The Obama administration is announcing this week that they are making an historic investment in biofuels by purchasing 450,000 gallons of drop-in biofuel made from waste cooking oil and from an algae-based system. The fuel is called “drop in” because it can be blended with the traditional fuels used now with no need for equipment modifications. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus […]

The mayor of Troy, Michigan, Janice Daniels, a proud member of the tea party, updated her Facebook status in June with this: “I think I’m going to throw away my I love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married.” She refused to apologize for this insulting public statement until this morning. Daniels apologized for the comment on […]

I got an email a couple of days ago from the Tea Party of West Michigan. This is the group with the comical and never-correct grammatical error at the top of every page of their website. The email, true to form, was hard to parse: “Come join me at Dave Agema is speaking on Sharia law and other topics. on […]

Newly-minted Flint Emergency Manager Michael Brown got right to work last. On Friday (pdf) he fired seven staff members at City Hall and then eliminated pay and benefits for Flint’s newly-elected mayor and the City Council. The order says: Mayor Dayne Walling’s salary and all other compensation and benefits, including the accrual of post-employment benefits, are eliminated. Flint City Council […]

Lost in the media hubub regarding the possibility that Detroit may be put under the control of an Emergency Manager (EM) was related news about Inkster, Michigan. I reported in October and then again in November that Inkster is on a glide path toward a take over by an EM. The penultimate step toward that final outcome was taken this […]

Later, dude. Herman Cain, a little known businessman who became a frontrunner in the Republican presidential race, suspended his campaign Saturday following allegations of an extramarital affair and claims of sexual harassment. You have to wonder if THIS didn’t have a little something to do with it. On Thursday, Cain provided new details on his relationship with White, including the […]

The Emergency Manager law, Public Act 4, is alread being challenged on two fronts. First with a petition drive by Michigan Forward to put it on the 2012 ballot as a referendum. They are nearing their signature goal and, once they have enough signatures certified, the law is immediately put on hold. Second, the Sugar Law Center and its partners […]

Here’s the video from my appearance on Fox News Detroit’s “Let it Rip” show last night. I shared the riser with Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero who ran against Rick Snyder in the gubernatorial race last year and Nolan Finley, the very conservative Editorial Page Editor from the Detroit News. The topic was the announcement that Governor Rick Snyder will be […]

A couple of things happened this week in the Governor’s office that I think were good moves and I commend Governor Snyder for them. First, earlier in the week, he signed legislation that moves all school board elections across the state to November of even-numbered years. This is a smart move that will save money and will encourage far higher […]

With Detroit facing an imminent takeover by an Emergency Manager, I thought now might be a good time to remind everyone about a subtle but incredibly important change that occurred when Public Act 4 — the Emergency Manager Law — was passed. This was first published in June. Please share widely if you care about this issue. When Michigan Republicans […]

Here’s an interesting thing to ponder: based on 2010 census figures, when Detroit gets an Emergency Manager, over 49% of Michigan African Americans will have lost their representative government and will be under the rule of an Emergency Manager. (Note: I’ve been reminded that Ecorse has an Emergency Manager as well so I have updated the chart below.) City Population […]