Northstar Civic Institute
Source-linked research for public use, with downloadable editions, clear evidence limits and practical implementation questions.
How to read the library: Each brief separates source-based findings, NCI analysis and NCI recommendations.
Sports Policy & Athlete Mobility
Which safeguards follow a sports bet when it moves from a state-licensed sportsbook to a federally registered exchange, and who answers for the rest.
A risk-ownership grid covering age, location, self-exclusion, advertising, integrity, customer funds, treatment funding and public revenue, with steps Michigan institutions can take now.
How S.4668 could change federal, NCAA, conference and institutional authority over athletes and college sports.
A Michigan-focused guide to transfers, eligibility, athlete rights, revenue sharing, sport equity and implementation, updated to the Senate-passed September 28 text. The bill now moves to House consideration and is not law.
What Michigan schools can measure now, and what the evidence does not yet show, about betting exposure, fan conduct, athlete pressure and officiating.
A voluntary one-school-year pilot with shared definitions, privacy rules, independent evaluation and aggregate public reporting.
Surveillance Governance Series
Existing public-safety technology research is now organized as one governance series that can extend from ALPRs and gunshot detection to drones, facial recognition, connected vehicles and commercial location data.
What Detroit and national research show about gunshot-detection alerts, police workload, victim aid, investigations and renewal decisions.
A local evaluation and contract framework that separates technical detection from public-safety outcomes.
A risk-based procurement framework for connected, data-intensive and AI-enabled public systems, with lifecycle controls for model change, human review, auditability and exit.
The framework covers evidence, supplier risk, data control, contracts, evaluation, renewal and exit, with a September 2026 federal ALPR policy update.
Civic & Technology Governance
How Michigan can limit data-driven price discrimination without banning ordinary market-based pricing or legitimate loyalty discounts.
The brief explains current bills, data flows, enforcement evidence, vendor responsibility and workable exceptions.
Earlier publications
These publications remain in NCI’s legacy PDF archive and retain their original publication dates. Each card links directly to the named PDF. The 2026 Series web briefs are kept as archived web editions; their original numbered addresses redirect to them.
Youth health and safety in Michigan rural school districts, including emergency response and athletic trainer access.
Open original PDF →Contracts, taxes, disclosure, exploitation red flags and family integration.
Open original PDF →Dealer-arranged financing, add-on products, disclosure design and first-time buyer risk.
Open original PDF →Youth-sports referral pathways, coach training, governance and evaluation.
Open original PDF →Retention, warrants, transparency, procurement, equity and data sharing.
Open original PDF →Participation barriers, financial literacy, health, scholarship risk and audit infrastructure.
Open original PDF →ALPRs, drones and the regulatory gap, including Michigan’s ALPR bills, the SHIELD drone package and integrated vendor platforms.
Open original PDF →A concept brief for a pre- and post-season survey linking student-athlete literacy engagement and behavioral-health indicators to referral pathways.
Open original PDF →Six web briefs first published in May 2026 and preserved as archived editions. They have not been updated since publication.
Stadium subsidies, tax-increment financing and neighborhood displacement in Michigan.
Read archived edition →Equity and athlete agency after NCAA v. Alston and the expansion of NIL rights in Michigan.
Read archived edition →Wages, scheduling and protections for the concessions, security and service workers who run stadiums.
Read archived edition →How privatized youth sports created cost barriers, and options for restoring public access.
Read archived edition →What separates enforceable community benefit agreements from weak ones, using Detroit’s ordinance as a case.
Read archived edition →How money, visibility, development pipelines and transfer-era pressures shape college athletic recruiting.
Read archived edition →