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  1. News & Views

Planned Parenthood of Michigan to close clinics, cut staff amid federal funding threats

The nonprofit health organization says it will reduce staffing by 10%

The US and Canada have long managed the Great Lakes together. That era could be ending.

Political tensions are threatening the future of the largest freshwater ecosystem on Earth

Billboards target Wayne State’s ‘cruel’ dog experiments, urge lawmakers to take action

A new campaign has been launched in support of Queenie’s Law, bipartisan legislation named after a stray dog that was killed at WSU
Image: Planned Parenthood of Michigan to close clinics, cut staff amid federal funding threats
The nonprofit health organization says it will reduce staffing by 10%
By Steve Neavling
The Great Lakes provide drinking water for more than 30 million people across both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ and Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio
Protesters gathered at Wayne State University in August 2023 to call on the school to stop inhumane experiments on dogs.
By Steve Neavling
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow is running for a seat on the U.S. Senate.
By Steve Neavling
Image: Detroit Tigers opening day marks 25th baseball season at Comerica Park
By Josh Cohen
Image: What kinds of chaos are the Tigers conjuring up this season?
By Steve Butts
Azuradee France (left) was convicted of killing her 3-year-old boy Chayce Allen.
By Steve Neavling
Image: Trump’s pause on refugee resettlement could cost Michigan $416M, study finds
By Steve Neavling
11. Wunderkind Scott Harris When Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch in September 2022 tabbed 35-year-old San Francisco GM Scott Harris to lead his disappointing club into the future, he was going against the grain of Detroit history. The Tigers have been one of the most successful American League franchises in their 125-year existence, but they have mostly hewed to the conservative side when making major decisions. Therefore, hiring a young executive who had never led an MLB front office — Harris served underneath a president of baseball operations with the Giants, just as Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg now serves under Harris — was the kind of risk that Detroit ownership would normally pass over. Detroit’s previous general manager, Al Avila, was 57 when he succeeded Dave Dombrowski late in 2015. As evident now, the risk was well worth it, and it was a master stroke on Ilitch’s part to hire someone who looks, sounds, and acts like a certified genius. Not only has Harris revived the flagging fortunes of the tortuously slow rebuilding process, but the attractive young squad the Tigers put on the field has also revived badly flagging enthusiasm in Detroit’s loyal but recently skeptical fanbase. Perhaps it was the bitter memory of the last time Detroit took a flier on a rising young executive that led ownership to go for an experienced executive in Dombrowski in 2002, and for a safe but uninspired internal hire in 2015. Harris is the Tigers’ first young general manager since ill-fated 29-year-old Randy Smith was brought in from San Diego in 1996 — but Smith was merely a legacy who had risen to his level of incompetence. (Smith’s father, Tal Smith, was a longtime executive with the Yankees and Astros.) Smith quickly earned a good reputation with the Padres by carrying out a fire sale of expensive veterans after he took over in 1993, acquiring a pile of young prospects in return. After taking over the Tigers, he followed a similar blueprint in preparation for the opening of Comerica Park in 2000. Stocking the larder with prospects acquired via trades and the premium draft picks Detroit’s lowly finishes bestowed on him, Smith was named AL Executive of the Year for 1997 by Baseball America, which simultaneously named the Tigers Organization of the Year. Stockpiling largely untested talent for the future is not the same as winning in the major leagues, as Smith — like many other GMs who quite easily could dump veteran salaries for inexpensive youngsters — would soon find out. None of the prospects Smith acquired would prove to be stars of the first order, and few could be considered stars of the second order. Smith cemented his doom by gambling on the acquisition of two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez to lead the Tigers in the inaugural season at their new home. It was a bad gamble that turned into a disaster. Gonzalez was a slow-footed slugger who had already peaked before he was traded. His brief tenure in Tigertown was marked by surliness, injury, and underperformance. Tigers fans were only too happy to watch him spurn an insanely generous long-term contract offer from Smith in order to test free agency after 2000. While Gonzo rebounded nicely in Cleveland in 2001, it proved to be his last good season. Proof that everyone else in baseball understood that Smith was an abject failure in Detroit can be found in the fact that he was never given another chance to lead an MLB club after being fired six games into the 2002 season. Dombrowski, at 31, became the youngest GM ever in AL/NL history when he was appointed to lead the Montreal Expos in midseason 1988. When he arrived to Detroit in 2002, he was only 45, yet he already had 14 years of experience running MLB organizations.
By Gary Gillette
The aftermath of an apartment building explosion on Monday, March 31, 2025.
By Steve Neavling
Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow hauls out a “Project 2025” prop at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
By Joe Lapointe
Image: Rashida Tlaib calls for cash payments to young people experiencing homelessness (2)
By Lee DeVito
Image: Detroit cop busted for allegedly stealing fellow cops’ shoes
By Steve Neavling
In February, two children died while sleeping in a Greektown parking garage.
By Eli Day
A former Highland Park cop is accused of assaulting a man outside a Burger King.
By Steve Neavling
More News & Views

The US and Canada have long managed the Great Lakes together. That era could be ending.

By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ and Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

The Great Lakes provide drinking water for more than 30 million people across both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.

Billboards target Wayne State’s ‘cruel’ dog experiments, urge lawmakers to take action

By Steve Neavling

Protesters gathered at Wayne State University in August 2023 to call on the school to stop inhumane experiments on dogs.

A new ‘Red Scare’ at the University of Michigan

By Natalia Holtzman

Image: A new ‘Red Scare’ at the University of Michigan

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