Lansing residents could soon have the option to fundamentally shift how they elect their mayors, clerks and members of the City Council through a method that would consider second-choice preferences, eliminate primary elections and shift a wider candidate pool to the general election. more

Dear Jeff Bezos: You saved The Washington Post. So, why are you allowing one of your companies to undermine local journalism? more

The U.S. Census Bureau confirmed Monday what we long expected: Michigan will lose a congressional seat in 2022, officially starting an uncomfortable round of musical chairs as Michigan’s 14-member delegation shrivels to 13. more

Because George Floyd condemns the American image, white Americans — and indeed the whole world — are paying attention and wanting to learn about the lives Black Americans live. America is in a teachable moment. more

It’s not quite like Scrooge McDuck diving into a mountain of gold coins, but Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, House Speaker Jason Wentworth and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey have a bunch of new money to play with. more

Lansing doesn’t have Virg Bernero to kick around anymore. His sudden exit from the 2021 mayor’s race this past weekend was somewhat surprising, given that his campaign was charging full steam ahead with fundraising, mailings and Facebook advertisements that highlighted his 12-year tenure as mayor. He seemed willing to take whatever public punishment was coming his way for an apparently lengthy history of sexual harassment, but it wasn’t meant to be. more

(City Pulse invited Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon to respond to the letter on this page criticizing her views on life sentences without parole. In response, Siemon submitted an edited version … more

“The dead cannot cry out for justice, it’s up to the living to do so for them.” — Lois McMaster Bujold  more

Michigan Republican Party Chair Ron Weiser doesn’t typically peak at public events for a reason. To be generous, his reputation isn’t one of firing up a crowd. more

In her victory speech, Vice President Kamala Harris confidently stated: “I may be the first woman to hold this office, but I will not be the last.” more

An annual educational activity everyone hates — but is necessary particularly in the wake of the pandemic — will roll out at the end of this school year. It is assessment. That is the measurement of learning. The COVID-19 pandemic wrecked the school year 2020-’21. more

I’m not going to explain how there’s no room for sexual harassment and abusive behavior in today’s society — much less in a so-called professional workplace. That’s obvious. The trauma that TJ Bucholz inflicted on so many women at Vanguard Public Affairs is nauseating. It’s also appalling that this scandal was able to be kept quiet for so long while impacting so many people. more

In a purely political environment, there’s no way the Republican-led Senate would have allowed the governor’s appointment of a new head of the Department of Health and Human Services to stand. more

Lansing is bracing for another mayoral election this year. And with an incumbent accused of racism and a challenger accused of sexual harassment, some residents are beginning to doubt whether the government structure of the Capital City is best run by a so-called “strong mayor.” more

Last summer, nearly 1,000 Okemos High School students and alumni signed a petition calling for the school to finish what it started. In addition to demanding a new mascot, the petition also called for a third-party evaluation of the Okemos Public Schools’ 2016-2019 equity plan. more

In last week’s City Pulse article about Lansing’s rising homicide rate, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor was quoted as saying, “I think we’re doing all that we can.” If that’s the case, it’s time to try something different. As the mayor prepares his next fiscal budget, I urge him to include funding for Advance Peace.  more

Former Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero maintains that he has fundamentally changed since he decided to leave office at the end of his third term in 2017. He’s running for mayor this year not as a perfect man, but as a “better man” — now with grandchildren and a much cooler temper. more

I wasn’t the only one to audibly sigh at Virg’s letter warning us that he was seriously interested in running for mayor again, right? more

Gabriel Gurule is a junior in the Michigan State University Honors College studying history. He is a member of the State Central Committee of the Michigan Democratic Party. He also serves on the MDP … more

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the first cases of COVID-19 being diagnosed in Michigan. It’s been a rough, life-altering 12 months since then. The global death toll has eclipsed 2.6 million. more