Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/category/news/government/state-government/page/3/)
HATE CRIMES: There’s a call to strengthen Michigan’s hate crime laws at a time when such incidents are increasingly common. We hear from the executive director of the Department of Civil Rights, lawmakers from Northville, Canton Township and West Bloomfield and a national Muslim rights advocacy group. By Liz Nass. FOR DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
EAGLES SOAR: Michigan’s bald eagle population is rebounding, reflecting a stunning success story for the national bird, which was nearly wiped off the map by the 1960s. Once confined to a few locations in the Northern Lower Peninsula and UP, they’re now present in nearly every corner of the state, including more urbanized areas like DTE’s Monroe Power Plant., while parts of the Detroit River have become eagle-watching hotspots. Lingering threats from lead bullets and habitat fragmentation remain barriers to full recovery. By Ashley Zhou. FOR MONROE, ADRIAN, BLISSFIELD, PLANET DETROIT, DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.
MICHIGAN ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSHIPS: The state’s new Michigan Achievement Scholarship program kicked in this fall, providing annual grants of $2,000 to $5,500 to 2023 high school grads who go on to college or career training. It more than doubles the amount the state allocated for student aid last year and is intended to increase higher education affordability and opportunity. We talk to a financial aid advisor at Ludington High School, the Michigan Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and Michigan Association of State Universities. Includes references to Grand Valley and MSU. By Kenzie Terpstra. FOR LUDINGTON, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, DETROIT, CORP!, XXX, BAY MILLS AND ALL POINTS.
The TPP program was designed to help students avoid becoming truant in Montgomery county, Maryland. Rebecca Marcolini who serves as the director of the TPP (Truancy Prevention Program) with Montgomery County wants to end truancy
TPP is a volunteer program created in 2010 through the state’s attorney’s office to help kids and teens identify what is keeping them from attending school and setting a goal in place for them to reach their full potential.
Truancy Prevention Program
Students begin the program with an orientation and are in the program for 10 weeks. Those who are 10 to 20 % truant are invited to voluntarily participate in the program that lasts 2 1/2 hours per session and is during school hours.
The program serves mostly middle school students. Resource officers act as mentors to the students within the program depending on the schools preference if they would like them to help out with the program.
“This is not like a punitive thing, it’s not like the police are involved to get the kids,” said Lauren DeMarco, the director of public affairs for the state’s attorney’s office.
Both Marcolini and DeMarco emphasized how in the program students are not in trouble but are here to help those who sign up to help them with attending class and raise their grades. “The essence of this program is to determine what is holding back this child,” said Marcolini.
To figure out what is holding the child back from coming to school, TPP will bring in a mentor so that the child can discuss what’s going on whether that is bullying, helping out a younger sibling, or staying up playing video games.
Those who successfully finish TPP get to participate in a graduation ceremony acknowledging the work that students have done in completing the program.
“This initiative has been in the works for a while because we’ve noticed as a county with such a diverse population and 16 % of the population identify as Asian we knew that the county needs to understand different traditions,” said Chowdhury.
Montgomery County, Maryland, has produced the nation’s first Hindu Handbook for healthcare providers to help learn more about Hindu and Jain patients. The handbook was created with the help of Ishani Chowdhury, who serves as the co-chair for the county’s Asian advisory committee.
The handbook was originally created by Queensland Health and has been adapted to use in the Montgomery County area. Within the handbook readers can find three sections: guidelines for health services, Hindu beliefs and additional resources.
Queensland Health Handbook edited for the state of Maryland
“In racial bias in medicine you’ll find that currently they’re saying that half the medical professionals believe that those who are Black have a higher pain threshold, ” said Shen, who serves as the Asian liaison for Montgomery County. To help with disparities in medicine the handbook serves a way to help those in the medical field understand the needs of those who are Hindu and Jain.
“For example if you are in the hospital and you’re vegetarian like my mother was when she was in the hospital in New York their answer was steamed broccoli and carrots or jello,” said Chowdhury.
