Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Greg Schmid
Mayors and former mayors of Palo Alto
HomePalo AltoMayors and former mayors of Palo Alto Mayor is shown first, followed by vice mayor. An asterisk (*) denotes a year in which the previous year’s vice mayor became mayor. Before 1982, mayoral terms ran from July through June. After that, council converted to calendar-year terms.
2020* The Year of the Asterisk in Politics
Posted In: Politics, National, State, Opinion, From Issue 906 By: Greg Schmid 10th December, 2020 2020 will long be known as the year of the global pandemic, when the world economy as we knew it went off the charts. Almost every statistical tracking model will show an asterisk for the year 2020 to account for it as an anomaly - an outlier outside the bounds of analytics.
Michigan Voting Accuracy
Saginaw County Canvas Confirms Tabulator Accuracy in 2020 Presidential Election Posted In: Politics, National, Local, News, Investigative Reporting, By: Greg Schmid & Robert Martin 08th November, 2020 In the wake of confusion over mixed up vote reporting in Antrim County, which initially alarmed election officials, Saginaw's voting systems have so far proven reliable and accurate.
Marijuana Business License Update
Posted In: News, Local, State, From Issue 904 By: Greg Schmid 29th October, 2020 The Marijuana Regulatory Agency has announced that they will start to accept State Marijuana license applications on March 1, 2021, ten months before the scheduled opening of the market to applicants who do not already have medical marijuana licenses. This timing opens the market up for Adult Use licenses available to everyone as of that date and promises to give newcomers a good chance to succeed in Saginaw.
The Saginaw School Bond Millage • Ninety-nine ninety-five …. Million that is!
One Hundred Million Dollars is Just Too Much! Posted In: News, , Local, From Issue 903 By: Greg Schmid 08th October, 2020 Fancy new brick-and-mortar school buildings that may never be used won’t fix Saginaw’s education system, but will bring big profits to big businesses in the school construction industry. The City of Saginaw SCHOOL DISTRICT PROPOSAL would benefit a few select architects, developers, and building contractors.
Opinion: Non-elected regional bodies are threatening Palo Alto's neighborhoods
We must speak up — now — to retain our right to decide on the character of our city by Greg Schmid / Uploaded: Sun, Jul 5, 2020, 9:41 am July 10 will be the last chance to appeal dramatic changes by two non-elected regional bodies that will threaten the character of Palo Alto as we know it. On that date, any chance of an appeal on our housing requirement will officially expire. How has this happened and what can we do about it? First, who are these non-elected bodies deciding our future for us?
Summer of Protest • A Nation of Laws and Not of Men
Posted In: News, Investigative Reporting, From Issue 898 By: Greg Schmid, Robert E. Martin, Nathan Collison 25th June, 2020 "With bad laws and good civil servants it's still possible to govern. But with bad civil servants even the best laws can't help." - Otto von Bismarck The United States of America has been defined by John Adams' promise of America as "a nation of laws not of men" for over two centuries.
Legal Tools for Families in Crisis
Personal Pandemic Survival Kit Posted In: News, Investigative Reporting, From Issue 894 By: Greg Schmid 02nd April, 2020 In the chaotic times to come, families will face the prospect of swift and unforeseen change of circumstance. The Great Lakes Bay area may see hundreds of people stricken with the virus that rages through our community.
Saginaw's Proposed Licensing & Zoning for Cannabis Businesses is a Blueprint for Failure
Posted In: Politics, Local, Finance, Taxes, News, Investigative Reporting, Local, From Issue 893 By: Greg Schmid & Nathan Collison 12th March, 2020 The City of Saginaw has slow-walked cannabis licensing in the city since it opted out last July, but recently held a forum on the topic where all departments, commissions, and council members were in attendance to discuss plans to move forward with cannabis business licensing.
A Comprehensive Survey of the Bay Area Marijuana Industry
Posted In: Politics, State, Local, News, Investigative Reporting, From Issue 880 By: Greg Schmid 06th June, 2019 Six months have passed since the historic voter approval of Prop 1, which legalized adult use of marijuana in Michigan. No “recreational use” stores have been licensed under the new law, but the state Marijuana Regulation Agency has indicated that rules and applications for such adult use stores will come out this summer, well ahead of the statutory Dec 6, 2019 deadline.
