Stephen Tuttle | Author

The March

Jan. 28, 2017

That was a pretty impressive beginning as protests go. Millions of women -- and men too -- gathered all over the country, including thousands here in northern Michigan.

There were plenty of issues in evidence, but mostly they were protesting the manifest misogyny of President Dona... Read More >>

Trusting Blindly

Jan. 21, 2017

President Trump wants us to trust him blindly while refusing to place his assets in a blind trust. His sons will run his businesses, he says, and they will never discuss it, ever. Trust him. 

Modern presidents and cabinet officers are almost always people of substantial means... Read More >>

Reasons to move away from fossil fuels

Jan. 14, 2017

In a few days, a new administration will be seated in Washington. Those now designated to develop our energy policy are either climate change skeptics or outright deniers who intend to facilitate more oil, gas and coal production.

Let’s assume they are right. If our climate ... Read More >>

Nominations and polls

Jan. 7, 2017

Every president-elect is faced with the immediate problem of hiring and nominating many people for many jobs. Many, many jobs; nearly 7,500, including nearly 1,500 requiring Senate confirmation.

Many positions will go to career bureaucrats who at least have some idea of what they&... Read More >>

Questions

Dec. 31, 2016

The new year always starts with more questions than answers, doesn’t it? Some political, some not. For example:

■ Did you know we’ve had a satellite called Cassini circling Saturn since 2004?

■ Who would have thought Donald Trump owns, or partially owns, less t... Read More >>

Christmas of your choice

Dec. 17, 2016

Christmas appears to have survived another year. Nativity scenes everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief.

The claims that Christmas is being attacked sprout up annually. If such a battle has ever really existed, Christmas continues a long winning streak. That’s because Chr... Read More >>

Very lame ducks

Dec. 10, 2016

Michigan legislators, ever vigilant to the scourge of voter identity fraud, have introduced yet another bill making it more difficult for some Michiganders to vote. This is what passes for work during their lame-duck session.

Lame-duck sessions, that period between the November el... Read More >>

To TIF or not to TIF

Dec. 1, 2016

Traverse City’s Downtown Development Authority wants to renew an expired tax increment financing plan covering the Old Town district.

The previous TIF in that district lasted 30 years and expired in 2015. The DDA would like a new TIF for another 25 years.

The DDA is ... Read More >>

No peace on earth

Nov. 27, 2016

Ah, yes, the season of peace on earth. Uh-huh.

We might think after 15,000 years of what we euphemistically call civilization we’d have found a better system of dispute resolution than killing each other. We would be wrong.

Wars currently rage in various forms in at ... Read More >>