MOTOWN GROWTOWN

Danny Groner, 06/27/12

Manager, Shutterstock

Election season and baseball season intersected on Monday night as President Obama poked fun at Boston fans during a Massachusetts fundraiser after the Red Sox traded fan-favorite Kevin Youkilis to his cherished Chicago White Sox.

Dan Glickman, 06/27/12

Vice President and Exec. Director of the Congressional Program, Aspen Institute; Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center.

Whatever the reasons, it's refreshing to see that on something, our elected representatives can get along (at least in the Senate) and the system can still work.

Robert Puentes, 06/25/12

Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program; Director, Infrastructure Initiative, The Brookings Institution

Last week's announcement of a plan to build a new bridge between Detroit and Windsor was welcome news -- not only a down payment on Detroit's future but emblematic of the kind of strategic infrastructure investment needed around the country to invigorate our national economy.

Scott Mendelson, 06/27/12

Film critic at Mendelson's Memos, Valley Scene Magazine

Seth MacFarlane's Ted joins the ranks of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Observe and Report among razor-sharp cultural satires cleverly disguised as dumb comedies.

Rep. Sandy Levin, 06/25/12

Representative for Michigan's 12th District

Just days before the Nov. 2010 elections, the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell, spoke with striking candor about the GOP's top priority going forward. It wasn't jobs, despite the fact that the economy was still in the grip of the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression.

Ashley Woods, 06/25/12

Detroit Editor, The Huffington Post

Columnist Mitch Albom read Fifty Shades of Grey, and decided to write a column. In it, he laments the end of modesty in a world where programming like Cathouse and Girls play on television, but stresses that the problem is his alone.

Frank Nemecek, 06/26/12

Publisher, Warrendale (Detroit) Blog

How in the world can someone from the city that made gangland shootings famous worry that one more shooting means Chicago is "becoming Detroit?"

Rosabeth Moss Kanter, 06/24/12

Professor, Harvard Business School

To keep America strong and Americans working, opportunity must flow to everyone. Regions with lower unemployment and greater growth prospects break the ice by finding the connections between innovation, collaboration, and education -- a flow of resources to create, attract, and grow jobs.

Jay Walljasper, 06/22/12

Author, 'All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons'

Declining, desperate Detroit is old news. It's not that the city's economic woes, struggling schools, racial friction and crime have been magically solved. But there are new stories to tell about Detroit today.

Randi Weingarten, 06/23/12

President, American Federation of Teachers

Share My Lesson is by teachers, for teachers, and it will become the largest online community for educators in the United States. It categorizes teacher-created resources by grade level, subject and type of resource.

Richey Piiparinen, 06/22/12

Writer, Co-editor, 'Rust Belt Chic: The Cleveland Anthology'

If you aren't from the Rust Belt you need to know something: vacancy lives here. In fact, its ubiquity has granted it a presence in our post-industrial culture.

Susana Duncan, M.D., 06/23/12

Doctor and Science Editor

The relatively recent epidemic of opium-addiction is now America's fastest growing drug problem. While the consequences of this prescription-driven epidemic may be largely invisible to the general public, it is all too clear to doctors like myself.

Zaid Jilani, 06/23/12

Communications and Outreach Coordinator, United Republic

The overall narrative being created by the Obama campaign is clear: Romney has through his business practices supported outsourcing in the past, and is likely to in the future -- unlike President Obama. Unfortunately, the story is not that simple.

Allan D. Gilmour, 06/20/12

President, Wayne State University

The economic impact of public universities is undeniable. They employ thousands of people. They develop and contribute to their communities. They introduce new technologies, some of which result in new business opportunities.