Phil's Column

The public wants Lansing to fix the roads, improve education and keep our water safe and clean. In response: Nothing.

Tolerating continued deterioration of our schools contributes to the long-term abuse of our children. Don’t vote for any candidate who lacks a detailed, long-term turnaround plan.

The Center for Michigan and Bridge Magazine are countering the pernicious effect of misleading online “news stories” by bringing rigorous, fact-based events and reporting to Michigan’s 2018 elections.

Absent changes to the state constitution, the pressure is on lawmakers to rescue our schools from the abyss

High school students around the country seem to be executing the transformation from observers of repeated classroom shootings, to survivors, and finally to drivers of political protest.

There are risks in any sudden and hasty attempts to radically impose change on a system that has served Michigan pretty well over the years.

Public revulsion at the nakedly partisan nonsense in Lansing and Washington has grown so strongly that it's possible there might emerge an opening for a bipartisan effort to undo our deadlocked democracy.

The link between struggling schools and a paucity of job talent has been clear for years. Those running for state office in 2018 need to make education gains job one.

The Center for Michigan and Bridge Magazine are devoting 2018 to making Michigan residents the best informed, most factually grounded electorate in our history. Check out what we’re doing.

If we focus solely on candidates’ backgrounds and policy positions, we won’t learn enough about how they are likely to behave in office.

Marquette Mayor Tom Baldini never forgot his roots and nourished the soil that rooted him

America's reserve of thoughtful, decent and able politicians continues its seemingly remorseless decline.

Our national culture trumps political correctness every time.

Bridge is expanding watchdog coverage of the capitol, fact-checking political ads, and adding unbiased environmental reporting. Your support is critical to our nonpartisan mission.

The Republican-led Legislature just passed a bill that would make it easier for oceangoing vessels to dump ballast water (along with invasive species) into the Great Lakes. Will Gov. Snyder sign it?

The University of Michigan Medical School is teaming with public health officials and insurers to curtail doctors who overprescribe opioids for pain, leading to addiction and abuse.

His premature death leaves a sadly diminished group of Michigan leaders devoted to nonpartisan ideas for improving our state’s future.

The politically elected, eight-member board, however well meaning and thoughtful, makes it more difficult to establish accountability for Michigan’s sprawling public school system.

A U.S. Supreme Court case could lead to a profound upheaval in both political parties’ ability to act out their parochial and selfish political impulses.

Job automation is remorseless and unstoppable. Those running for office in Michigan next year need to steer the agenda for our economy and education system to meet this critical challenge.