When I first started in policy analysis back in 2002, I assumed there was current, up-to-date, easy-to-use statistical information available on the issues of the day.
Amidst the national euphoria over the COVID-19 vaccines, it’s hard to believe that just two years ago, Big Pharma was essentially hated. In a 2019 survey, Gallup found that the public had unfavorable opinions about drug makers by a margin of more than 2-1, landing them at the bottom of the i…
I read an article the other day that talked about the importance of doing small and simple things for others. Often it is a word or two of encouragement that can make someone’s day. Other times it is an action or gesture that someone does for you.
OK, boomers: This one is for you.
Two years ago, Major League Baseball scheduled the 2021 All-Star game in Atlanta, Georgia, home of Hammerin’ Hank Aaron. I remember when the Milwaukee Braves were moving to Atlanta and people wondered how Hank Aaron would be received in the Deep South of the mid-60s. Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s …
Michigan local governments will collect $4.4 billion from Congress’ latest spending bill. Many local leaders will ponder hard about how best to use the money to best serve their residents, and they should look to use the funds to increase the long-term financial health of the local governmen…
There seems to be less and less that people agree on in our culture anymore. But if there is something we all agree on, it is that race has become an issue of highest prominence.
Christians are a people of resurrection. This Wednesday in Easter week, just a few days after the Day of the Resurrection itself, that should be clearer to us than ever. We are a people who believe God is at work bringing new life out of the death of this world – and that we are called to be…
At his news conference last month, President Biden said of Georgia’s new voting law, “It makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle.”
Here’s a question all Michiganians should be asking Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: At what point will the emergency “end”? And when will the statewide restrictions that have hamstrung the state for more than a year go away?
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” – phrase popularly attributed to Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen (but there hasn’t been any evidence to prove he actually said it)
One Sunday every month, I tuck my laptop under my arm and trudge up the stairs to the bedroom to write. I’d rather be perched at the desk hidden away in our pantry, but my children always find me on their search for a bag of chips or crayons or toilet paper. Our pantry houses many things, my…
Back in September, I wrote about how in the midst of the pandemic, there was a lot of good news that wasn’t getting much coverage.
What do you see when you first meet me? Do you see only someone with Down syndrome? Do you think that is all that I am?
The Michigan Supreme Court is considering whether to take a case brought by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation on behalf of St. Clair Shores resident Michael Dorr. This case has the chance to clarify questions about zoning and short-term rentals, an issue that has come up again and again i…
If you can read this, you are doing better than millions of others in America: You are alive and well. Even if you have lost your job or business and are struggling to pay the bills, remember that you survived the past year of this invisible war. This means that you can continue to survive, …
The popularity of TV shows such as “Say Yes to the Dress” and “Bridezilla” demonstrates that wedding dresses have a special place in our culture. But did you know that there is another place to see beautiful bridal dresses?
I am an observer, constantly watching the people and the world around me. I see the way the tender flowers are held tightly inside their sheer covering, waiting for just the right moment to burst forth. I saw the moth today on the playground, the way the local woodchuck hustled on his chubby…
Misinformation could ruin America.
Something has bothered me about “cancel culture” for some time now. Every time I hear of another person being banned because of something they have said or written, I feel bothered. Not that I think that we ought not to be accountable for our words, it’s just that the attacks seem so brutal …
Last spring and summer I noticed a transformation happening in my neighborhood near Lake Street Beach in Spring Lake. Neighbors updated and expanded their outdoor spaces, creating spaces to relax and enjoy the Michigan summer.
In a nod to polls suggesting that many citizens of MAGA nations remain reluctant to vaccinate themselves against the virus he once dismissed as a hoax, Donald Trump recommended last week that his supporters should roll up their sleeves.
The saying “No news is good news” is rarely – if ever – true.
Evangelical Christians, who once were content with staying out of earthly concerns, have grown into an influential subset of American politics. Not all who identify with this label vote in unison. They voted in large numbers in 1976 for Jimmy Carter, but reversed course in 1980 and went for …
As always, community is at the heart of everything we do at the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation. We are thankful to each neighbor who plays a unique role in shaping our community.