The handbook lists the many options that are available as a food source as well as limitations. Jell-O is one of the foods that providers should avoid because of the collagen found in bones of a cow or pig.
The handbook lists the 14 different types of languages that are most commonly used by Hindus in Maryland and how to contact an interpreter if necessary.
Chowdhury and Shen have reached out to numerous organizations to spread the word about the handbook.
Montgomery County council members Andrew Friedson and Gabe Albornoz began the June 11 meeting with a proclamation acknowledging the work that parks and recreation have accomplished this year.
“I circle this date on the calendar every year because it’s an opportunity for us to acknowledge the incredibly dedicated and professional staff of both departments, ” said council member-at-large Albornoz.
Council vice president Friedson said the recognition has taken new meaning during and after the pandemic. “We have relied on our parks and on our recreation department to provide wellness, community, and health needs,” said Friedson.
Directors from both Montgomery County Parks and Department of Recreation chose employees in the organization and highlighted the work that they provide for them.
Every two years, residents fill out a survey of the services in the county that they appreciate and like the most. Both departments come out in the top three each time the survey is done.
“This is kind of the Super Bowl season, the summer season for our friends at the recreation center,” said Friedson.
Albornoz talked about how staff members were at the Germantown Fourth of July event until 2 a.m. making sure people got home safely and got to their cars.
The recreation department shared a video detailing the work that its employees provide for Montgomery County residents.
“Our team works extremely hard and is relatively a small team, we have about 2,500 seasonal workers from lifeguards, out of school time, to senior programs you name it they do it, ” said Robin Riley, who serves as the director of recreation for Montgomery County Recreation.
Members of Montgomery County Department of Recreation. Photo By Liz Thomas
Members of the recreation department who were acknowledged worked in different sectors such as high school, elementary, seniors and camp directors.
“They are the fuel in our engine and the grease on our wheels,” said Riley.
Montgomery County Recreation has many programs to offer for residents to participate in.
Montgomery County Park Director Michael F. Riley said the eight year plan that was developed called “The Big Three.” This plan focuses on developing a world class public athletic field at parks and schools, destination trail network and park activation that focuses on bringing community members of diverse backgrounds together.
“Historically we have built beautiful parks with beautiful facilities,” said Riley. Montgomery County Parks has over 420 parks across 37,220 acres,102 campsites, 136 picnic areas and 276 playgrounds.
For West Bloomfield resident Khalid Turaani, every time a big storm comes to town, he is usually one of the thousands of Michiganders who lose power.
Turaani has had to improvise on numerous occasions during these outages, having to borrow a generator from a friend in order for his two freezers of food not to go bad. Turaani even said that there was a time where his family was relying on the fireplace for heat for two or three days back when over 1.3 million Michigan residents lost power in February. Turaani said he understands that there are circumstances in which nobody but Mother Nature is to blame for these outages but said his biggest issue when the power goes out is the lack of accurate time estimations from power companies like DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. “I know those guys are working as hard as they can, or I assume that they are,” said Turaani. “But they just don’t give you any kind of estimation of any kind, which is probably more frustrating than losing the power.”
There have been 1.3 million more power outages between the months of February and June this year compared to 2022 according to the Michigan Public Service Commision.
In the wake of the latest developments regarding the Larry Nassar case, Michigan State University students gathered April 25 morning in protest of the Board of Trustees’ refusal to hand over 6,000 documents to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
LEARNING AFTER COVID: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants more tutors to help students catch up after the pandemic but some advocates question whether that’s enough. More help for mental health is also required, they say. We talk to a Kalamazoo parent, a teacher at Detroit Virtual School and the Michigan Education Justice Coalition. By JADEN BEARD. FOR DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.
CHILD CARE: Running for office is demanding but even harder when you have a young child. Proposed legislation by Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, and Rep. Rachel Hood, D-Grand Rapids. would make child care a legitimate campaign contribution expense. Chang is the first state senator to give birth in office. By Dan Netter. For DETROIT, GRAND RAPIDS AND ALL POINTS.