Michigan
Climate change integrators come to Michigan
This isn’t about Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, multinational investors or corporate raiders buying huge land tracts in western states and upending communities. In Michigan, it could be companies like Ceres, the foreign Hancock Timber and Farmland Fund, Bowman Family Holdings or even smaller, local groups.
My brother and I are among the many centennial farm owners here in Lenawee County. We inherited land, buildings, other assets and tax breaks. Some here inherited wealth others can only imagine.
There’s no birthright to lifelong land ownership. Choices are made, consequences follow.
At some point, there might not be anybody in the family to take over or to lease to another farmer. Others might decide to grab that brass ring and cash out. Then what?
One choice is to sell, breaking up large holdings into smaller parcels. Young farmers here want to buy or lease, others want to expand or continue renting. But land (and lease) prices have to be affordable. Rising rents and land prices aren’t the only barriers to entry; higher township property values increase taxes, which hurts others who can’t afford them.
While getting multiple unsolicited offers from different companies over the past 18 months to buy or lease our farm in Riga Township for different energy options, I checked into them. Their websites are filled with high production value, emo-greenwashy stuff and seemingly unrelated business interests. Some promise “in perpetuity” (at least until they sell the parcel or go out of business).
Let’s call these companies climate change integrators.
Maybe you like factory farms, corn, soy, biodigesters, biodiesel and ethanol. Maybe you like clearcutting trees, whether they’re fencerows between fields, along streams or in forests, for biofuel feedstock or clearance for solar arrays and wind turbines. Maybe you like mega wind and solar and the accompanying battery farms. Maybe you like pollinators, carbon sequestration and cover crops. Maybe you like renewable natural gas (RNG) produced by incinerating plastics and CAFO sewage biodigesters. Maybe you think carbon dioxide injection wells for storing captured CO2 from faraway industrial smokestacks and piped here are terrific. Or maybe you like some of these and dislike others.
That doesn’t matter to some of these companies. It’s their choice once they own or lease land. It can be a surprise to landowners (not to mention the neighbors) who consoled themselves about selling or leasing inherited land with visions of pollinator flowers blooming, bees buzzing “in perpetuity” to suddenly learn there’s going to be a mega solar installation or a battery farm or livestock waste on that newly cleared woodlot or extensively tiled farmland.
It’s important to talk to an experienced lawyer about any arrangements.
Once ownership of Michigan’s ever-shrinking, food-production-quality acreage is concentrated into a few hands, what happens to food prices? What happens to energy rates and reliability after this land ownership consolidation, and to promised community benefits should something go awry with their payments in lieu of taxes (PILTs) as it sometimes does?
Michigan’s new renewable energy standard (P.A. 235) was written for climate change integrators and access to taxpayer largesse. It has little to do with climate change or environmental protection. If it did, it would be much different. The loss of local control over utility solar and wind siting was an extra kick. Some Michigan environmental groups aligned with fossil fuel companies, Michigan’s large utilities, solar and wind special interests and some Michigan Democrats to push this through. I didn’t foresee Democrats and environmentalists greasing the way for a private equity and investment fund farmland and energy takeover, but it’s a topsy-turvy world sometimes.
I remain on Team Local. I’ve watched the slow death of our small, rural towns over the past 50 years. We value our land, our renter’s family and kids who are newer farmers, and our neighbors’ quality of life. I hope voters will join me in choosing candidates who prioritize local people and healthy food production instead of boondoggles and self-dealing.
— Pam Taylor is a retired Lenawee County teacher and an environmental activist. She can be reached at ptaylor001@msn.com.
Michigan
Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing
One of the best college football coaches of all time, Urban Meyer, lent some sympathy to Sherrone Moore — or at least his family — in the wake of the former Michigan head coach’s shocking firing last week.
“Last night, I said a prayer for that family,’’ Meyer said on “The Triple Option Podcast,” speaking of Moore’s wife and daughters.
“I mean, you’ve got three little girls,’’ said Meyer, who won a national title at Ohio State a little over a decade ago. “You’ve got a guy that was on top of the road a week ago.”
That changed in stunning fashion, as Moore, a married father of three, went from leading the Wolverines to out of a job, fired in Ann Arbor for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
The situation only worsened when Moore was later arrested after he allegedly broke into the home of the staff member, and during an argument, grabbed butter knives and threatened to kill himself.
On Friday, he was charged with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors — stalking and breaking and entering.
Here’s the latest on former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore
Even Meyer, who created some controversy of his own during a brief, ill-fated tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars — when he was seen on video in 2021 that showed him dancing suggestively with a woman who was not his wife and was later fired before finishing his lone season in Jacksonville — was stunned by Moore’s downfall.
