Author Archives: admin

Professor mayor

Posted on July 21, 2015 by admin

By Joel Thurtell Butch Hollowell, Mike Duggan’s mouthpiece, claims there was nothing to hide in his private emails to minions of Matty Moroun last spring as city officials cut the land swap deal involving Detroit’s Riverside Park. If there was … Continue reading →

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Dr. Fonde’s fund

Posted on June 8, 2015 by admin

The University of Michigan Family Medicine Department will establish a fund to honor my wife, Karen Fonde. It will be called The Karen R. Fonde, M.D. Family Medicine Underserved Populations Fund.  Checks made out to the University of Michigan are … Continue reading →

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Secrets of Riverside Park: my letter to prosecutor

Posted on May 22, 2015 by admin

By Joel Thurtell What was the big secret about the deal Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan cut with billionaire trucking magnate Matty Moroun to trade pieces of land at the city’s Riverside Park? Why did Duggan staffers lie to two Wayne … Continue reading →

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Probe demanded in Riverside Park record denial

Posted on May 20, 2015 by admin

By Joel Thurtell Two students from a Wayne State University investigative reporting class taught by me last week were told by staffers in Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s office that the agreement Duggan announced April 29 between the city and Ambassador … Continue reading →

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Watch for news about Matty & MIke

Posted on May 19, 2015 by admin

By Joel Thurtell As we say in radio, I’ve been off the air for a while. But I’ll be back — soon. And I’ll have news about the latest circus in Detroit — the Matty & Mike Show. Stay tuned. … Continue reading →

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Tomatoes & Eggs III — Slavery on Grosse Ile: Colonel Brodhead’s ‘contraband’

Posted on April 9, 2014 by admin

By Joel Thurtell A weird thing happened in 2007 while I was covering Downriver for the Detroit Free Press. It was a time when the newspaper was courting suburban readers, and my job was to put my little journalist’s microscope … Continue reading →

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Free Press motto

Posted on February 22, 2014 by admin

Old Detroit Free Press motto: “It is a newspaper’s duty to print the news, and raise hell.”* New Free Press motto: “A newspaper’s duty is to digitize, and enliven downtown.” * Editor’s note: Oh, come on! This motto was coined … Continue reading →

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The lie under Matty’s ‘Twin’

Posted on February 14, 2014 by admin

By Joel Thurtell I’m tired of writing that Matty Moroun can’t build his much-ballyhooed twin to the Ambassador Bridge. By now, you’d think reporters would know that the city of Detroit owns the land on the US side of the Detroit … Continue reading →

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Being Black at UM

Posted on January 20, 2014 by admin

By Joel Thurtell “Being Black at UM” was the headline over my March 31, 1985 Detroit Free Press article about the life of black students at the University of Michigan. Almost 30 years later, Being Black at the University of … Continue reading →

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Ken Patterson’s wonderful bridge

Posted on November 8, 2013 by admin

As Canadian and US governments gear up to spend billions on a replacement to Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, another Detroit bridge project is largely unknown. Kenneth Patterson built a suspension bridge over the Rouge River with a few parts from a … Continue reading →

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