Monthly Archives: July 2010

Not so easy, this journalism thing

By Joel Thurtell I’m a fan of Sara Paretsky and her V.I Washawski private eye novels. Hadn’t read Paretsky in years. My wife brought the Warshawski detective novel, Blacklist, on our vacation to Canada. I read it, enjoyed it, and … Continue reading

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Vote for Susan!

By Joel Thurtell Susan Tompor is on the hustings. She’s not running for office. She’s trying to win five hundred bucks for a charity devoted to helping people with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Susan is the personal finance columnist at … Continue reading

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Parsley, sage, rosemary and journalism

By Joel Thurtell There’s a lot of yackity-yack from traditional journalists about how bloggers don’t adhere to the same high standards as our morally superior print cousins. In this exalted view, practitioners of the old format — for example, newspapers … Continue reading

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No free lunch

By Joel Thurtell They say there’s no free lunch. I’m a journalist, so I know that’s not true. But one thing is sure — there is no such thing as a free boat. This is a fact so evident, a … Continue reading

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‘Mud’ rules Michigan lakes

Here from my files is the uncut version of my Detroit Free Press lake names article that ran in shorter form on March 22, 2002: By Joel Thurtell Beverly Zeldes looked out at the 6.2-acre lake behind her West Bloomfield, … Continue reading

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The ‘rainmaker’ and the Senate

Here, followed by my introduction, is the 1992 Detroit Free Press article that set off the “Sewergate” scandal in Canton, Northville and Plymouth townships. I reprinted it on May 29, 2010, and now that one of the key actors is … Continue reading

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Rainmaker

By Joel Thurtell Well, well. So Abe Munfakh, the “self-made man,” is running for state senate. Seems just yesterday that his $10 million inside deal — the no-bid contract his engineering firm received from the Western Townships Utilities Authority while … Continue reading

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Unconstitutional = whatever bugs Matty

By Spike Kopee JOTR Copy Editor Normally, we copy editors like to stay anonymous. We glower under our green eye shades, slash the copy of hireling writers and toss insults at those reporters brave enough to object to the lavish … Continue reading

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Naming names — lake names, that is

By Joel Thurtell   How do places get their names? Some place names seem self-explanatory. If it’s the name of some person, like Lafayette or Washington, it’s easy. Some are a mystery until you learn the secret. There’s a stop … Continue reading

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Turning rain into smoke

By Joel Thurtell Mostly, I let people post comments on JOTR without adding my two cents. Now and then, though, a comment will contain some quality that seems to cry out for my reaction. It may be very interesting, very … Continue reading

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