Category Archives: From My Files

PICKING UP THE JUMBLED PIECES

Posted on November 20, 2024 by admin

Reproduced with permission of the Detroit Free Press Headline: EX-GOVERNOR REBUILDS LIFE Sub-Head: Byline:  JOEL THURTELL FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Pub-Date: 3/7/1985 Memo:  ALSO RAN IN WAYNE WEST AND DOWNRIVER ZONES Correction:  Text: Almost a decade ago, state Supreme Court … Continue reading →

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Straight up, up UP!!

Posted on January 16, 2012 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell A reporter for The New York Times got lucky. C.J. Chivers put his bragging rights into the dateline of his January 16, 2012 Times story: INSIDE STRIKE FIGHTER VENGEANCE 13 Chivers got one of those rare chances … Continue reading →

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Vote fraud in Bloomfield? You be the AG

Posted on May 9, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell If you’d been Michigan’s attorney general, what would you have done? Allowed a state trooper to proceed with his investigation into possible corruption in a 2001 election? Or would you have killed the investigation? The question is … Continue reading →

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Bloomfield Farce: Phony from the get-go

Posted on May 4, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Six years ago, I wrote a story about election high-jinks in a development project that is back in the news. Wannabe real estate developer Craig Schubiner’s vaunted $2 billion Bloomfield Park, it turns out, is a huge … Continue reading →

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Tale of a ‘rainmaker’

Posted on April 12, 2010 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell Well, well. So Abe Munfakh, the “self-made man,” is running for state senate. Seems just yesterday that his $10 million inside deal — the no-bid contract his engineering firm received from the Western Townships Utilities Authority while … Continue reading →

Posted in From My Files, Politics | 4 Comments

Saving newspapers: A modest proposal

Posted on December 8, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] I could make a fortune with this idea, except I got it from The New York Times. I’d have to kick something back to them, probably. For once, it might be worth it. It’s amazingly simple, … Continue reading →

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My Times ‘beer allowance’

Posted on November 12, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] Odd situation I have with The New York Times, which wants to charge me a $520 fee for reprinting a story I wrote for them 30 years ago. They only paid me seventy-five bucks for the … Continue reading →

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Class party

Posted on November 5, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] I’m still amazed at The New York Times thinking they can charge me to reprint a story I wrote for their newspaper 30 years ago. It stinks. They paid me seventy-five bucks in 1979, worth $211 … Continue reading →

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Vanity publishing and The NY Times

Posted on October 27, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell [paypal-donation] Far as I can recall, I started writing my book, Shoestring Reporter, 28 years ago. I’d just landed a job as a full time staff writer with the South Bend Tribune and was quite full of … Continue reading →

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Race & taxes

Posted on October 20, 2009 by hro50ta1

By Joel Thurtell “Seek not, and ye shall find” — that’s my motto. Sporadically over the last few months, I’ve been trying to finish my journalism book, “Shoestring Reporter”, and the last stage involves selecting graphic elements. It’s a two-stage … Continue reading →

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