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The Detroit News is asking readers to send in letters about how they plan to celebrate Christmas during COVID-19.
Please let us know how you plan to connect to loved ones during the pandemic or what that connection looks like or means to you during this time. Submit your 300 word letter to [email protected] by Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.
The Detroit News is asking readers to send in letters about how they plan to celebrate Christmas during COVID-19.
Please let us know how you plan to connect to loved ones during the pandemic or what that connection looks like or means to you during this time. Submit your 300 word letter to [email protected] by Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.
Benny Napoleon "was affable and accessible and wasn’t the type who saw public office as a vehicle to distance himself from the ordinary people he served."
The Wayne County sheriff who died Thursday was committed to his community and was an inspiration, Bankole Thompson writes
"When the governor announced last month that the state health department was targeting restaurants and bars to close and only allowing carryout services, my stomach dropped, but I knew that I would keep my restaurant open," writes Amy Heikkinen from Calumet.
I never would have thought that I would be involved in a legal fight to protect my livelihood, Heikkinen writes.
"Obviously, no one should be compelled by the government to get a vaccine. But that doesn't mean there shouldn't be consequences for going unvaccinated," Nolan Finley writes. 🔒
Now comes the vaccine, and over the next few months most Americans will have the opportunity to get inoculated, Finley writes
Our editorial: Some are worried that the vaccine has been rushed and isn’t safe. But those with doubts need to listen to what health officials are saying and then get in line for the vaccine once it's more widely available. 🔒
Trump and his administration should get credit for working in conjunction with private companies to bring a vaccine to the public in just 10 months
Our editorial: These past five weeks of denial of that reality has kept the nation in turmoil and eroded confidence in the electoral process. Even Monday's vote contributed to that mistrust. 🔒
With the vote of 16 Electoral College members in Michigan and 522 other across the nation, the drama of the 2020 presidential election came to a close Monday
In the final weeks of her tenure, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos isn’t holding back her criticism of how some governors — including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — and teachers unions are handling their response to COVID-19, writes Ingrid Jacques. (🔒)
Betsy DeVos isn’t holding back her criticism of how some governors — including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — and teachers unions are responding to COVID-19
Brendan Clarey: I remember the first time my student loans were laid out for me: I would pay them off a few hundred dollars every month for 10 years. It made my stomach sink.
As a young man entering college, I signed, knowing that amount of debt would impact my finances and those of my future family for years. It was my choice, and they became my responsibility to repay after graduation. 🔒
Progressives have begun pressuring Biden into rewarding those who are already ahead while punishing those who never went to college, Clarey writes
Bankole Thompson: Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan "has mastered the art of grandstanding and exploiting circumstances to his own advantage, rather than tackling the crisis of inequality in one of the nation’s poorest cities." 🔒
The Detroit mayor has mastered the art of grandstanding and exploiting circumstances to his own advantage, Bankole writes
Our editorial: The Michigan Civil Rights Commission, tasked with rooting out discrimination in the state, has in effect called for the discrimination against 150,000 charter school students by saying they should be funded less than other public school children. It’s hard to miss the irony. 🔒
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission has suggested the state change its school funding model and cut support for charter school students by 25%
Nolan Finley: "Donald Trump was not cheated of an election win. He didn't earn an election win." 🔒
Donald Trump was not cheated of an election win. He didn't earn an election win, Finley writes
Our editorial: Congress is racing the clock to pass a COVID-19 relief bill before the House departs Washington for the holiday break at the end of the week. No lawmaker should leave the Capitol until a package is approved. 🔒
A bipartisan, $908 billion proposal is moving through the House, with agreement on many of the details
Our editorial: The COVID-19 numbers are still surging despite the partial shutdown of the past three weeks, which should have led Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to question their effectiveness. 🔒
Bars and restaurants that've had to suspend indoor service the past three weeks will be unlikely to benefit from the typical holiday boost.
Bankole Thompson: Kamala Harris’ ascension to the vice-presidency is just the latest event in a long line of contributions by people of Caribbean descent to the civil rights movement and to American history.
The election of Kamala Harris spotlights the significant and often untold contributions of the Caribbean to our national politics, Bankole writes.
"We must treat everyone as infected. However, this doesn’t need to be the way. The technology exists to equip everyone with knowledge of their COVID-positive status using self-administered rapid tests," Marie Fishpaw and Paul Winfree write.
The technology exists to equip everyone with knowledge of their COVID-positive status using self-administered rapid tests, Fishpaw and Winfree write
"Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says it's “sadly possible” she'll continue the selective shutdown of Michigan businesses, set to expire Tuesday.
She wants to weigh the numbers, she says, before making a call on whether bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues can reopen for indoor service.
There's no way the closed establishments can win," writes Nolan Finley. 🔒
Attempting to control the spread of the virus by controlling behavior is a futile enterprise, Finley writes
"Our business has moved swiftly by shutting down in-house service twice, practicing survival by adaptation. We need people to celebrate take-out night with enthusiasm! And we need elected leaders to act now to pass mask laws, fund stimulus and allow for reopening cautiously when the data indicate it is safe," writes Rachel Hood.
