Here are some interesting articles published elsewhere in the past 24 hours covering Grand Rapids and Michigan:
- Riemersma Is In the Republican Primary for the 2nd Congressional District – With Representative Pete Hoekstra leaving his U.S. House seat to run for governor, a number of Republican candidates have announced their intent to run for the seat, including Jay Riemersma. Aside from being a former football player, he’s known for his involvement in the religious right’s Family Research Council.
- Obama at 71% Approval in Michigan, While the GOP Roots for the Failure of GM – A new poll shows that approval for both President Barack Obama and Governor Jennifer Granholm is very high, at the same time, more voters are identifying as Democrat in Michigan than ever before. The Republicans’ response? Tell people to boycott GM.
- Lake Huron fish sold without warnings despite health advisories – Great Lakes fish containing cancer causing dioxin can be sold without notifying consumers thanks to federal regulatory loopholes.
- EPA allows car ferry to dump coal ash till 2012 – The Ludington to Manitowoc ferry is able to continue dumping coal ash until 2012 after the EPA met with the company that operates the ferry.
- GM Announces “Country’s Largest” Advanced Battery Lab Will Be Located in Warren – General Motors–which is trying desperately to reinvent itself–has announced that it will be locating a battery lab in Warren to research technology aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil. That’s an alright intermediary step, but I’m having a hard time getting excited about the possibility of a “green” auto industry when you consider the devastating effect that car culture is having on the natural world.
- Budget Finger-Pointing Begins: Senate to Propose $1.3B in Cuts – Blogging for Michigan weighs in with some news and analysis on the state government’s budgeting process.
- West Michigan residents who lived through Great Depression without cable, dining out and jobless benefits know we can survive tough economy – Golly gee, things were a whole lot worse back in the 1930s and the people who lived outside of their means are responsible for the financial crisis–it sure didn’t have anything to do with the banks and financial companies. Nope, you won’t find anything like that in this article from The Grand Rapids Press comparing conditions during the Great Depression and the present. It’s just run of the mill “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” moralizing.
- Former Grand Rapids city worker Jenni Corrigan, who claimed harassment, has not yet been paid her worker compensation benefits – The Grand Rapids Press reports that the City of Grand Rapids still hasn’t paid any workers compensation to an employee who has claimed she was sexually harassed.
- Louis Farrakhan in Grand Rapids to support appeal of Benton Harbor minister Edward Pinkney – Rather than do any substantive reporting on the case of Edward Pinkney–an activist in Benton Harbor who claims that he has been unjustly targeted for repression by the government–the Grand Rapids Press focused on the presence of Louis Farrakhan at the hearing.
- Grand Rapids-area schools look to clean up budget woes with layoffs and other cutbacks – The Grand Rapids Press provides a useful overview of cuts and budget shortfalls at school districts across West Michigan.
- Film explores Grand Rapids area’s legacy of philanthropic giving – A new documentary looks at philanthropic giving in Grand Rapids and focuses primarily on the rich white males of the DeVos, Van Andel, and Cook variety. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but from the trailer and this article it appears to nothing more than glorifying those folks and their contributions without any critical perspectives. For example, how much of their vast fortunes have they given and how does this match up to their political giving? But heck, I’m just a mere mortal who will never be as good as those folks.
Related posts:
- Local and Michigan Headlines: Grand Rapids Considering Layoffs because of Budget Cuts; Senate Passes Foreclosure Bill
- Local/Michigan Headlines: Predictions that Michigan’s Economy will get even Worse; Grand Rapids Facing $7.1 million Revenue Decline
- Local and Michigan Headlines: Local Abstinence-only Programs Face Cuts; GRCC Raises Tuition
- Upcoming Candidate Forums in Grand Rapids
- Local/Michigan Headlines: Granholm Supreme Court News; Hoekstra Doesn’t Think Waterboarding is Torture
