MICHIGAN OPINION

The Latest Editorials, News Blogs, Opinion Articles & Political Cartoons

My last, full week of work did not go well.

I had to take some pictures for the paper. I had to write two features. And I had to do this column.

I had two cancellations with the woman I needed to interview for one of the features. First, she was snowed in. And when it came time for our makeup session, my car died and needed an alternator.

I was due to leave for Kentucky on Dec. 23 and spent the afternoon at work trying to find someone who could process the pictures I had taken. No one had the right cord.

Continue reading "Don't bother Sue on Jan. 1" »

There is no place like home for the holidays -- unless your children are far away.

For my husband, Carl, and me, Christmas has been spent in California or Maryland.

I love my sons to the moon. And their wives and children are the precious gifts they have given us.

But this year, I told them all that though we adore them, I want to spend Christmas with my sisters.

They are Betty and Dawn. One six years older than me. One six years younger.

Continue reading "All I want for Christmas ..." »

If Chronicle editors had refrained from sending me to the back room where the archives are stored in my 19 years at the main Muskegon office, I could have written the great American novel.

The place is so fascinating it is a wonder I ever came out.

I'd get so distracted, so absorbed in the old stories stored there in little manilla envelopes, that I could simply have stayed there until I died of thirst and starvation or until my husband called the office to report that I hadn't come home in days.

Now that I am a self-employed freelancer, I won't have access to the archives. It breaks my heart.

Continue reading "Old news is the best news" »

Now that it appears the Rothbury Festival will maybe possibly perhaps happen in 2009 after a judge's ruling this afternoon, all sorts of names are being bandied about for the three-day outdoor music festival on the placid but financially beleaguered grounds of the Double JJ Ranch.

So, in the name of unsubstantiated rumor-mongering, here's a look at some of the big acts being discussed, and some that would be perfect for the second coming of Rothbury.

Continue reading "Phish? Tom Petty? The Rothbury rumor mill begins turning after judge's approval" »

DETROIT -- Automakers ended a horrific 2008 as tight credit and consumers worried about their jobs in a deepening recession continued to depress sales in December.

Automakers reported Monday that sales fell 35.5 percent last month compared to December 2007.

Continue reading "Auto sales dismal for all automakers in December" »

Now here's a nice jolt of energy to get the new year into gear.

The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation has announced an intriguing new program aimed to improve life in the area.

Of course, that's what the foundation is all about, but this program is different. Funded by a special grant from the Pfizer Foundation, sort of a parting gift on the company's way out of town, this program is looking for "big ideas." And it's offering up to $200,000 for as many as four of them. Any nonprofit organization is welcome to suggest possibilities. (Individuals interested in applying need to find a nonprofit partner.)

Although innovation is welcome and encouraged, projects applying for the grants do not necessarily have to be new initiatives.

Applications need to aim at just two broad criteria:

• They should have a substantial impact on a significant need.

• They should demonstrate a likelihood of sustained success.

That's it. Everything else is open for discussion. According to the foundation's Phil D'Anieri, nearly any idea will be considered. Winning proposals will be those deemed likely to have the greatest impact on the well-being of the community.

This is a terrific approach to improving life here. Our area is full of creative, innovative people doing all sorts of things. There have to be countless good ideas out there, just waiting for the right opportunity to get under way.

This program could be that opportunity.

Applicants need to contact D'Anieri at pdanieri@aaacf.org before submitting a proposal; applications will use the online system at CommunityGrants.org. The deadline is Feb. 4; for more information, call 734-663-0401.

Our thanks to the Pfizer Foundation for the chance to do something like this, and our congratulations to the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation on turning the opportunity into such a potentially energizing program. This is a great idea - a big idea - and we can't wait to see what other big ideas it generates.

Read more Flint Journal editorials.

As people take down Christmas trees and box up holiday decorations, one thing we hope won't be packed away for another year is their generosity. The less fortunate people in our community -- and with the current economy their number is growing -- require assistance 365 days of the year. During the holidays, it's easy to get involved. Fundraising drives are in full swing and the spirit of giving is in the air. Continue reading "Dee Fleetwood's generosity should help us remember year round need" »

You don't recycle? You're running out of excuses.

The decision by the Kent County Board of Public Works to build a $12 million "single-stream" recycling center not only will create a more efficient system for the county, it also will make the chore easier for homeowners.

With the single-stream plant, hand-sorting of recyclables will be unnecessary. Instead, automation, with a handful of employees backing it up, will separate paper, plastic and glass. County officials predict the facility will double the current plant's output of 15,000 tons a year, an expectation in line with the experience of other communities that adopted single-stream recycling. Operating costs will rise, but so will revenue from the sale of additional salvaged material.

Continue reading "Editorial: Sorting our options on recycling" »

When Joseph T. Hoy took over in 1952 as Western Michigan University's men's basketball coach, the scene was much different than it is today.

The Broncos played their home games in the old gymnasium on Oakland Drive. It wasn't until the 1957-58 season, Hoy's last, that Read Fieldhouse, the present site of WMU basketball, opened its doors.

Continue reading "Joe Hoy was a major figure in WMU athletics" »

Great Lakes Bay Region residents know a thing or two about picking up in a storm's aftermath.

But it's an unusual -- and encouraging -- sight to see Kochville Township recover from its own gales, which had more to do with divisive politics than shifting barometers.

Continue reading "Editorial: Kochville at peace" »

The following is a Jackson Citizen Patriot editorial for January 5:

It's that time of year again. So, in a desperate search for editorial topics, we turned to our friends at Lake Superior State University.