On one side is a rock, and the other is a hard place: This is my view as a legislator and co-owner of a brewery and restaurant, Hood writes
"Now we’re wounded, bleeding, and infection is setting in. Some restaurants are panicking and defying orders because they feel forced to open. But we have a choice: We can pay to keep business alive through shutdowns with more stimulus, or we can pay with another costly and deadly wave of COVID-19."
On one side is a rock, and the other is a hard place: This is my view as a legislator and co-owner of a brewery and restaurant, Hood writes
"The families who attend Libertas Christian School in west Michigan are wondering when the witch hunt will end. That’s how the last few months have made them feel — and for good reason," Ingrid Jacques writes. 🔒
The families who attend Libertas Christian School are wondering when the witch hunt will end. That’s how the last few months have made them feel
Our editorial: State leaders should not remove this important safeguard that holds government entities to a higher standard of transparency and accountability while keeping citizens informed. 🔒
State leaders should not remove this important safeguard that holds government entities to a higher standard of transparency and accountability.
Kudos to the bipartisan members of Congress who are doing the tough work and finding compromise on sending aid to Americans struggling from a long year of COVID-19. We’ve cautioned against aid packages that are too large and too sweeping at a time when targeted spending is necessary. 🔒
We’ve cautioned against aid packages that are too large and too sweeping, but this latest offering seems more palatable
Bankole Thompson: "The Black community needs significant investments instead of handouts from President-elect Joe Biden and his administration." 🔒
The Black community needs significant investments instead of handouts from President-elect Joe Biden and his administration, Bankole writes.
"Much of the recent spread of COVID-19 has been among families, suggesting that things could get much worse as the holiday season brings friends and relatives together," Nolan Finley writes. 🔒
Much of the recent spread of COVID-19 has been among families, suggesting that things could get much worse this holiday season, Finley writes
For more than 18 months, the Teamsters worked hard in key states like Michigan to get a pro-worker president elected. So the union was delighted when Joe Biden emerged victorious in the Great Lakes State and nationally and looks forward to his swearing in as the 46th president next month. 🔒
The union was delighted when Joe Biden emerged victorious and looks forward to his swearing in as the 46th president next month, Hoffa writes.
Gov. Whitmer should make sure in Michigan that teachers and other school staffers are included in the first wave of vaccinations. 🔒
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should make sure in Michigan that teachers and other school staffers are included in the first wave of vaccinations
Our editorial: In looking to lawmakers to bail out citizens and businesses negatively impacted by her actions, Whitmer is placing the impetus on lawmakers who didn’t sign off on these shutdowns. 🔒
A better approach for Michigan would be to limit the spread of COVID-19 in ways that don’t harm the economy
"A lot of people have conveniently forgotten that it was Barack Obama who gave us Donald Trump," Nolan Finley writes. 🔒
But the president-elect is making a mistake in interpreting his victory as a call to return to the good old Obama days, Finley writes
Bankole Thompson: "One of the most beautiful and redeeming things that happened this year was the number of young people who participated in the nationwide response to the wave of police killings of Black people across the nation." 🔒
The diversity of race and age among those active in the movement spurred by the killing of George Floyd is often under-appreciated, Bankole writes.
"At every food distribution, I strive not just to feed Detroiters but provide a meal that comforts them. As we observe Giving Tuesday (Dec. 1), I ask you to take action to combat hunger in our city," writes chef Max Hardy.
My fight against food insecurity won’t stop after the pandemic. To combat hunger on a large scale, we all must work together and combine our efforts
"As Republican election canvassers in Michigan are finding out, if they don’t vote how the woke demand, the mob will come for them," Ingrid Jacques writes. 🔒
As Republican election canvassers in Michigan are finding out, if they don’t vote how the woke demand, the mob will come for them.
Nolan Finley: "Maybe it's a good thing the COVID-19 surge is limiting Thanksgiving gatherings today and keeping friends and family apart. Contentious elections don't make for harmonious dinner table fare." 🔒
Contentious elections don't make for harmonious dinner table fare, Finley writes.
Our editorial: Wayne County should apologize for its negligence, subsidize the toll bridge and replace Grosse Ile's "free bridge" now. 🔒
Wayne County should apologize for its negligence, subsidize the toll bridge and replace the "free bridge" now.
Our editorial: After a weekend of unnecessary drama and rampant speculation, the state Board of Canvassers did its job Monday, certifying Michigan's Nov. 3 election results. Legally, it was the only thing they could do, but Republican Norman Shinkle's concerns should not be dismissed out of hand. 🔒
After a weekend of unnecessary drama and rampant speculation, the state Board of Canvassers did its job Monday,.
Bankole Thompson: "Biden, an icon of the liberal establishment, must execute life-changing policies based on the highest ideals of our democracy to guarantee equality, not just to play to the gallery of tokenism."
The issue is whether Biden will be ready to respond to the deep yearnings Black people have for economic justice, Bankole writes
Detroit, MI
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