News & Commentary

DETROIT – Residents of Flint, together with the ACLU of Michigan and the Natural Resources Defense Council, today announced their intention to sue state and city officials for ongoing violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act amid the city’s widespread lead-contamination crisis. A lawsuit would force officials to address repeated, systemic failures to follow federal rules designed to protect the public health from dangerous levels of lead exposure.

The ongoing Flint water crisis generated headlines last week when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report warning that road work or hydrant flushing could shake loose toxic lead particles from rusted pipes and that residents needed to be notified about such work in order to protect themselves.

In last week’s press conference announcing that the city of Flint would finally be allowed to return to Detroit’s water system, Gov. Rick Snyder made it a point to note that placing blame for the lead poisoning of children is not something he intends to do.

Below are some of the thousands of Educational Achievement Authority emails (edited for length and clarity) obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to the ACLU of Michigan.

In June of 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder stepped behind a microphone at Detroit’s Renaissance High School to announce the start of a revolutionary new approach to education in Michigan.

It took a while for LeeAnne Walters to realize the full impact of the number: 13,200.

In a place that bills itself the Great Lakes State, you’d think people would understand and appreciate the universally critical importance of water.

Fifty years ago, Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a 39-year-old mother of five from Detroit, was shot dead by Ku Klux Klansmen on an isolated road outside Selma, Ala. 

August 5 turned out… weird. Last night produced mixed results, indicating that our state is becoming more and more polarized. Citizens are clearly weary of the lack of political depth and sincerity, and the tendency for incivility. As an example, take lightening rod concepts like “common core” and “Medicaid expansion,” both of which involve multifaceted and useful policies that truly benefit society. But candidates treat them as black or white – you are with us or against us. We are used to that simplistic debate over abortion, immigration and marriage equality. Now, it seems that every issue gets reduced to a sound bite, not worthy of informed discussion. It’s no wonder that elected officials are less popular than root canals… but enough of my whining. I want to give you a run-down on the primary results.