State takeover is the assumption of control of a school district or municipality by the state as the result of fiscal insolvency and/or lack of academic achievement. Takeover eliminates the control and ability of local communities to appoint democratically elected and locally responsible officials in favor of a state-appointed emergency manager. The job of the … Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back: State Takeover and its Effect on Communities
Category: Michigan
On May 12, 2018, the QLine celebrated its first anniversary. Though the QLine was championed as a step in public transportation, the streetcar only operates a 6.6-mile loop on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue. With its twelve locations limited to major entertainment and sport complexes including the Detroit Institute of Arts, a series of parking lots, the … Continue reading Trains to Nowhere: Mobility as a Right in Southeast Michigan
The state of Michigan is home to Motown, a world-class baseball team, America’s largest ski jump - and thousands of extremely dangerous abandoned mine shafts. As the mining industry began leaving Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the mid-twentieth century, few steps were taken to ensure the safety of existing structures. Today, there are over 700 abandoned … Continue reading Shuttered for Years, Mines in the Upper Peninsula Remain Hazardous
