Category Archives: From My Files

Straight up, up UP!!

Posted on January 16, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell A reporter for The New York Times got lucky. C.J. Chivers put his bragging rights into the dateline of his January 16, 2012 Times story: INSIDE STRIKE FIGHTER VENGEANCE 13 Chivers got one of those rare chances … Continue reading →

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Vote fraud in Bloomfield? You be the AG

Posted on May 9, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If you’d been Michigan’s attorney general, what would you have done? Allowed a state trooper to proceed with his investigation into possible corruption in a 2001 election? Or would you have killed the investigation? The question is … Continue reading →

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Bloomfield Farce: Phony from the get-go

Posted on May 4, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Six years ago, I wrote a story about election high-jinks in a development project that is back in the news. Wannabe real estate developer Craig Schubiner’s vaunted $2 billion Bloomfield Park, it turns out, is a huge … Continue reading →

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Tale of a ‘rainmaker’

Posted on April 12, 2010 by hro50ta1

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 →

Posted in From My Files, Politics | 4 Comments

Saving newspapers: A modest proposal

Posted on December 8, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] I could make a fortune with this idea, except I got it from The New York Times. I’d have to kick something back to them, probably. For once, it might be worth it. It’s amazingly simple, … Continue reading →

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My Times ‘beer allowance’

Posted on November 12, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] Odd situation I have with The New York Times, which wants to charge me a $520 fee for reprinting a story I wrote for them 30 years ago. They only paid me seventy-five bucks for the … Continue reading →

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Class party

Posted on November 5, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] I’m still amazed at The New York Times thinking they can charge me to reprint a story I wrote for their newspaper 30 years ago. It stinks. They paid me seventy-five bucks in 1979, worth $211 … Continue reading →

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Vanity publishing and The NY Times

Posted on October 27, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] Far as I can recall, I started writing my book, Shoestring Reporter, 28 years ago. I’d just landed a job as a full time staff writer with the South Bend Tribune and was quite full of … Continue reading →

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Race & taxes

Posted on October 20, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell “Seek not, and ye shall find” — that’s my motto. Sporadically over the last few months, I’ve been trying to finish my journalism book, “Shoestring Reporter”, and the last stage involves selecting graphic elements. It’s a two-stage … Continue reading →

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Going Postal — My First FOIA

Posted on January 21, 2009 by admin

By Joel Thurtell Sixteen minutes past seven. In the evening. Mail’s still not here. Our neighbors are disgruntled at being on the tail end of this motorized postal route. By two minutes after eight, it had arrived. I think I … Continue reading →

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