This is always a strange time of year to me. You can feel the anticipation of spring just around the corner. There’s an excitement in the air with the snow finally melting, the sound of birds singing, and the knowledge that warmer, longer days are on their way. There are little things all ar…
The liberating, euphoric feeling of receiving your COVID-19 vaccine might be as thrilling as getting, say, that first driver’s license.
One of the No. 1 reasons people give for not being a part of the church is that it feels like the church is a hypocritical organization. One response to that is to take the approach of legendary Christian singer-songwriter Rich Mullins, who used to say the church isn’t full of hypocrites, we…
People can really surprise you. In a recent podcast, Rudy Giuliani was addressing the reaction between the aftermath of 9/11 and the aftermath of the virus hitting the United States. He pointed out that after 9/11 people turned to God, they went to church, and there was recognition of the ne…
One day last fall our long-suffering kitchen microwave started to protest. It made noise, but no heat. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Chalk this up to another thing wrong with 2020, I said.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020, was a fairly typical day for the DeYoung family.
Wednesday, March 11, 2020, was a fairly typical day for the DeYoung family.
There was a man who was the owner of a very successful business. For many years, his company was the leader in his industry. But then hard times hit. His company started to struggle. He began cutting back. Then things started looking so bad, he thought he might lose everything.
EBay allows people to sell Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” on its site, as well as the infamously false and anti-Semitic “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” “Peter Pan,” laden with stereotypes about Native Americans, is for sale there, along with the many books of the “Little House on the Prairie…
Congress declared the first official Women’s History Month in March of 1987. Prior to that, then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980 designated the first National Women’s History Week, beginning on the 8th of March – which is International Women’s Day. I thought I would write about some women in …
‘A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.” – Thomas Paine
This past year has left many of us in ruins. The unluckiest have said premature goodbyes to loved ones. Others have lost jobs, homes, businesses, and financial independence.
Three hours after restaurants and bars were mandated to close here in Michigan, Speaker Pelosi and Democrats in the House were passing a $1.9 trillion partisan spending bill masquerading as “COVID relief” in the middle of the night in Washington. I voted against this package and I believe Mi…
One of the great things about living in the U.S. is that our city and county governments are required to keep their citizens informed about their actions. One of the ways they do this is through public notices – the informational notices that have been deemed to be of importance to local con…
President Biden has challenged those who oppose the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion bill disingenuously dubbed “COVID relief,” or the more deceitful “American Rescue Plan.”
Local history museums are vital resources, serving as keepers of history, information and objects that have cultural significance to an area or city. The mission of the Tri-Cities Historical Museum is to create connections to local history.
The United States currently celebrates 11 permanent legal public holidays, if you include the quadrennial celebration of Inauguration Day. None of these holidays was created to celebrate women’s achievements (not even Labor Day, which was designated a federal holiday in 1894, when less than …
There wasn’t much President Joe Biden could have done about this month’s Texas energy disaster. Ditto the slow-moving vaccine rollout. The reason is the same: federalism, a system dating back to the 1780s and only seriously overhauled once.
For those of us who are Christians, we have entered the sacred season of Lent. Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of the 40-day period, excluding Sundays, leading up to Easter, the day which marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.
When I spoke with Josh Bytwerk, executive director of Love in Action in Grand Haven, one of the first things I asked him was how much COVID-19 has impacted the need in the Tri-Cities community. Bytwerk said, “In 2020, Love in Action served over twice the number of food services and clients t…
Just a decade ago, a mandatory $15-per-hour minimum wage seemed like a pipe dream – even liberal economists and The New York Times warned of negative effects. But a few large cities started enforcing it, and then it became part of the Democratic Party platform. It now stands a real chance of…
The Republic Services’ Ottawa County Farm Landfill in Coopersville has proposed building a well to inject wastewater leachate 4,490 feet underground. This waste removal method is not sustainable, and the landfill should instead invest in a safer method of leachate removal and reduction of fu…
President Joe Biden, promising them multimillions of dollars, said he was going to open all schools in his first 100 days. Maybe he didn’t get it that this is up to state and local officials responsive to teachers unions, not so responsive to scientists now saying it’s safe. The unions appar…
‘It takes a village” is a phrase we have heard time and time again, yet it continues to ring true in our beloved community.
At $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage is appallingly low.
The people who hand out Emmy Awards should ask New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to return the one they gave him.
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