This Week's File

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May 2, 2008—Bonus

To: CNS Editors

From: Eric Freedman & Sheila Schimpf

IN-DEPTH WEEK: This is our post-semester file of still-timely stories that you may not have had space to run earlier this year. We’ll be back in early September.

HERE’S YOUR FILE:

PRESCRIPTIONABUSE: Seventeen-year-old Joe first shot up with prescription morphine in the storage room of the pizzeria where he worked. He’s now in a rehab program in Charlevoix and talks about easy access to prescription meds. Joe and 19-year-old Josie are examples of how prescription drug abuse is spreading in northern Michigan. A Bellaire legislator, Charlevoix County law enforcement officials and the executive director of Recovery High talk about the extent of the problem and the need for action. By Harry Gillen. FOR ALL POINTS.

KILLERWOLVES: Poor Cowboy, a bear-hunting dog savaged by a gray wolf in the Baraga Plains of the Upper Peninsula. And a Skandia woman watched helplessly through her kitchen window as a gray wolf savagely attacked her pet dog in the front yard. Now some lawmakers want to allow the public to use lethal force to protect pets, hunting dogs and livestock from the proliferating gray wolf population. We hear from a Baldwin hunter, an East Jordan hunting group, DNR, the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, Farm Bureau and an Ishpeming senator. Other sponsors are from Traverse City, Hancock, Wyoming and Auburn Hills. By Brooke Meier. FOR ALL POINTS.

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 ALL POINTS.

HORSES: Amid the failing auto industry and concerns about going green, a new survey found that many state residents are returning to a simpler form of transportation—the horse. Equine numbers have risen by more than 20 percent since 1996, in large part because urbanites are moving to semi-rural subdivisions in Oakland and Livingston counties. But higher feed costs and a moderate hay shortage raise worries about the ability of owners to properly care for their horses, according to the state veterinarian and a horse farm manager from Lowell. By Tim Wardle. FOR ALL POINTS.

ALTENERGY: At age 65, Scottville corn farmer Ray Keith has no plans to convert to any form of alternative energy although he once hoped for wind turbines on his property, but the West Michigan Environmental Action Council says the state should push aggressively for wind power and other alternatives to coal-burning electric plants. An MSU Extension educator in Escanaba says the state has a huge potential for wind energy, especially along the Great Lakes shoreline. By Matt Flint. FOR ALL POINTS.

HEALTHREPORT: Controversy swirls around a federal report about health risks to millions of people living around the Great Lakes, including 11 “areas of concern” in Michigan. Part of that controversy is scientific because the report doesn’t claim a cause-and-effect relationship between those environmental risks and public health. Another part of that controversy is political, focused on why the government delayed release of the study. Most of the affected areas are near the Clinton, Kalamazoo, Manistique and Rouge rivers; White, Muskegon and Deer lakes; Saginaw River and Bay; and River Raisin. We also hear from U.S. Reps. Dingell and Stupak. By Andrew McGlashen. FOR ALL POINTS.

ONLINEPHARMACIES: Ordering prescription drugs can be only a few mouse clicks away, even if you’re not examined by a doctor. That’s because of less-than-scrupulous Internet pharmacies that skirt the law and operate largely outside the power of state regulatory agencies, the Department of Community Health says. There are also concerns that the ease of obtaining drugs from online pharmacies poses a threat to children, an expert says. By Clay Taylor. FOR ALL POINTS.

COLLEGEFORFOSTERKIDS: Anna Dexter-Cheeks was reared in foster homes in Detroit, Southfield, Allen Park, Dearborn and Garden City. Now the mother of a 4-year-old is a student at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, but will transfer in the fall. To Western, thanks to the Foster Youth and Higher Education Initiative that provides full scholarships to former foster children. The University of Michigan and MSU have other assistance for foster students, but the Department of Human Services says the demand for support far outweighs available resources. By Whitney Lloyd. FOR ALL POINTS.

GANGS: Gang members ought to get tougher sentences to curb increasing gang violence in Michigan cities, some lawmakers say, including a Saginaw senator who says, “My city is being destroyed by gangs and violence.” A Court of Appeals judge and ex-prosecutor agrees. But a Detroit lawyer from the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan says the proposals are too broad and will send many misguided youths to prison. The Battle Creek police chief doesn’t oppose the idea but warns against relying too heavily on prison for dealing with gangs. By Rob Dale. FOR ALL POINTS.

MYSTERIES: Real-life mysteries come in many forms – some violent like those Frederick Stonehouse tells, and others subtle like those told by Tom Springer. Both Michigan writers have turned their attention to dramas large and small. Stonehouse, of Marquette chronicles crimes such as the state’s lynching legacy in Mason, Menominee, Grayling, Corunna and Cheboygan, and stories about the Purple Gang that terrorized Detroit during Prohibition. Springer, of St. Joseph County, explores the quiet mysteries of southern Michigan's rivers, woods and fields. For news and feature desks. By Eric Freedman. FOR ALL POINTS.

CNS

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