This Week's File

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March 27, 2009 – Week 9

To: CNS Editors

From: Eric Freedman and Sheila Schimpf

http://cns.jrn.msu.edu

ENERGY, LABOR & ECONOMIC GROWTH AHEAD: On Monday, March 23, your correspondents will interview Stanley “Skip” Pruss, director of the Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth. Likely topics include energy policy, unemployment claims, workplace safety enforcement, consumer protection and insurance industry/professional regulation.

MICHIGAN JOURNALISM HALL OF FAME: For reservations at the annual awards ceremony and dinner on Sunday, April 19, at MSU’s Kellogg Center, please contact Linda Hartwig (hartwigl@msu.edu) at the MSU School of Journalism.

HERE'S YOUR FILE:

SCHOOLDAYS: The vast majority of public school districts don’t meet the former state mandate for 180 class days a year, and the state school boards association, an Ann Arbor think tank reports, and legislators are discussing whether to reinstate that requirement. School officials from Sturgis, Traverse City and Oakland County and a Wayne State professor discuss the effects on education quality of fewer school days, even if they’re longer. By Tim Weatherhead. FOR STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, SOUTH BEND, OAKLAND, ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, TRAVERSE CITY & ALL POINTS.

CONTAMINATION: DEQ’s roster of toxic sites is seriously out of date as the cash-strapped department sharply reduces the number of inspections it does. For example, an Upper Peninsula site still listed as one of the most contaminated has been mostly cleaned up. The department says working on cleanups is more important than keeping the list current. DEQ officials for the Southeast and Saginaw Bay regions talk about the situation.  The worst-ranked sites include ones in Allegan, Petersburg, Manistique, Sault Ste. Marie, Manistee, Ishpeming, Laurium, Manistique and Dowagiac. By Thomas J. Morrisey. FOR MARQUETTE, BLISSFIELD, HOLLAND, CLARE, GLADWIN, MACOMB, OAKLAND, ROYAL OAK, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LUDINGTON, SOUTH BEND & ALL POINTS.

FOODBENEFITS: More than 668,000 Michigan households receiving federally funded food benefits will see a hike in their monthly Bridge card balances starting April 1. The increase will be $80 a month for a family of four, and overall Michigan will get $800 million for the program under the federal stimulus program. The Department of Human Services and Michigan League for Human Services explain the change. By Joe Vaillancourt. FOR MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LANSING, OAKLAND & ALL POINTS.

MDOTSHORTFALL: The state needs higher fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees to maintain and improve its roads and to keep getting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid, MDOT’s director says. We interview road commission officials in Oakland and Genesee counties, industry associations and the owner of a company with 34 service stations in West Michigan, including Holland, Grand Rapids, Hudsonville and Caledonia. By Gabriel Goodwin. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, HOLLAND, SOUTH BEND, OAKLAND, ROYAL OAK & ALL POINTS.

SECONDDEGREES: Facing a tough job market, some college students are opting to stay in school to earn a graduate degree or second bachelor’s, according to officials at Northern Michigan, Oakland University and Michigan Tech. The Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, says it’s too early to see trends, however. By Alison Costello. FOR MARQUETTE, OAKLAND, ROYAL OAK, LANSING, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

INFRASTRUCTURE: The public worries a lot more about cruddy roads than decaying water and sewage pipes, but experts warn that Michigan’s underground and out-of-sight infrastructure is also at risk. Public works officials from Traverse City and Three Rivers and a DEQ expert talk about the situation after an East Lansing forum on problems facing critical infrastructure. By Tim Weatherhead. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, THREE RIVERS, STURGIS, SOUTH BEND & ALL POINTS.

FILMCREDITCAP: Lights…camera…action...tax credit check! Michigan’s most-generous-in-the-nation 2008 incentive program for film production companies is luring filmmakers but critics say it’s too generous and too costly. Those critics, including senators from Novi and Kalamazoo, want to cap the tax credits, but the West Michigan Tourist Association and a Michigan Film Advisory Council official say cutting the incentive would drive filmmakers to other states. By Joe Vaillancourt. FOR OAKLAND, ROYAL OAK, MACOMB, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, SOUTH BEND, LANSING, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

MORTGAGEMORATORIUM: Lawmakers from Highland Park, Detroit, Grosse Pointe and Saginaw are pushing to authorize a 90-day moratorium for defaulting homeowners to provide more time for them to renegotiate their mortgages. The Senate has a different approach, and a representative from Evart questions the practical value of both plans. By Danielle Emerson. FOR OAKLAND, MACOMB, ROYAL OAK, CLARE, CADILLAC LANSING, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.

LEADERSHIPMICHIGAN: A Michigan Chamber of Commerce program is training professionals about critical issues facing the state, especially health care, forestry and mining, education, agriculture and land use, and the automotive industry. Participants go to Marquette, Lansing, Midland and Jackson, among other places, to see conditions for themselves. By Gabriel Goodwin. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, MARQUETTE, LANSING & ALL POINTS.

NURSINGTEACHERFUNDING: Nine universities and two partner hospitals, including ones in the Upper Peninsula and Southeast Michigan, will share $5 million to train teachers to work in the state’s backed-up nursing programs. We hear from the state Community Health Department, Northern Michigan University, West Shore Community College, state Community College Association and Michigan Nurses Association about the reasons why would-be nurses are waiting up to three years to get into programs. Beneficiaries include MSU, Eastern Michigan, Oakland Community College, Saginaw Valley State, Detroit Medical Center and Covenant HealthCare. By Jack Johnston. FOR MARQUETTE, LANSING, OAKLAND, ROYAL OAK, LUDINGTON, MACOMB, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LUDINGTON & ALL POINTS.

MILITARYEXPANSION: Businesses in the state should more aggressively pursue opportunities with defense and homeland security to expand and create jobs, says the Michigan Economic Development Corp, which offers tax breaks as incentives to help such companies. Beneficiaries include companies in Big Rapids, Sterling Heights and Chesterfield, including one that expanded its South Carolina operations to Michigan. By Danielle Emerson. FOR MACOMB, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LANSING, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.

SLASHING PROTECTION: Abandoned and polluted industrial sites that threaten people and wildlife and the unregulated filling of wetlands are part of the cost of waning state revenues. But state money for those DEQ programs is shrinking while the department’s responsibilities have risen. Officials from the department and Sierra Club discuss the situation, as does the president of a Lansing think tank. By Tim Keith, Andrew Norman & Azira Shaharuddin. FOR LANSING, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.

TOXICCLEANUP: For 20 years, bonds have funded the state program that refurbishes contaminated eyesores into productive sites. With that money virtually gone, DEQ can no longer finance the $100-million-a-year program and DEQ has stopped investigating newly reported sites and discontinued remedial work on thousands of others, leaving more than 3,600 brownfield sites, including ones in Kalamazoo and Jackson, often abandoned. By Andrew Norman. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, SOUTH BEND, LANSING & ALL POINTS.

CNS

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