Ongoing Coverage:

Mark Brush

Reporter/Producer

I'm a Senior Producer at Michigan Radio where I'm working to develop the station's online news content.

From 1998 to 2006 I worked in various roles (production assistant, technical director, and senior producer) with the regional environmental news service known as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium (GLRC). From 2006 to 2010, as the unit's senior producer, I helped transition the GLRC into an award-winning national news service known as The Environment Report.

I'm a graduate of the University of Michigan ('00 MS in Environmental Policy and Planning & '91 BA in Political Science) and have been a board certified public radio junkie since 1992. I discovered public radio on my long commutes to work (shout out to Joan Silvi, former morning edition host at WEMU-FM who accompanied me on my drives!).

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Death of a candidate
1:03 pm
Mon October 18, 2010

Death of Robert Jones raises questions about election

Credit Photo from Jones campaign website
Michigan State Representative Robert Jones and friend

Michigan House Representative and current Democratic candidate for State Senate Robert Jones died this past weekend. He was 66 and being treated for esophogeal cancer, but officials at Kalamzoo's Democratic Party Headquarters say his death still came as a surprise.

Jones' death has raised several questions about the race for the State Senate seat in Michigan's 20th district (representing parts of Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties).

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Detroit Impressions
1:47 pm
Fri October 15, 2010

Detroit through David Byrne's eyes

My Dad grew up in Detroit in the 1930s. He described a city humming with activity: factory whistles sounding, street cars rolling by, and broad sidewalks crowded with people.

We went back to his old neighborhood several years ago.  His house was on Lakeview Avenue.

It's gone now, along with the houses on most of the block. I was left to imagine his childhood home, and the stickball games he'd play in the alley, by trying to extract mental images from the remaining concrete slabs we could see.

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Money from Uncle Sam
12:09 pm
Fri October 15, 2010

Feds chip in to rebuild bridge

Officials under Stadium Avenue bridge in Ann Arbor
Credit Congressmen John Dingell's Office
Congressman Dingell, DOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari, and others under the Stadium Ave. bridge in Ann Arbor

Congressman John Dingell's office has announced that the federal government will chip in $13.9 million dollars to fix an aging Ann Arbor bridge.

The four lane bridge on Stadium Avenue, which runs past the "Big House," has been down to two lanes because it's so dilapidated.

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Detroit Schools
9:29 am
Fri October 15, 2010

Detroit's school board and Robert Bobb play nice

Robert Bobb helps student with homework
Credit Sarah Hulett / Michigan Radio
Robert Bobb - Detroit Public Schools' finances fell under the control of Bobb, a state-appointed emergency financial manager, in 2009.

The Detroit Free Press reports that after Robert Bobb's clashes with the Detroit school board, things at least looked a little better at last night's school board meeting:

The Detroit school board and its state-appointed emergency financial manager appeared to mend fences Thursday night, agreeing to work to position the school board to regain budgetary authority.

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Idealism realized
3:09 pm
Wed October 13, 2010

Celebrating JFK's Peace Corps speech (with audio)

Credit Bentley Historical Library
Then Senator John F. Kennedy speaks to students on the steps of the Michigan Union at 2am on October 14th, 1960.

Fifty years ago today, people in Ann Arbor, Michigan were anticipating the arrival of then Senator John F. Kennedy. He was on the campaign trail in a tight race for the presidency with Richard Nixon.

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Fuel economy
2:35 pm
Wed October 13, 2010

Levin calls for scrapping CAFE standards

Chevy Volt's plug receptacle
Credit Charles Manley / Michigan Radio
Carl Levin says more needs to be done to encourage alternative vehicles.

Senator Carl Levin wants to scrap the government's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard. Auto manufacturers must meet these fuel economy standards for their fleets, or face penalties from the government.

The Obama Administration recently updated the standards.  By 2020, automakers will have to reach an average 35.5 mpg for their combined car and truck fleet.

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When animals attack
10:15 am
Wed October 13, 2010

Bear attack in northern Michigan

Black bear carrying fish carcass
Credit Alan Vernon / Creative Commons
A Black bear carrying a decaying Salmon near Hyder, Alaska.

Bear attacks are something we're used to hearing about out west or in Alaska, but in northern Michigan it can be rare just to see one.