“They’re up 6-0 on the Buckeyes at home,” Meyer said of Michigan’s early lead against rival Ohio State on Nov. 29. “And then, also, you wake up, and they’re in this situation. Rivalries aside, this is all human element. Now, this is something that, from what you read, that’s some serious stuff that went on. And just, all of a sudden, you start seeing the impact. Forget football. Who cares about football?’’
Michigan
Yaxel Lendeborg scores 29 points and No. 2 Michigan stays unbeaten with 101-83 win over Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg had 29 points, a career-best nine assists and eight rebounds, and No. 2 Michigan rallied from a nine-point deficit Saturday night to defeat Maryland 101-83.
Aday Mara scored 18 points for the Wolverines (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten), who overcame a halftime deficit for the second time this season and the first since they beat TCU on Nov. 14.
Michigan scored 100 points for the fourth time in five games.
Diggy Coit made eight 3-pointers and scored 31 points for the Terrapins (6-5, 0-2), who lost center Pharrel Payne to a right leg injury late in the first half and forward Solomon Washington to ejection after he picked up his second technical foul early in the second half.
Coit scored nine of Maryland’s first 10 points and 22 before the break, helping to prevent Michigan from opening a lead larger than six in the first half.
The Terps lost Payne, their leading scorer at 18.7 points a game, with 4:36 remaining before halftime. Yet Maryland stretched its lead from one to 50-45 at the midpoint, then expanded it to 56-47 on Elijah Saunders’ 3.
Washington, who had a first-half technical for celebrating a 3 in front of the Michigan bench, was called for a delay-of-game technical just after Saunders’ basket. His departure left the Terps without their two most experienced and imposing interior players.
Lendeborg took advantage, scoring the next eight points. Mara’s dunk with 14 minutes left made it 64-63 and gave the Wolverines the lead for good.
Elliot Cadeau’s layup with 21.2 seconds remaining got the Wolverines to 100 points for the fifth time this season.
Up next
Michigan hosts La Salle on Dec. 21.
Maryland visits No. 24 Virginia on Dec. 20.
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Michigan
Aquinas College expands automatic acceptance to 2 more West Michigan high schools
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – After beginning a direct admittance program at one West Michigan high school in November, Aquinas College has now expanded the program to cover more classrooms.
The guaranteed admission program, first implemented for graduates of West Catholic High School with a 2.0 GPA or above, has now been expanded to Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids and Muskegon Catholic Central High School.
The partnership will apply to students from all three schools entering college in the fall of 2026.
The direct admission program was described by Aquinas College leaders as offering high school students a “clear path to college success” while also continuing to develop partnerships.
Aquinas College, a private Catholic liberal arts institution located at 1700 Fulton St. E, was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1886.
The college has enrolled 1,262 students during the 2025-26 academic year, and its new student numbers are up, with 419 new students on campus this fall, up from 311 in 2024-25.
The college’s overall enrollment total is just slightly under the approximately 1,300 students Aquinas recorded across its campus in 2023-24, according to a press release sent out in January 2025.
This year’s partnership announcements do not mark Aquinas’ first direct admittance deal.
The college also has a direct admit bachelor’s in nursing partnership with the University of Detroit Mercy, which allows students to take core curriculum courses at Aquinas and nursing classes from Detroit Mercy faculty.
On Nov. 14, Aquinas announced its direct admittance deal with West Catholic High School.
The school, located at 1801 Bristol Ave. NW, enrolled just over 500 students as of the 2024-25 school year, according to an online school profile.
West Catholic President and CEO Jill Wierzbicki said the initiative simplifies the college application process and offers students a straightforward path to higher education.
On Nov. 20, Aquinas then announced it had also partnered with Grand Rapids’ Catholic Central High School, 319 Sheldon Blvd SE, which enrolls 567 students and is the oldest co-educational diocesan Catholic high school in the nation.
Brian Matzke, vice president for enrollment management, said there’s “no doubt that Aquinas here has had more graduates from Catholic Central than any other school in our history.”
On Dec. 10, the college announced another partnership deal with Muskegon Catholic Central High School, 1145 W Laketon Ave., which enrolled just under 300 students in 2023-24, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Jerry McDowell, Muskegon Catholic Central president, said both the high school and Aquinas share a “deep commitment to developing the whole student — academically, spiritually, and individually.
“This direct-admit program provides our graduates with an exceptional opportunity to transition confidently into higher education while maintaining the Catholic values that guide their formation,” McDowell said.
Aquinas’ listed price for traditional undergraduate tuition is $41,192, according to senior director of strategic communications Dave DeJonge.
Students are eligible for annual merit scholarships between $15,000-$25,000, depending on their GPA and housing status. Additional scholarships may be available. This applies to all students who are admitted to Aquinas.
Matzke highlighted the direct admittance program’s easy transition from one West Michigan school to another, with those accepted to Aquinas able to live on campus or commute from home depending on what best fits their needs.
He also said a growing Grand Rapids job market, combined with support from the college’s career center, contributes to a 97% placement rate for graduates.
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