Author Archives: admin

Tomatoes & Eggs III — Slavery on Grosse Ile: Colonel Brodhead’s ‘contraband’

Posted on April 9, 2014 by admin

By Joel Thurtell A weird thing happened in 2007 while I was covering Downriver for the Detroit Free Press. It was a time when the newspaper was courting suburban readers, and my job was to put my little journalist’s microscope … Continue reading →

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Free Press motto

Posted on February 22, 2014 by admin

Old Detroit Free Press motto: “It is a newspaper’s duty to print the news, and raise hell.”* New Free Press motto: “A newspaper’s duty is to digitize, and enliven downtown.” * Editor’s note: Oh, come on! This motto was coined … Continue reading →

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The lie under Matty’s ‘Twin’

Posted on February 14, 2014 by admin

By Joel Thurtell I’m tired of writing that Matty Moroun can’t build his much-ballyhooed twin to the Ambassador Bridge. By now, you’d think reporters would know that the city of Detroit owns the land on the US side of the Detroit … Continue reading →

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Being Black at UM

Posted on January 20, 2014 by admin

By Joel Thurtell “Being Black at UM” was the headline over my March 31, 1985 Detroit Free Press article about the life of black students at the University of Michigan. Almost 30 years later, Being Black at the University of … Continue reading →

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Ken Patterson’s wonderful bridge

Posted on November 8, 2013 by admin

As Canadian and US governments gear up to spend billions on a replacement to Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, another Detroit bridge project is largely unknown. Kenneth Patterson built a suspension bridge over the Rouge River with a few parts from a … Continue reading →

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California to reform school bond practices

Posted on July 10, 2013 by admin

By Joel Thurtell California legislators are poised to enact a law meant to reform the way the state’s school districts borrow through Capital Appreciation Bonds. Cabscam California was reported first on joelontheroad, which made the 1000-plus percent interest as proportion … Continue reading →

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Arming the Free Press newsroom

Posted on June 25, 2013 by admin

By Joel Thurtell Detroit Free Press politics editor James Hill carries a pistol. Hey, James — are you packin’ that gat in the newsroom? It’s one thing to fend off attackers by pointing to your holstered pistol at a gas … Continue reading →

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Crying wolf on the ‘chilling effect’

Posted on June 9, 2013 by admin

The dual revelations, in rapid succession, also suggested that someone with access to high-level intelligence secrets had decided to unveil them in the midst of furor over leak investigations. Both were reported by The Guardian, while The Post, relying upon … Continue reading →

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Fox 2 plans re-do of 2005 Free Press canoe trek

Posted on June 1, 2013 by admin

By Joel Thurtell A reporter and a photographer paddling the Rouge River over five days in the first week of June, renting their canoe from a Milford livery and refusing help from establishment environmental and river friends groups. Their aim … Continue reading →

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Bait and switch for press ‘freedom’

Posted on May 18, 2013 by admin

By Joel Thurtell Would some wise person in the media please explain to me how the government’s surveillance of The Associated Press’s phones translates into a new push for a so-called federal “shield” to insulate mainstream journalists from subpoenas? Somehow, … Continue reading →

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