Friday, May 10 — While the Legislature dithers over whether Michigan’s working poor should be allowed affordable health insurance, a consortium of local health agencies is moving ahead with expanding healthcare options for the state’s low-income families and small businesses.

In a rare change of pace, the state House of Representatives wants more facts before deciding on a controversial policy.

There's a reason we have clichés. Quite often, they reflect reality. "Cutting off your nose to spite your face." That is an apt description of the state Legislature as it ponders whether Michigan should be a part of the federal expansion of Medicaid.

Monday, April 29 — State Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer predicted today that former Congressman Mark Schauer will be the Democrats’ candidate for governor in 2014.

On April 10, 1933, Michigan became the first state to ratify the constitutional amendment ending Prohibition. It did so in a convention with elected delegates from each of Michigan’s 100 state House districts. The ratification passed 99-1.

"He took the easy way out." That's former Mayor David Hollister's blunt assessment of Mayor Virg Bernero's latest budget proposal, a document released just days after the Hollister-led Financial Health Team issued a detailed, dramatic plan to deal with Lansing's short- and long-term budget issues.

Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice: If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you. It is the official motto of a state now advertising itself as a "19-million-acre playground that’s Pure Michigan."

For most of her adult life, Mari has lived the ultimate gamble: getting through without health insurance. She has always had a job but made too much money to qualify for Medicaid, which caps income for single adult recipients at 35 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $3,900 in 2012. Her employers did not offer a health benefit. With an annual income of less than $22,000, buying insurance on her own was simply out of the question.

Let me tell you about the time I accidentally took Carl Levin to the wrong country. But before we get to that, a few other personal thoughts about the man who has served this nation for 34 years and counting in the U.S. Senate, from which he has announced his retirement.

It is a perpetual campaign — not just for president, but for state offices as well. Just three months after the 2012 general election, campaigning is well underway for 2014.