How to Take Your Horse’s Respiration
Learn your horse’s normal respiration so if it changes, you can tell if he has a potential health issue. A horse’s respiratory rate is the number of breaths he takes per minute. As with all vital signs, knowing your horse’s resting respiration, or breathing rate, will help you determine when it’s not normal. An elevated respiration can indicate that your horse is stressed, in pain or suffering from a respiratory disease.
State & Federal Laws Finally Legalize Hemp
Is it too little too late? Posted In: News, , National, From Issue 874 By: Greg Schmid 31st January, 2019 “Make the most of the Indian hemp seed and sow it everywhere!” -President George Washington (1794) Hemp has a long history as a useful industrial crop, equally valuable as timber, that should never have been classified as a narcotic. Now, it no longer is.
The Year in Politics • 2018
Surveying the Landscape of our Brave New World Posted In: Politics, National, State, Local, News, Local, State, National, From Issue 872 By: Greg Schmid & Robert Martin 20th December, 2018 “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.
A Practical Guide to Proposal 1
EFFECTIVE DATE: Proposal 1 becomes law 10 days after the date the vote is canvassed by the Board of State Canvassers; that date is approximately December 1, 2018. Commercial distribution for adult recreational use may be significantly delayed - the state must start accepting applications within one year of the effective date [December 2019], but not before. The state could accelerate this process and should do so to prevent a black market from developing.
Saginaw City Council in Crisis of Apathy as Population Shrinks
"As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: You liberate a city by destroying it.
PROPOSAL 1 Up For Voter Approval November 6th
Michigan voters face an historic choice November 6. Should Cannabis be legal and regulated for adults in limited amounts under limited circumstances? Proposal 1 would regulate cannabis possession for adults away from kids, cars, and the public. Currently, marijuana possession 1st offense is a misdemeanor, with up to one-year in jail and $2,000 in fines. Proposal 1 would remove penalties for small amounts and impose a 10% sin tax on cannabis sales, plus 6% sales tax.
We vote yes on marijuana proposal
Michigan voters face an historic choice on Nov. 6. Should cannabis be legal and regulated for adults in limited amounts under limited circumstances? Proposal 1 would regulate cannabis possession for adults away from kids, cars and the public. Proposal 1 would remove penalties for small amounts, and impose a 10 percent sin tax on cannabis sales, plus 6 percent sales tax. It would forbid any cannabis sales except through state and locally licensed businesses.
Michigan Voters to Decide 3 Ballot Questions on November 6th
When a petition drive qualifies to become a ballot question submitted for voter approval, Michigan law requires the state Elections Bureau to draft an impartial 100 word summary of each question. The official ballot language for each ballot question is printed below, exactly as it will appear on your paper ballot. Many voters forget to vote on ballot questions because they are located all the way at the bottom of the ballot, or on the reverse side. Be sure to vote on these important questions.
THE PROBLEM with PROPERTY TAX HIKES
Saginaw County faces 4 different tax hike votes on August 7th. Three proposals are early renewals with new tax hikes, and one is an altogether new millage for increases to the 911 service costs we already pay for every month on our phone bills. Together these proposals authorize $80 million in property taxes [39,974,980 + 12,683,830 + 14,336,195 + 13,168,220 = $80,163,225 total taxes].
Why Republicans Should Enact the Adult Cannabis Legalization Ballot Proposal
Adult Cannabis Legalization Proposal will qualify for the ballot November 6, 2018. The “REGULATE MARIUANA LIKE ALCOHOL” petition drive turned in 362,000 signatures to put a responsible adult marijuana legalization proposal on the ballot on November 6, 2018. They needed just 252,000 signatures to get on the ballot, so there is little doubt that the proposal will be approved, submitted to the legislature, and ultimately placed on the ballot this fall, as provided in Michigan’s constitution.
Redistricting Ballot Proposal Files 450,000 Signatures
Activists calling themselves “Voters Not Politicians” need 315,654 net signatures to place a Constitutional Amendment on the Michigan Ballot next November. They submitted 425,000 gross signatures with the state on December 18, 2017, and if their validity rates are typical they should have enough valid signatures to achieve ballot access. They claim to be an all-volunteer group, whatever that means these days.
The End Of An Era (1905-2018)
The following is a quote from President Richard Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichman. “You want to know what this was really all about,” Ehrlichman said of the drug war. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying.
