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Messages to the Editors

Nov. 22, 2005 – Week 12

To: CNS Editors
From: Eric Freedman & Vic Rauch

IN-DEPTH WEEK AHEAD. Our final in-depth file for the fall be Friday, Dec. 2. The following Monday, your correspondents interview Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries.

HERE’S YOUR FILE:



Articles for week of Tuesday, November 22, 2005

• CELLPHONE -- Hang up in the fast lane. That’s the message a Detroit lawmaker wants to send under a proposal to punish drivers who use cell phones while in the passing lane. One of a variety of pending proposals to reduce on-the-road cell phone use, he calls it a safety measure aimed at drivers of all ages. By Brandon Bennett. FOR OAKLAND, MACOMB, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LANSING & ALL POINTS.

• AMMONIA -- Several legislators are pushing proposals to set guidelines that could deter thefts of anhydrous ammonia--used to make meth--  and to give income tax credits to farmers who install security devices on their fertilizer tanks. We interview an anti-drug task force commander in Southwest Michigan, the Agriculture Department and MSU Extension, and hear from the lead sponsor, a Livingston County senators. Co-sponsors include senators from Southwest Michigan, West Michigan and Clinton County. By Nathan Thompson. FOR STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, SOUTH BEND HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, GREENVILLE & ALL POINTS.

• METROPARKS -- The state may owe $550,000 to the five counties that run the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Authority due to confusion over elimination of state revenue-sharing. The loss was an unintended consequence of a 2004 law that changed the timetable for collection of property taxes. Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw and Livingston counties are affected, but the Legislature hasn’t found a solution to the situation yet. By John Sturk. FOR OAKLAND, MACOMB, ROMEO & ALL POINTS.

• LOCKDOWN -- Public schools and colleges would be forced to add lockdown drills and emergency drills for fire and tornadoes under legislation that’s passed a House committee. The change would eliminate two of the currently mandatory fire drills. Clare’s fire chief backs the idea, but the head of the state Fire Safety Board, who is also chief of the Kalamazoo Township Fire Department, opposes it. Sponsors include lawmakers from Jenison, Bloomfield Hills, Saginaw & Pittsford. By Amy Payne. FOR CLARE, HOLLAND, SOUTH BEND, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, OAKLAND & ALL POINTS.
  

• MICHIGANBOOKS -- If G. Mennen Williams, the wealthy liberal ex-governor and Supreme Court chief justice, was a landmark of Michigan’s political landscape for decades, then stellar buildings such as Belle Isle Conservancy, Detroit Public Library and Fox Theatre are landmarks of its urban landscape. New books tackle those two topics. A biography puts Williams’s life and career into the context of state and national politics and a photo book explores Detroit’s architecture, explaining how “Detroit, in some sense, is where the modern American city took shape.” For news, features and op-ed pages. By Eric Freedman. FOR OAKLAND, MACOMB, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LANSING & ALL POINTS.