will be the candidate who heads into the nomination with the most delegates, there’s increasing evidence that some major players in his party are preparing to swipe the […]

The ultimate expression of running government like a business Earlier this month, I reported about a new approach being taken by Gov. Rick Snyder when it comes to taking over schools with unelected overseers. Because the term “Emergency Manager” is now a national expletive, he has changed the title to school district “Chief Executive Officer (CEO)”. The first school district […]

This transgender woman is on a lifelong journey to express her authentic self. This is part of a story series about the lives of transgender people. Read the introduction here. It was the summer of 1964. Char Davenport, who was eight years old, was sitting with her father on the front porch. At the time, she says, she didn’t think […]

As both acceptance and animosity toward the transgender community grow, personal stories are essential to education and advocacy. This story series began, like most ideas, with a confluence of inspiration. With transgender people increasingly in the spotlight, their lives have become more visible — but not entirely visible. Many Americans only see what the public eye will allow. Celebrities like […]

The election of Donald Trump would be a threat to the global economy on par with “the rising threat of jihadi terrorism,” according to The Economist‘s Global Forecasting Service. It’s easy to see why policy experts who value sober reasoning, conventionality and actually knowing things are terrified of Donald Trump, who doesn’t seem to even grasp the basics of, say, […]

House vote on ‘abortion coercion’ bills held to appease Right to Life. Supporters of choice have been wondering when the other shoe was going to drop on the deceptive anti-choice “abortion coercion” bills that passed out of the House Judiciary Committee in September 2015. That shoe hit the House floor on March 24, with a vote almost entirely along party […]

We may be at a tipping point It’s Easter Sunday and that can mean only one thing: it’s time for the annual repost of our Peeps® post. Enjoy. Spring came early to southern Michigan this year so on Good Friday, my wife Anne and I put our kayaks in the Huron River and set out to document the effects of […]

Prior to 2013, the Voting Rights Act required federal oversight of changes to election laws in areas where voter disenfranchisement had historically been a significant problem. One of those places was Maricopa County in Arizona. However, after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act three years ago, Maricopa County officials were free to make whatever changes they wanted. […]

The following guest post was written by Nate Breznau of Mannheim Centre for European Social Research. He is the co-author of a new study that looked at the disparate racial impact of Michigan’s Emergency Manager law, Public Act 436. The academic study proves that the elements involved in the imposition of an Emergency Manager in a city go beyond simple […]