The school last week came out with its 34th annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.

Continue reading "Annual list leaves us at loss for words" »

Call me stupid and dunk me in a vat of brine, but sometimes I enjoy being just a little lost.

I'm not talking about the deep-forest variety, where you lose your bearings and start wondering whether to start a fire or start screaming. I've been there on two occasions, and it's not pretty.

But I'm not averse to getting a little mixed up to the point where I've got to stop somewhere and ask directions. Pull into a gas station. Engage some guy flying a model airplane. Ask which way from a jogger.

Continue reading "With GPS systems, what fun is it getting lost?" »

The country needs a strong, reliable passenger rail system. Oh, how we wish Amtrak could be that system.

At least three recent incidents in Michigan - two on the Chicago-to-Ann Arbor line - demonstrate both how much we need passenger rail, and how difficult it can be to use it.

Continue reading "Editorial: A successful Amtrak is a trip worth planning; System's failures surely can be overcome" »

On Dec. 17, I announced changes to weekday editions of The Times due to economic conditions. Beginning today, we are tightening the Sunday paper.

The weekly mutual funds listings are dropped, although The Wall Street Journal supplement remains. The Posh style section is moving from a section front to inside the paper. Technology and books pages will run on a space-available basis.
The TV Times listing book is unchanged.

And one thing readers lobbied for is coming back on Monday. For more, see my column today. - John Hiner, editor

History buffs will not be the only ones taking note in July when our country and the world mark the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. Anyone who lived through that event knows how it changed our lives forever. Anyone who was not alive then might easily imagine how it felt.

The same swell of pride came with the opening of the Mackinac Bridge on Nov. 1, 1957.

Continue reading "In difficult times we must dream big" »

In past years, it has been our tradition on the first Sunday of the New Year to discuss the community agenda and set forth goals and objectives.

One year we even laid out an extensive blueprint, suitable for framing, which helped to chart a course for the community.

We're not going to do that this year. Goals and objectives are important, but 2009 will present us with incredible challenges. And those challenges also will provide some incredible opportunities for us to reach deep and show the core goodness this community has within it.

Continue reading "Goal for '09: Nurture a giving spirit" »

If southwestern Michigan were immune from all the economic troubles besetting our state and nation and this newspaper were immune from all the economic troubles besetting the industry, I wouldn't be writing this column.

I would be writing instead about how a recent story by Jeff Barr brought people together and helped a local man with ALS. I'd be pointing out that this is what a good community newspaper is all about -- making a positive difference in people's lives.

Continue reading "We need our valued readers to stay with us during tough times" »

If southwestern Michigan were immune from all the economic troubles besetting our state and nation and this newspaper were immune from all the economic troubles besetting the industry, I wouldn't be writing this column.

I would be writing instead about how a recent story by Jeff Barr brought people together and helped a local man with ALS. I'd be pointing out that this is what a good community newspaper is all about -- making a positive difference in people's lives.

Continue reading "We need our valued readers to stay with us during tough times" »

December 17, 2008
Cancer: "Caution is the key word today ..."

All the warning I needed was right there. I would have known it ... if I hadn't stopped running horoscopes in the paper that very day.

Continue reading "Should have read the stars: Daily horoscopes will return Monday" »

A new format for the paper will make its debut on Thursday, and I'd like to give you a preview today so you know why we are changing and where you'll be able to find the news and information you need as we rearrange ourselves.

By the way, when I use the word format, I am not referring to the size of the pages or the size of the type we use. Neither are changing.

What is changing is how we organize and present the day's news to you. I think you'll find the change to be both dramatic and inviting.

Continue reading "With this new year comes a new Chronicle" »

It was just one minute out of an entire year, 60 ticks off the clock, one random encounter.

But it is the one that's stayed in my heart.

In the middle of an interview with Gail Kraft, the executive director of Love INC of Muskegon County, a volunteer fielded a phone call and forwarded a message that silenced us both; that said all that needed saying.

A woman called Love's office while we were mid-interview and asked if anyone knew where she could get a musical instrument so her child could be in band at school.

Continue reading "Protecting hope at all costs" »

A little more than 20 years ago, some time in the late '80s, I came across a post-apocalyptic novel. Written by science fiction author David Brin, it presents a vision of an America still devastated from nuclear holocaust.

Our protagonist, once a shipping clerk and now a glorified drifter, comes across a rusted mail truck. Inside he finds a skeleton, some undelivered mail and a mail carrier's uniform. Desperate for warmth more than anything, he takes to wearing the uniform and, in the process, becomes an accidental symbol of hope.

The name of this little fable was "The Postman."

Continue reading "They imagine, we rewrite our future" »

Perhaps you missed the big news in biblical discoveries. You've been busy, I know.

But we can reveal here, the finding of a ninth beatitude, previously unknown, now added to the eight from the Sermon on the Mount, in which the Lord urges followers to be meek and inherit the Earth and be poor in spirit to match the realities of your wallet.

At least that's the modern interpretation.

Now add this: Blessed are the pilemakers, it begins, for they will have access to all things, which must be here somewhere, just give me a minute.

Continue reading "Feeling the urge to clean? When in doubt, wait it out" »

Maybe these things run in cycles, but Saginaw's government is still making some impressive up-moves.

We all know the nadir. Four years ago, when the City Council ran its own version of the Detroit Lions' winless season. That's when a feeble, fumbling and fractured council fired City Manager Deborah Kimble on a 5-4 vote.

Continue reading "Editorial: Slim majority, huge disruption" »