This Week's File

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Oct. 5, 2007 – Week 5

To: CNS Editors

From: Eric Freedman & Vic Rauch

IN-DEPTH WEEK AHEAD: Next week’s file will include the semester’s first batch of in-depth stories. Tentative topics include racial profiling, the plight of small businesses, partial-birth abortions and soaring costs at Michigan’s colleges and universities.

HERE’S YOUR FILE:

CAMOLACE: A 4-year-old women’s outdoors recreation group is shooting to recruit  more female hunters and anglers. Camo and Lace, whose members live in Lapeer, Oakland and Genesee counties, offers classes and events focused on outdoor activities including shotgun shooting, hiking, fishing, camping and ATVing. A new Up-North chapter has opened in Gaylord. For news and outdoors desks. By Andrew F. Mutavdzija. FOR LAPEER, OAKLAND, GRAYLING & ALL POINTS.

SERVICES: The new 6 percent tax on dozens of services was part of a desperate, last-minute patchwork intended to resolve the budget crisis, but even some lawmakers who don’t like it, including a Norton Shores senator, acknowledge it was necessary. Small business owners in Bellaire and Ludington worry that it will prove a burden for consumers and businesses alike. By Timothy Alberta. FOR LUDINGTON, UP NORTH, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, HOLLAND & ALL POINTS.

TERMLIMITS: The budget muddle provides a good opportunity to rethink Michigan’s current term limits, the state Chamber of Commerce and Common Cause agree. Legislators are now limited to eight years in the Senate and six in the House—14 total. They want a constitutional amendment dropping the ceiling to 12 years, but allowing any combination of House only, Senate only or combined service. The chamber said that flexibility will promote experience. But former Attorney Gen. Frank Kelley still thinks any term limits are a bad idea.  By Gregory Herbert. FOR LANSING, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.

SHOPDOTCOM: A Marquette department store is proof that some traditional local, bricks-and-mortar merchants can prosper through online shopping, even if it deprives the state of some sales tax revenue when products are shipped out of Michigan. The Michigan Retailers Association and state Treasury Department are waiting for Congress to pass a law requiring out-of-state sellers to collect the tax on Internet, catalog and phone orders. For news & business desks. By Hayley Outslay. FOR MARQUETTE, LANSING, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.

DATINGVIOLENCE. A newly launched state Web site offers information to teens on dating violence and sexual assault. We interview shelter executives in Okemos and Grand Rapids, as well as a statewide domestic violence coalition, about the need for the Department of Human Services’ new Web site. By David Salisbury. FOR LANSING,  GREENVILLE, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

DRUGTESTING: A new law makes it easier for police and prosecutors to use drug analysis field tests in preliminary hearings, a change that the State Police and other backers say will speed up the handling of criminal cases. The Macomb County sheriff says police procedures won’t change, and a Novi defense lawyer says he’ll still challenge field drug test results in court. The lead sponsor is from Southfield. By Melanie Trusty. FOR MACOMB, ROMEO, OAKLAND, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

COMMONCALENDAR: The superintendents of the Macomb Intermediate School District and Traverse Bay Intermediate School District predict little difficulty in developing common calendars with their local public school districts. The move is required under a new state law intended to improve efficiency and coordination among districts, says one supporter, a senator from Three Oaks. By Jeff Riley Jr. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, MACOMB, ROMEO, SOUTH BEND, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

INVASIVEBALLAST: A federal judge has upheld Michigan’s legal right to require Great Lakes ships to empty their ballast water to prevent the spread of invasive species, a decision the shipping industry, including an Ecorse company, is appealing, and environmental experts say invaders endanger commercial and sport fishing on the Great Lakes. By Crystal L. Burks. FOR LUDINGTON, HOLLAND, SOUTH BEND, PETOSKEY, TRAVERSE CITY, MARQUETTE, MONROE, ALPENA, BAD AXE & ALL POINTS.

CNS

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