The Detroit Free Press reports a hunter fought off a mother bear that was trying to climb into his tree stand.

Chad Fortune was bow hunting when two cubs tried to climb into his stand. He pushed them off, but the mother of the cubs put up more of a fight. Fortune was treated for his injuries at a nearby hospital. Wildlife officials say they plan to euthanize the bear.

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The New Flint Forest
4:49 pm
Tue October 12, 2010

Flint to demolish more houses to fight blight

Abandoned house in Flint, MI
Credit Flickr user jamesharv2005 / Creative Commons
An abandoned house on Jane Street in Flint, Michigan.

More houses are coming down in Flint. Kristin Longley reports in the Flint Journal that 174 houses will come down by December 31st. That's on top of the 125 houses city crews are expected to take down by the end of the year.

Flint union leader Sam Muma says city crews can't take down all the homes scheduled for demolition:

"There's no way the crews I represent, the city employees, can handle all that. We have a situation quite unique in our time."

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'Government Motors' no more?
2:23 pm
Tue October 12, 2010

GM moving closer to November stock sale

GM Renaissance Center in Detroit
Credit Steve Carmody / Michigan Radio
GM's Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

General Motors (or should I say General Motors Holding Company) is planning to hold a public stock sale in mid-November. It will be the first since the world's largest company emerged from chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization last year.

General Motors Holding Company emerged as the wheat. Motors Liquidation Company emerged as the chaff.

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Volt's Shocking Media Release
12:12 pm
Tue October 12, 2010

Chevy Volt gets another step closer to showrooms

Inside the Chevy Volt electric vehicle
Credit Charles Manley / Michigan Radio
Electric car enthusiast Tim Stump takes a look at the Volt's interior.

The Chevy Volt got one step closer to the showrooms this week. The electric vehicle was unveiled to the media.

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Dean of the House in trouble?
11:01 am
Fri October 8, 2010

Poll says Dingell, Steele race for Congress is close

John Dingell and Rahm Emanuel holding a paczki
Credit Official photo from the United States Congress
John Dingell and Rahm Emanuel. Dingell has served in Congress since 1955.

This November Michigan voters will cast ballots in 15 races for the U.S. House of Representatives. Right now, two of those races are considered "toss-ups", according to NPR  - the race between Mark Schauer (D) and Tim Walberg (R)  in the 7th District, and the race between Dan Benishek (R) and Gary McDowell (D) in the 1st District.

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Heath care showdown
5:12 pm
Thu October 7, 2010

Health care law upheld by federal judge in Detroit

Nurse giving a shot
Credit Steve Carmody / Michigan Radio
The new health care law will mandate that people buy some form of insurance.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that U.S. District Judge George Steeh refused to issue a preliminary injunction to stop "preparations for putting federal health reforms into full effect in 2014. He also dismissed the key points of the suit — requiring Americans to buy health insurance and penalizing those who don’t starting in 2014."

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Homecoming King
3:21 pm
Thu October 7, 2010

Transgender student is king to many high school peers

Oak Reed sitting on fence
Credit Photo courtesy of Oak Reed
Oak Reed's ballots for Homecoming King were not allowed to be counted by Mona Shores High School

Oak Reed ran for Homecoming King at Mona Shores High School in Muskegon, but school officials tossed out Reed's ballots because, anatomically, Reed is not a male. That set off a national debate over transgender rights:

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Making the best of it
1:02 pm
Thu October 7, 2010

Foreclosures create opportunity for Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity says it's saving money by fixing up foreclosure in Michigan, rather than building new. The Environment Report's Rebecca Williams visited volunteers working on rehabbing a house in Ypsilanti Township. Megan Rogers with Habitat says rehabbing foreclosures costs about 1/3 less than building new, but it can be a bit more challenging:

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Energy Under Michigan
12:15 pm
Tue September 28, 2010

Companies look deep under Michigan for energy and profits

Gas drilling rig in Appalachia
Credit User Meridithw / Wikimedia Commons
A gas drilling rig in Appalachia.

What a fracking week on Michigan Radio!

Lester Graham of Michigan Watch and Rebecca Williams from the Environment Report are bringing us a series of reports on what might be a big part of Michigan's future: energy companies moving in and using a practice called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to get at gas deposits buried deep under Michigan.

Just how interested are energy companies in these gas deposits? Graham reports

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