http://www.record-eagle.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:50:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_326075103.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_326075103.html Gov. Jennifer Granholm took office vowing that she would go "anywhere, any time" to bring jobs home to Michigan. And she's lived up to that promise -- with one glaring omission. She has never visited, or even made a special effort to court the largest potential market in the world: China. (Also, how good was GM's news?) Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:20:55 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_318222041.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_318222041.html Even though the election is nearly a year away, the race for Michigan's next governor is well under way. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:15:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_312081944.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_312081944.html Throughout this year's budget battles in Lansing, lawmakers disagreed sharply over how to balance the books. But they seemed to strongly agree on this: Michigan voters would never approve any kind of open, across-the-board tax increase. Yet last week's election returns may indicate that the politicians are dead wrong. Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:00:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_304210233.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_304210233.html You might also have thought that state legislators would have their plates full trying to cope with the ongoing state budget crisis. But no. There is a small band of lawmakers in both the State House and Senate dedicated to either rolling back the will of the people " or throwing enough restrictions in the way that stem-cell research would be practically impossible. Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:30:55 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_298083323.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_298083323.html Here's one small example of how badly the system of government is broken in Michigan. For weeks, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been vigorously complaining about budget cuts to the schools. Then, this week, she shocked everyone. She acted to make the situation worse. Much worse. Out of the blue, she vetoed a portion of the school aid budget that for years has provided supplemental funding for some districts that have generally had higher funding levels. Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:00:55 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_291080038.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_291080038.html They filmed a few scenes in Michigan last week for the soon-to-be-shown HBO movie, "You Don't Know Jack," about the apostle of assisted suicide, Dr. Jack Kevorkian. I imagine I'll see the movie, but for me, I imagine it is bound to be an anticlimax, no matter how well Al Pacino and Susan Sarandon portray Dr. Death and his sidekick, Janet Good. You see, I do know Jack. Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:05:57 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_283210628.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_283210628.html Virtually every economist agrees on one thing: Michigan badly needs a better-educated work force. Yet if the state Legislature's actions in this year's budget battles are any indication, Lansing seems determined to not only fail to solve that problem, but to actually make it worse. Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:20:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_276192046.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_276192046.html Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_269200040.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_269200040.html Michigan made a promise to high school students a few years ago. Work hard, do well in school and the state would provide you with a $4,000 Michigan Promise Grant to help with college tuition. This week, the legislature broke that promise. Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:05:57 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_262200526.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_262200526.html Guy Stern started a new career this winter, one he never expected. He is now the interim director of one of Michigan's most impressive but least-known cultural jewels, the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills. Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:00:57 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_255200026.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_255200026.html Nobody can recall seeing anything quite like it. Finally, after weeks of fruitless backroom negotiations, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm finally unveiled a state budget proposal. And it was immediately attacked -- not, as you would expect, by the Republicans, but by Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, the governor's fellow Democrat. Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_248210114.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_248210114.html The United States still has a policy of granting asylum to all who can prove they are truly refugees from political persecution. A small group of those manage, against all odds, to get to Detroit every year, to a place that they know will help them see it. It is called Freedom House and is located in a rambling, century-old red-brick structure in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge. Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:19:00 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_241220353.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_241220353.html Sen. Kennedy's life and career hold an important lesson for government in Michigan. His successes best illustrate the main thing that is wrong with state government today, namely, term limits. Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:00:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_241220346.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_241220346.html it could be argued that a rousing primary fight is just what the Democrats need, and that John Cherry, perhaps through no fault of his own, may be their weakest candidate, not their strongest. Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:50:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_234195048.html http://www.record-eagle.com/jacklessenberry/local_story_234195048.html She is the daughter of Palestinian refugees, a 33-year-old Detroiter who is the eldest of 14 kids. He is a billionaire. Eighty two-year-old Manuel J. Moroun owns the most economically important border crossing in the country, the Ambassador Bridge. He is politically powerful -- and is now, apparently, trying to take her down. Yet she isn't worried.