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To: CNS Editors

From: Eric Freedman & Vic Rauch

IN DEPTH AHEAD: Next week will be our third in-depth file of the semester.

• RECRUITMENT -- Despite large-scale deployments to Iraq, Kuwait and other hotspots, the Michigan Army National Guard and U.S. Army are claiming success in recruitment and retention. Meanwhile, Army ROTC programs at Western Michigan and Central Michigan universities report no problems signing up prospective officers. By Sandra Kao. FOR GRAYLING, STURGIS, SOUTH BEND, THREE RIVERS, LANSING, CLARE, MACOMB, GREENVILLE, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.
  
  
• POTHOLES -- Road maintenance projects are getting more costly, and counties are hard-pressed to pay for them, the Kent County Road Commission says. A proposal by the governor and related legislation -- whose sponsors include senators from the Upper Peninsula, Macomb County, Norton Shores and Bay City -- would make it quicker and easier for local road agencies to secure federal road improvement grants.  By Amy Payne. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, LUDINGTON, MACOMB, ROMEO, MARQUETTE, LANSING, BAD AXE & ALL POINTS.

• CLUBLIQUORLICENSES -- Clubs that rent their facilities for wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs must stop selling alcohol to nonmembers or risk losing their licenses, the Liquor Control Commission says. Some lawmakers want to legalize what’s long been done at VFW, Eagles, American Legion, Knights of Columbus and similar facilities. Cosponsors include representatives from Bessemer, St. Joseph, Allendale and Escanaba. By Derek Wallbank. FOR MARQUETTE, SOUTH BEND, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, HOLLAND, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.

• CLUBLIQUORLANSING -- Clubs that rent their facilities for wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs must stop selling alcohol to nonmembers or risk losing their licenses, the Liquor Control Commission says. Some lawmakers want to legalize what’s long been done at VFW, Eagles, American Legion, Knights of Columbus and similar facilities. Lead sponsor is Rep. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge, who says complaints from Charlotte groups triggered the proposal, with Richard Ball of Laingsburg as a co-sponsor. By Derek Wallbank. FOR LANSING.

• CLUBLIQUORCLARE -- Clubs that rent their facilities for wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs must stop selling alcohol to nonmembers or risk losing their licenses, the Liquor Control Commission says. Some lawmakers, including Tim Moore of Farwell, want to legalize what’s long been done at VFW, Eagles, American Legion, Knights of Columbus and similar facilities. By Derek Wallbank. FOR CLARE & MIDLAND.

• CLUBLIQUORMACOMB -- Clubs that rent their facilities for wedding receptions and bar mitzvahs must stop selling alcohol to nonmembers or risk losing their licenses, the Liquor Control Commission says. Some lawmakers, including representatives from Romeo, Warren, Eastpointe and Macomb Township, want to legalize what’s long been done at VFW, Eagles, American Legion, Knights of Columbus and similar facilities. By Derek Wallbank. FOR MACOMB, ROMEO & MICHIGAN CITIZEN.

• BUDWORMS -- The budworm is attacking jack pines in the western Upper Peninsula, where the DNR is cutting more than 100 acres of  infected trees, and other infestations have been reported across the UP and northern and western Michigan, including Wexford, Crawford, Mason, Lake, Manistee, Kalkaska, Oceana, Alcona and Oscoda counties. We hear from DNR and U.S. Forest Service experts about the threat to these commercially and ecologically valuable trees. By Erica Richards. FOR MARQUETTE, CADILLAC,  LUDINGTON, GRAYLING, UP NORTH, ALPENA, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.
  • With BUDWORMPHOTO: Jack pine devastated by budworm infestation. Credit: U.S. Forest Service.

• BIKETOURS -- The growing popularity of mountain biking and Michigan’s expanding network of rails-to-trails projects are boosting eco-tourism and visitor use of state and federal lands. For example, Huron-Manistee National Forest counts an average of 12,700 daily trail bikers in warm weather, and lots of cyclists are heading for such places as the Kal-Haven Trail, Betsie Valley Trail and a 43-mile trail on Lake Superior’s Grand Island. By Jennifer Linn. FOR MARQUETTE, CADILLAC, GRAYLING, SOUTH BEND, ALPENA, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, NORTHWEST MICHIGAN BUSINESS,  UP NORTH, SOUTH BEND & ALL POINTS.

• ROADSUITS -- The state's payouts in highway defect suits have plummeted in recent years, saving millions of tax dollars -- but not because Michigan roads are better built or better maintained. Instead, state Supreme Court  decisions in Macomb, Shiawassee and Ogemaw county cases now limit government liability for road-defect related crashes, a new Senate report said. In 2004-05, MDOT paid about $1.4 million to settle highway negligence claims – as much as $600,000 in a Van Buren County case, with others from Wayne. Livingston, Bay and Ogemaw counties – contrasted with $12.3 million five years earlier. County road commissions have similar experiences. By Eric Freedman. FOR SOUTH BEND, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, THREE RIVERS, STURGIS, MIDLAND, CADILLAC, LANSING & ALL POINTS.
  • With ROADSUITSGRAPHIC: MDOT payouts in highway negligence suits for each of the last 10 years. Credit: Senate Fiscal Agency.