Nov. 24, 2015 Budget

Capital News Service Budget – Week 11
Nov. 24, 2015
To: CNS Editors
From: Eric Freedman, Sheila Schimpf and Andi Brancato
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/capitalnewsservice/. For technical problems, contact CNS tech manager Tanya Voloshina (248-943-8979) voloshin@msu.edu.
You can email us at cnsmsu@gmail.com
MICHIGAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION AHEAD: On Monday, Nov. 30, your correspondents will interview MEA President Steven Cook. Possible topics include union membership, state aid, teacher shortages and charter schools.
Here’s your file:
CHILDCRIME: The recent arrest of a Marquette County man on charges of child pornography and sexually assaulting a minor reflects intensified multiagency investigation of Internet-related sex crimes against children. We talk to the sheriffs’ departments in Marquette, Mackinac and Chippewa counties and the Crimes against Children Research Center. By Michael Kransz. FOR MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, ST. IGNACE, BAY MILLS, CHEBOYGAN & ALL POINTS.
MENTALHEALTH: The Department of Health & Human Services is funding its third jail diversion pilot program for inmates with mental illnesses. Meanwhile, a national Crisis Intervention Team model program is available in some counties, including St. Joseph, Marquette and Kalamazoo. We talk to the state agency, St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department, Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, Health West in Muskegon and the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association. By Stephanie Hernandez McGavin. FOR STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, MARQUETTE & ALL POINTS.
BLACKASH: Submerging black ash logs in a stream can kill emerald ash borer larvae, according to a new study in which U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service scientists collaborated with basket-makers from the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish (Gun Lake) Band of Pottawatomi Indians based in Allegan County. A key goal is to ensure an adequate supply of black ash, a culturally important resource for tribal basket-making in the Great Lakes region. The Michigan Traditional Arts Program has given Michigan Heritage Awards to tribal basket-makers from Haslett, Harbor Springs, Hopkins, Allegan, Mt. Pleasant, Hubbard Lake, Sault Ste. Marie and Hartford. By Eric Freedman. FOR BAY MILLS, PETOSKEY, HOLLAND, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, TRAVERSE CITY, SAULT STE. MARIE, MARQUETTE, HARBOR SPRINGS, LUDINGTON, MANISTEE, LEELANAU, ST. IGNACE, LANSING CITY PULSE & ALL POINTS.
w/BLACKASHPHOTO: Black ash and spruce little “what-not” basket by Michigan Heritage Award winner Edith Bondie. Credit: Michigan State University Museum.
TRANSGENDER: A federal judge in Detroit has allowed six transgender Michigan residents to pursue a constitutional challenge to a Secretary of State policy that requires them to undergo sex-reassignment surgery to change the gender on their driver’s licenses or state ID cards. They claim the policy violates their right to privacy. The judge rejected the state’s bid to dismiss the case, which was filed by residents of Detroit and Livingston, Kalamazoo and Livingston countries. The ACLU says the agency can change the policy with “a stroke of the pen.” By Eric Freedman. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE & ALL POINTS.
CNS