CNS Budget 3/15/2019
March 15, 2019 – eighth file
This is the first file after Spring Break
To: CNS Editors
From: David Poulson and Sheila Schimpf
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/capitalnewsservice/
For technical problems, contact CNS technical manager Tony Cepak at (517) 803-6841; cepak@msu.edu.
For other matters, contact Dave Poulson at (517) 432-5417 or (517) 899-1640 poulson@msu.edu.
HERE IS YOUR FILE:
GREAT LAKES FUNDING – For the third straight year federal officials are threatening to cut the budget for restoring contaminated sites in the Great Lakes. And while Congress has so far resisted such cuts, environmental officials fear the constant attacks on the popular program. By Maxwell Evans. FOR LUDINGTON, TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, CHEBOYGAN, ST. IGNACE, SAULT STE. MARIE, MARQUETTE, ALCONA, MANISTEE, OCEANA, HOLLAND, LEELANAU, BENZIE, BAY MILLS AND ALL POINTS.
—
MOBILEFOOD – Local officials are increasingly using mobile food pantries to address Michigan’s hungry rural residents. Still, they are scarce, particularly across the Upper Peninsula. We talk to officials at west and northern Michigan food banks. Local numbers are provided for Lake, Grand Traverse, Kent and Ottawa counties and the Upper Peninsula. You may wish to contact local food banks for further localization. By Maxwell Evans. FOR LAKE COUNTY, TRAVERSE CITY, MARQUETTE, ST. IGNACE, SAULT STE. MARIE, HOLLAND, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, LEELANAU, BENZIE, PETOSKEY AND ALL POINTS.
—
AIRBNBSPAT – Michigan tourism officials are pushing for visitors to stay at local hotels rather than at Air B&Bs. The popular overnight accommodations are cutting into local revenues. We talk with tourism officials in Sault Ste. Marie, Traverse City, South Haven, Ludington. By Zaria Phillips. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, CHEBOYGAN, MARQUETTE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS AND ALL POINTS.
—
ENERGY WASTE REDUCTION – Michigan’s energy waste reduction programs have saved customers nearly $1.1 billion in utility costs. A recent Public Service Commission report credits them saving nearly 1.6 million megawatt hours of electricity and more than 5.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas. Experts say that the state’s program is among the better ones in the Midwest, but lags national leaders. By Kaley Fech. FOR ALL POINTS.
—
MICHIGANFOIA – Smaller communities — where local government is run directly by elected officials with few full-time employees — are less likely to keep formal logs of who asks for information, according to an audit by Michigan State University journalism students. The Freedom of Information Act requests ranged widely from a copy of the emergency response plan for a local water supply system to property records in Lansing. Some smaller governments in Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties did not receive a single request in a year. East Lansing, the area’s second-largest city, received 147. Most requests were related to development projects. By Kalea Hall, Kurt Williams and Andrew Blok. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
—
VEHICLE THEFTS — Michigan vehicle thefts dropped from 50,000 in 2006 to less than 20,000 in 2017, according to a recent auditor general’s report. That’s also a drop of more than 600 vehicles the previous year. State officials attribute the drop in part to a program supported by an assessment on insured vehicles. We talk to state officials and the head of an auto theft prevention program in Kent County. By Zaria Phillips. FOR ALL POINTS.
—
TOBACCO — Some lawmakers are pushing to tax vape pens and e-cigarettes just like cigarettes in hopes of discouraging teens from using them. Sellers are pushing back, saying that the devices are healthier alternatives to smoking cigarettes. By Zaria Phillips. FOR ALL POINTS.
—