2022 Mid-Term Election Wrap Up
Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. - John F. Kennedy We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. - Aesop If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.
Michigan Legislature Gives Fresh Start Opportunity
New Marijuana Case Expungement Process Now in Place Posted In: Politics, State, Opinion, News, State, From Issue 913 By: Greg Schmid 13th May, 2021 Michigan law has long had a process for setting aside a criminal conviction to give a deserving convict a fresh start. Expungement is a court process in which the legal record of criminal conviction is "sealed," or erased in the eyes of the law.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment a Transparent Fraud
Posted In: Politics, State, Opinion, By: Greg Schmid 03rd March, 2022 “Voters for Transparency and Term Limits,” is anything but: it is not transparent, and is certainly not for term limits. This insider group proposes a fake transparency measure that is a transparent trick – an excuse to seek a constitutional amendment that would serve their real purpose of undermining authentic term limits for legislators.
Doublespeak • Michigan House Fiscal Agency Releases Analysis of Prop 1
Home Politics State News State Doublespeak • Michigan House Fiscal Agency Releases Analysis of Prop 1 Posted In: Politics, State, News, State, By: Greg Schmid 13th October, 2022 Michigan legislature’s own legislative analysis bureau shows how Michigan legislators executed a bait-and-switch operation to mislead constituents into repealing term limits.
2021 Year in Politics
Revisiting Top National, International, State & Local Topics Posted In: Politics, , State, Local, From Issue 923 By: Greg Schmid & Robert Martin 16th December, 2021 In the deeply divided world of politics, 2021 was the year where one person’s conspiracy theory stood firm as another person’s truth, leaving little room for common conversation, and demonstrating that as we move into the new year Americans desperately need a conspiracy theory they can all agree upon.
Decision 2022 • REVIEW Candidate Forums
“If we are to hold our elected officials accountable on their policy stance(s), we have to know what they are,” said Nicholas Valentino, a political science and research professor in the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan. “One of the key indicators of democratic backsliding is our restriction of information to the free press and an unwillingness to speak to the press,” he added.
Stars Are Aligned for Cannabis Legalization at Both State & Federal Levels
On April 26, the “initiated legislation” petition proposal to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana for adults in Michigan, similar to legal beer, wine, and liquor, was approved by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers by a unanimous 4-0 vote. Now the issue has been submitted to the state legislature for the constitutionally required 40-day period, during which the legislature may enact the proposed law “as is” or reject it.
Pearl Harbor Day for Michigan Term Limits
Home Politics State Opinion News State Pearl Harbor Day for Michigan Term Limits May 10, 2022 • A Day That Will Live In Infamy Posted In: Politics, State, Opinion, News, State, By: Greg Schmid 16th May, 2022 The cynical anti-term limits play has been planned in the shadows for many years, but the sneak attack on Tuesday, May 10th was a surprise even to political insiders.
Coordinated Anti-Term Limits Attack Revealed by Campaign Finance Disclosures
“‘Bipartisan’ usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.” – George Carlin The political class insiders from both parties advanced a full court press this past year in a concerted effort to undermine term limits on incumbents in the legislature.
The Year in Politics • 2022
Home Politics National State Local Opinion News Local State National The Year in Politics • 2022 Top Stories Regionally, Nationally & Internationally Posted In: Politics, National, State, Local, Opinion, News, Local, State, National, From Issue 939 By: Greg Schmid 15th December, 2022 As we close out another trip around the Zodiac, the REVIEW takes a look back at some of the top and more significant stories of the year that happened on the political realm.
Guest Opinion: Measuring the challenges for city's future
Over the next six months, the City Council will be making decisions on our Comprehensive Plan and 2018 budget. These decisions will affect the future of our community. There are five numbers that capture the size and scale of the challenges that the city faces. Our choice of how to deal with these numbers will have major long-term consequences. These are the five numbers: 3:1 -- the ratio of jobs to employed residents. Currently, Palo Alto has three jobs for every employed resident.
Independence Day for Michigan Cannabis Industry
Posted In: News, Local, State, From Issue 910 By: Greg Schmid 11th March, 2021 March 1, 2001 marked the day that the recreational Adult-Use state licensing process became available to everyone, independent of whether a company already has a Medical MJ license.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Greg
Contact Greg, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack