Tag Archives: lead

Rick Snyder, the man responsible for the Flint water crisis, lands at Harvard, and people are rightfully outraged

By Mark | July 3, 2019

This past weekend, it was announced that former Michigan Governor Rick “let’s throw an opulent secret birthday party for my wife while people are dying in Flint” Snyder had been named a senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School. And, as you might imagine, this didn’t sit well with some of us who remember his aggressively […]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged #NoSnyderFellowship, A. Alfred Taubman, civility, clean water, conspiracy theories, fellowships, Flint, Flint River, Flint water crisis, FOIA, Harvard, incivility, Kaitlin Popielarz, Kennedy School, lame duck, Legionnaires' disease, public health, public health emergency, Rick Snyder, Sotheby's, Taubman Center for State and Local Government, water, Wayne State, WBUR | 25 Comments

The battle over plastic bags in Michigan is about more than just plastic bags. It’s about keeping progressive municipalities from exploring solutions to the problems that we’re facing. It’s about squashing both innovation and local democratic rule.

By Mark | January 3, 2017

A few days ago, Michigan Republicans made national headlines for passing a ban on the banning of plastic bags… And, yes, you read that right. They didn’t pass a law banning plastic bags, but they passed a law making it illegal for local jurisdictions to ban the use of such bags, which are increasingly clogging […]

Posted in Environment, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Carryout Bag Ordinance, Earth Day, eco-fee, Ecology Center, Flint water crisis, George Heartwell, Global Warming, guns, Hawaii, living wage, local control, Michigan Restaurant Association, minimum wage, paper bags, plastic bags, pre-emption laws, preemption, sea turtles, Senate Bill 853, turtles, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners | 37 Comments

As more charges are announced in the Flint water investigation, Democrats demand that Snyder be held to account for his role

By Mark | July 31, 2016

Saying, “Some people failed to act, others minimized harm done and arrogantly chose to ignore data, some intentionally altered figures and covered up significant health risks,” Michigan Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced criminal charges yesterday against six current and former state employees of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the Michigan Department […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bill Schuette, Elijah Cummings, Flint, Flint water crisis, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Jim Ananich, lead poisoning, prosecution, Rick Snyder, small government | 49 Comments

The unsellable houses of Bell Street, part two

By Mark | May 16, 2016

A few days ago, I posted a story here about the recent re-zoning of a neighborhood southeast of the intersection of Spring and Huron, and how, as a result, at least one homeowner on Bell Street, Erin Snyder, was finding it difficult to sell her property. [The southern stretch of Bell Street had been re-zoned […]

Posted in Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Bell Street, DTE, Erin Snyder, heavy metal, landfills, MEDQ, methane, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, PMD, pollution, Production Manufacturing Distribution, real estate, Shape Ypsi, solar, SunDurance, Teresa Gillotti, toxic, Ypsilanti City Master Plan, Ypsilanti real estate, zoning | 6 Comments

Obama to the People of Flint: “I think there is a larger issue that we have to acknowledge, because I do think that part of what contributed to this crisis was a broader mindset, a bigger attitude, a corrosive attitude that exists in our politics and exists in too many levels of our government. And it’s a mindset that believes that less government is the highest good no matter what.”

By Mark | May 7, 2016

Sorry I’m just now getting around to it, but, in case you missed it, here’s footage of Obama’s speech to the people of Flint a few days ago, followed by a bit of the transcript. [I don’t have anything to add. It’s just really good stuff on the role of government, and what happens when […]