An invitation to help CapCon find the news

Happy New Year to our readers and supporters! We are excited about the new opportunities that await us in 2024, which include partnering with our readers in producing more informative news stories.

In 2023, we had the pleasure of picking up some new readers supported us on social media and even produced memes that visually tell our stories. We want not only to interact with our readers but work with them.

We will continue to report on what is occurring in Lansing, but we also plan to add more local stories this year. This will require tipsters who are active in their communities.  

This year we have worked with homeowners in Ottawa County’s Park Township and the Berrien County city of New Buffalo to tell their stories about how their local governments have harmed their ability to afford second homes by limiting or banning short-term rentals.

We want to tell stories that have local impact using document-based reporting. Readers can help by attending local and school board meetings and then passing along developments we should investigate.

One example of the power of local citizens came from Green Township in Mecosta County. Some residents there made national news on more than one occasion when spoke out when state officials allocated millions of dollars to a Chinese-based company for a factory. Sensing a lack of transparency, the people of the township recalled the officials who approved the project.

We will have a greater focus on education in 2024. As some state officials gear up to take on the homeschool community, it is important to highlight the successes of nonconventional schooling.

Tell us what’s going on in your community.

Jamie A. Hope is assistant managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email her at hope@mackinac.org.

James David Dickson is managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email him at dickson@mackinac.org.