Autumn Smith’s effort to recall Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger has been a roller coaster thanks to legal gymnastics Bolger has been performing. (For some history on his pathetic and desperate attempts to avoid facing his constituents at the ballot box next February, click HERE.) When we last visited this drama, Bolger had filed a number of lawsuits against the […]

Flint appears to be the next city in line for an Emergency Manager in Michigan. With only a $2 million deficit, it is still undergoing the initial review process. This is odd because, as Brandon Jessup of Michigan Forward notes, other cities with much larger problems have had their requests for an EM denied. Interesting, though is how Flint, facing […]

When you have done nearly all there is to do to hurt teachers, what remains? It’s simple, really. Outsource their jobs. Privatize the actual education of our children. And that’s just what Michigan Senator Phil Pavlov (25th District), who cancelled his only townhall meeting this summer, is planning to do. School districts could hire school teachers through a private company, […]

This past week, John Covington was hired by the state of Michigan to oversee a collection of underperforming schools in the state. The new group, the Education Achievement Authority (EAA), will focus its efforts on improving failing schools around Michigan. In his new position, Covington may make as much as $1.5 million per year over 4 years if he meets […]

Eclectablog got another shout out last night on The Rachel Maddow Show. You can watch it HERE. (It’s the one that mentions the bridge.) I’m in the northern part of Michigan for the next few days so you won’t see much blogging. Last night I spent the night in this one-room school house, built in 1898 or 1899. Pretty cool, […]

Yesterday, I wrote about how the Snyder administration is freaking out over the legal challenge to the Emergency Manager law. On that same day, residents on the west side of the state starting getting these robocalls: NOTE: this player requires Flash. Click HERE if it doesn’t work for you. This is an identity theft alert. Petitions are being circulated door-to-door […]

I can’t believe they’ve gone and told everyone: LEELENAU COUNTY — Sleeping Bear Dunes is voted the Most Beautiful Place in America, according to a contest held on Good Morning America, where the winner was announced this morning. “Tens of thousands of viewers voted online for this Michigan park, which is one of the nation’s best-kept secrets,” GMA said. “The […]

As I reported last week, John Waltz is running for Congress in Michigan’s 6th District. Today, he released a press release about his bid. Who: John W. WaltzWhat: John Waltz filing to run for US Congress in Kalamazoo, MichiganWhen: 11:30 AM August 15th, 2011 Contact person: Finance Director Justin O’Brien 315.247.2888. justin.m.o.obrien@gmail.com Background:The 2012 election is a whole new ball-game […]

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Last night’s election results in Wisconsin should serve as a highly motivating and energizing event for Democratic organizers and activists in Michigan. Although they did not succeed in flipping the Wisconsin Senate to blue, they did make shift the balance by four and, with several more moderate Republicans on board, this could dramatically influence any future legislative initiatives in their […]

As I have reported before, Daily Kos is helping out with the Rick Snyder recall effort. They currently have a fundraising drive going to ensure that they are successful. From June 20 to July 31, we pulled in an amazing 297,529 petition signatures in our campaign to recall Governor Rick Snyder. In July alone, more than 255,000 signatures were collected. […]