This Week's File

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Oct. 26, 2007 – Week 8

To: CNS Editors

From: Eric Freedman & Vic Rauch

MDOT AHEAD: On Monday, Oct. 29, your correspondents will interview MDOT Director Kirk Steudle. Likely topics will include highway and bridge safety, a proposed increase in fuel taxes to fund road projects, MDOT project priorities, support for local airport improvements, the status of proposals for another bridge between Detroit and Windsor, and long-term planning.

HERE’S YOUR FILE:

PIERBAN: A proposal to fine people who jump from Great Lakes piers and breakwaters overwhelmingly passed the Senate and is awaiting House action. The sponsors from Three Oaks and Holland say the threat of a $500 fine would save lives, especially of teenagers who are the most common victims of injury or death. Pentwater has enacted its own ordinance, but advocates say a state law would be more effective. We also talk to an Ottawa County sheriff’s dive team sergeant and an Army Corps of Engineers official. By Melanie Trusty. FOR LUDINGTON, HOLLAND, SOUTH BEND, PETOSKEY, ALPENA, TRAVERSE CITY, MONROE, MARQUETTE, BAD AXE & ALL POINTS.

FINANCIALLITERACY: Life skills such as learning to balance a checkbook and understanding variable rate mortgages should be taught in financial literacy courses that would be a high school math option under the Michigan Merit requirements, lawmakers from Roseville and Huntington Woods say. But the president of the state’s math teachers’ organization, from the Berrien County Intermediate School District, calls it “a nonsense bill” because schools already can offer such courses. Meanwhile, the Michigan Jump$tart Coalition in Plymouth says all students should be required to take such a class. By Jeff Riley Jr. FOR MACOMB, OAKLAND, SOUTH BEND, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

SEXOFFENDERS: If you think Michigan’s sex offender registry is a comprehensive list of convicted assailants, you’re wrong because offenders convicted before 1995 aren’t required to register. A Commerce Township lawmaker wants to change that, but the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency says the proposal wouldn’t be effective policy. The state Corrections director said child sexual assault is an emotional issue despite a low recidivism rate, and that attacks by strangers are rare. By Gregory Herbert. FOR OAKLAND, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LANSING & ALL POINTS.

FOODASSISTANCE:  A Ferndale lawmaker and 20 Demcoratic and Republican colleagues want the state to distribute food assistance benefits—the Bridge Card program—twice a month rather than the first of each month, saying it would help recipients with their budgeting. Grocers like the idea, as does the Michigan League for Human Services, but the Department of Human Services opposes, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture might not approve the policy change even if Michigan enacts it. By David Salisbury. FOR MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LANSING, OAKLAND, MACOMB & ALL POINTS.

RELIGIOUSPLATES: If you don’t want to proclaim your love of historical lighthouses, wildlife habitat or the state’s agricultural heritage, a Fawn River Township senator says you should have another option: an “In God We Trust” license plate. Unlike other specialty plates, the proceeds would go into the state’s coffers rather than being earmarked for a particular cause. Co-sponsors include senators from Traverse City, Norton Shores, Holland, Midland and Lake Leelanau. Competing proposals would authorize specialty plates for the arts, Habitat for Humanity, breast cancer and nursing. By Tim Alberta. FOR STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, SOUTH BEND, HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, PETOSKEY, CADILLAC, CLARE, UP NORTH, ALPENA, GLADWIN & ALL POINTS.

ORGANDONATE: The push is on to sign up more people for the state’s organ donor registry. The number of registrants has grown over the past five years, an Ann Arbor-based nonprofit organization says, but more than 3,200 Michigan residents are still waiting for a liver, heart of other organ. By Hayley Outslay. FOR LANSING & ALL POINTS.

GREENMICHIGAN: Standing in front of a backdrop of animal pelts, a canoe and scenic fall mural, Senate Republicans proposed environmental initiatives including “green” energy, Great Lakes protection and tighter controls over out-of-state trash. A Taylor Democrat on the committee looks forward to working with the GOP if the true motive is to protect the environment, not just protect business. We hear from sponsors from Oakland and St. Joseph counties and Saugatuck and Frenchtown townships, plus MUCC and DEQ officials in Lansing and Cadillac. By Andrew F. Mutavdzija. FOR OAKLAND, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, SOUTH BEND, HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, MONROE, MACOMB, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CADILLAC & ALL POINTS.

PARTY UNITY: With Democrats running Congress, Reps. John Conyers Jr., Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Dale Kildee and Bart Stupak are almost exactly as loyal to their party now as they were when the GOP held control. So are Republicans Peter Hoekstra, Dave Camp and Thaddeus McCotter. But Republicans Vernon Ehlers, Joe Knollenberg and Candice Miller are noticeably less likely to stick with their party than they were in 2006. Knollenberg faces a formidable Democratic opponent, and Ehlers has always demonstrated a streak of independence. We interview political scientists who are experts on Congress from Oakland and Western Michigan universities.  By Eric Freedman. FOR OAKLAND, MACOMB, LANSING, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, GREENVILLE, HOLLAND, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, MONROE, MARQUETTE, ALPENA, LUDINGTON, SOUTH BEND, CADILLAC, PETOSKEY, TRAVERSE CITY, LAPEER, UP NORTH & ALL POINTS.

w/PARTYUNITYGRAPHIC: How often members of Michigan’s congressional delegation vote with the majority of their party. Credit: Congressional Quarterly.

CNS

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