This Week's File

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Feb. 15, 2008 – Week 5
To: CNS Editors
From: Eric Freedman & Sheila Schimpf

IN-DEPTH WEEK AHEAD: Your first in-depth file of the semester will come next Friday, Feb. 22. Therefore, there will be no group interview on Monday, Feb. 18.

LOTTERY INTERVIEW SCRUBBED: Our scheduled Feb. 11 interview with Lottery Commissioner Scott Bowen was cancelled because he was stuck out of town.

HERE’S YOUR FILE:

SWAMPTHISTLE: A new creepy crawly is slithering over natural areas and destroying plants in the Upper Peninsula, the invader known as European swamp thistle. It spreads quickly, steals water, nutrients and sunlight from native plants, and is tough to remove. Statewide environmental groups based in Williamston and Bath say the thistle is a special threat to sensitive, rare plants and fear it will reach the northern Lower Peninsula. By Diane Ivey. FOR MARQUETTE, LANSING, TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, PETOSKEY, ALPENA, UP NORTH, CADILLAC, GRAYLING & ALL POINTS.

            w/ THISTLEPHOTO: European swamp thistle. Credit: Michigan State University Extension

CONSERVATIONCREDIT: It may become easier for conservation-minded but cash-strapped landowners to choose between bucks—the whitetails in their fields and the greenbacks in their wallets. Some legislators want to give a state income tax credit for donating property, selling at below-market prices or granting conservation easements to state or local governments or qualified nonprofits for use as public preserves. Environmental groups statewide, including the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, favor the idea. Sponsors include lawmakers from West Branch, Traverse City, Grand Ledge and North Branch. By Andrew McGlashen. FOR LUDINGTON, HOLLAND, CADILLAC, SOUTH BEND, LANSING, LAPEER & ALL POINTS.

TROOPERSCHOOL: The State Police have hemorrhaged 350 troopers since 2000 due to retirements and the department hasn’t held a training program for recruits since 2004. The commander of the Jackson post says the staffing drain hurts the State Police’s ability to serve the public round the clock. Now the governor proposes spending more than $8 million to train 100 new troopers. A Howell senator says the net gain will be small, however, because of impending retirements. And a retired lieutenant, who is training coordinator for Northern Michigan University’s Public Safety Institute, says the long wait for training and the threat of layoffs have deterred promising candidates from state police careers. By Whitney Lloyd. FOR LANSING, MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

SALVIABAN: A Grand Rapids lawmaker wants Michigan to ban the sale of the herb salvia divinorum because of its psychedelic effects. Seven states already have such  a ban By Melanie Trusty. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, LANSING, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

VIDEORDINANCES: Video service providers—such as Internet and cable TV companies—would be responsible for restoring any public property they damage on rights-of-way under new ordinances in a growing number of municipalities, including Elk Rapids, Tawas City, Plainwell and Ludington. A Grand Rapids lawyer says these local laws will help communities protect their rights-of-way, but the Telecommunications Association of Michigan says the mandates could drive up the cost of providing services to the public. By Matt Flint. FOR UP NORTH, PETOSKEY, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, LUDINGTON, HOLLAND & ALL POINTS.

SICKFISH: The Great Lake Fisheries Trust is giving $750,000 for research at Michigan State and two other research centers to combat viral hemorrhagic septicemia, which is attacking fish in the Great Lakes and inland waters, including Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River and Budd Lake in Clare County. VHS causes fish to bleed to death internally and has proven impossible to eliminate. By Brooke Meier. FOR MACOMB, CLARE, ROMEO, LUDINGTON, HOLLAND, TRAVERSE CITY, ALPENA, BAD AXE, MONROE, LEELANAU, SOUTH BEND, CADILLAC, CLARE, GRAYLING, GLADWIN, PETOSKEY, UP NORTH & ALL POINTS.

            w/ FISHPHOTO: A VHS-infected shad from Lake St. Clair. Credit: Mohammed Faisal, Michigan State University.

TAXDEFERRAL: Elderly homeowners would be among the beneficiaries under a proposal to let them defer paying their property taxes until May 1. A Dundee lawmaker say many homeowners don’t have enough time to apply for a deferral under current law because they don’t get their necessary annual tax documents until late January. An 83-year-old Lambertville man suggested the legislation, which unanimously passed the House and is awaiting Senate action. By Robert Dale. FOR MONROE & ALL POINTS. 

KIDSCAN’TDRIVE: A Genesee County lawmaker says chronically truant teens shouldn’t get driver’s licenses, but the Secretary of State’s office warns that it would be virtually impossible for it to administer such a penalty. The Montcalm County prosecutor says her office already deals aggressively with truant students. By Timothy Wardle. FOR GREENVILLE, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

GAYLORDPLANT: Bagley Township officials are awaiting approval of a $2.5 million grant to prepare the way for a Massachusetts company to construct what might be the nation’s first wood-chips-to-ethanol plant near Gaylord. The federal funds, to be awarded through the Michigan Economic Development Corp., would be used at the site of a Georgia-Pacific plant that closed in 2006. If the project comes to fruition, it could create  about 160 jobs and bolster the area’s troubled lumber industry. By Harry Gillen. FOR GRAYLING, TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, ALPENA, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.

CLONEDFOOD: Michigan consumers should be free to buy meat and milk products from cloned animals, but all such products should be labeled, a Grand Rapids representative says. The Food and Drug Administration says the products are safe but a  nonprofit organization says their safety remains in doubt. Some other states are considering labeling requirements as well. By Clay Taylor. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.

CNS

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