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(Posted April 24) Among all aspirants in open (non-incumbent) races for various Michigan judgeships this year, two get the top prize — John Economopoulos of Escanaba, an  attorney in private practice, and Macomb Co. Probate Judge Carl Marlinga. How so? Well, each is running UNOPPOSED for a full six-year term on a Circuit Court with […]

(Posted April 24) Now that the April 19 filing deadline has come and gone, there are a lot of candidates running for a lot of offices in Michigan. In fact, over 8,000 of them, more than in any other state in the country, right down to the level of township trustee and local school and […]

By Bob LaBrant, Senior Counsel at the Sterling Corporation (Posted April 20) April 1, 2020 is the next census day in the United States. We are now less than four years away from the 24th decennial head count in our nation’s history. Data from the 2020 census will be used to redraw Congressional, state senate, […]

(Reposted April 23) Paul Rozycki, retired Mott Community College professor, wrote the following article in the April issue of East Village magazine: “As Flint works its way through the water crisis, the range of problems seems overwhelming. Every time it looks like we’ve solved one problem, another rears its head. “At first it seemed that […]

(Posted April 12) To declare that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been “embattled” during the past six months is an understatement of the first “water.” Snyder has been vilified by the ‘usual suspects’ among his political enemies — Democrats, liberals, progressives, union activists — over the Flint “water crisis.” But he’s also taken a beating […]

(Posted April 12) Actor Sean Astin, best-known for his film roles as Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, as Mikey Walsh in “The Goonies” and the title character of “Rudy,” talked to a Flint audience of nearly 300 last week about his late mother Patty Duke’s lifelong struggle with bi-polar disorder. Duke won […]

(Reposted April 11) Michigan Republicans convened in the Lansing Center April 8-9 (well, some of the district caucuses huddled in the nearby Radisson Hotel Friday night) to select their delegates and alternates to the GOP National Convention in Cleveland this coming July; elect their National Committeeman and Committeewoman for the next four years; and approve […]

(April 3) The votes have been certified from Michigan’s Presidential Primary Election nearly a month ago, and, as nearly everyone knows, voter participation set records. But which party actually drew the most voters? The Republicans, but it was close, and it would have been surprising if the GOP didn’t draw more registrants, because they had more […]

(Reposted April 24) The April 19 filing deadline for state Representative has passed, and it’s already looking like the theme of this year’s contests may be “It’s a family affair.” Former state Senator Virgil Smith (D-Detroit), convicted of a felony and serving a 10-month jail sentence, resigned a month ago, precipitating a special election to fill the unexpired […]

(April 2) They don’t make ’em like Jimmie Manson anymore. Born in 1921 to Syrian-American parents, she was raised by her mother of eight children after her father died at the age of 34. She graduated from the old Lansing Central High School in 1939 (the first daughter in her family to do so), then […]