Author Archives: hro50ta1

Harvard and the hypocrites

Posted on September 18, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Back in 2007, when top brass at the Detroit (so-called) Free Press reprimanded me for donating $500 to Michigan Democrats, then threatened to fire me if I ever again dared exercise my right as a U.S. citizen … Continue reading →

Posted in Arbitration, Joel's J School, Unions | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Times and toxics

Posted on September 14, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell My first reaction on reading the Sunday, September 13, 2009 New York Times article on water pollution was to think, “Wow! They get it!” For years, I’ve been reporting that environmental pollution in Metro Detroit’s Rouge River is … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures on the Rouge, Lakes and streams | Leave a comment

Riding the Rouge with Florent Tillon

Posted on July 10, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell It happened. My motorboat trip up the Rouge River with French film maker Florent Tillon began just as our press release predicted, a bit after eight in the morning of Wednesday, July 8. To those readers who … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings | 2 Comments

Filming the Rouge

Posted on July 7, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell On vacation in Canada, I found a little sandwich shop with a Mac computer and a wi-fi connection. I logged on and found a message from a French film maker, Florent Tillon, wondering if I’d take him on … Continue reading →

Posted in Beginnings | 2 Comments

The Monica Conyers diversion

Posted on June 27, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Monica Conyers is small fry. So the Detroit City Councilwoman now faces a possible 5-year prison term for taking bribes, and the special agent in charge of the Detroit FBI office, Andrew Arena, is boasting that the … Continue reading →

Posted in JC & Me | 7 Comments

Matty & the Reds (herring, that is)

Posted on June 24, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Matty’s bait has a rotten smell, and I don’t plan to chew on it. That’s why you won’t read joelontheroad fussing over Matty’s lawsuit claiming a proposed government-owned alternative to his private Ambassador bridge is racially discriminatory. … Continue reading →

Posted in Me & Matty | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Swim in the Rouge?

Posted on June 9, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If somebody would have told me 20 years ago that the Rouge River would be fishable and swimmable most of the time, I would not have believed it, and yet we have done it. — Jim Ridgway, … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures on the Rouge, Lakes and streams | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

“Up the Rouge!” — the audio version

Posted on June 3, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Almost there: The audio version of the Wayne State University Press book by Detroit Free Press photographer Patricia Beck and me will be for sale next week.  The audio book will be published by Hardalee Press of … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventures on the Rouge | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

That hole in their story, again

Posted on May 27, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell According to the May 21, 2009 Detroit Free Press, five lawyers involved with last year’s Kwamegate text message scandal have been charged with violating the lawyers’ canon of ethics and some may even have committed crimes in a coverup. … Continue reading →

Posted in censorship, Joel's J School, Subpoenaed reporters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Making money at the Times

Posted on May 25, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Thanks to Clark Hoyt’s New York Times Public Editor column of May 24, 2009, I now know how the other half makes out. Hoyt informs us that in a typical year, “star columnist” Thomas Friedman collects 75 … Continue reading →

Posted in Joel's J School | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment