Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and new State Budget Director Dave Massaron released their 2022 budget proposal. The state budget is a big area of focus for the Michigan League for Public Policy each year and a big avenue for our policy wins each year. The League has always said that the ...

In Saturday’s edition of The News, you heard from several Northeast Michiganders sharing their thoughts about how America and her communities can heal from the political and social divisions that have quite literally torn families apart over the past several years. A number of themes ...

Usually, when a legislative leader from either party makes a mistake, he or she has plenty of those in the ranks who instinctively come to the leader’s defense. They dutifully deliver such bromides as, “Everyone makes mistakes,” or, “There’s been a lot of pressure lately, and, ...

As of Wednesday, 100 Northeast Michiganders had died after being infected with the coronavirus, according to local public health data. Our heart breaks. For 11 months now, this virus has been with us, changing every aspect of our lives. Canceling our events. Scrapping our travel plans. ...

I put that headline in quotes because it’s a phrase from “Sympathy for the Devil,” by The Rolling Stones, my second-favorite band of all time, and because the point of this column is to tell you, dear readers, a little more about me as I take the helm of The News from Bill Speer. I’ve ...

As of Friday, it was official ... I have joined the ranks of the retired. In the words of Howard Cosell’s booth partner, Don Meredith: It’s time “to turn out the lights, the party’s over.” But, oh, what a party it has been. I have been blessed beyond measure in my 42-year ...