Dec. 14, 2012 CNS Bonus Budget

Dec. 14, 2012 – Bonus Week
To: CNS Editors
From: Eric Freedman & Sheila Schimpf
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/capitalnewsservice/
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All articles ©2012, Capital News Service, Michigan State University School of Journalism. Nonmembers cannot reproduce CNS articles without written permission.
BONUS WEEK: This is our customary end-of-semester but still-timely stories you may not have had space to run earlier in the fall. Our first file of 2013 will be Friday, Jan. 18
HERE’S YOUR FILE:
CHILDDEATHS: New projects in the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas are intended to reduce infant mortality and close the death rate gap between white and non-white babies. Grand Valley State and Wayne State are working with the Department of Community Health, Mott Children’s Health Center and others. By Anjana Schroeder. FOR ALL POINTS.
HIGHTECHWORK: The state’s agriculture industry is short of employees with high-tech skills. We hear from a Montcalm Community College instructor and student, Agri-Business Association, St. Clair County service elevator and Sanilac egg company. By Yanjie Wang. FOR ALL POINTS.
TRANSFERS: Innovative partnerships are allowing students to simultaneous earn associate and bachelor’s degrees, often at significant cost savings. We hear about arrangements involving Oakland, Ferris, Central Michigan, Wayne State, Siena Heights, U-D Mercy, Western and other universities with such community colleges as Macomb, Mott, Lansing and St. Clair. By Lauren Gentile. FOR ALL POINTS.
PITBULLS: Pit bulls still carry a bad rap – undeserved, the Michigan Humane Society in Bingham Farms says – but adoption rates have improved. Some communities have banned or restricted them as pets, including Highland Park, Newaygo, Claybanks Township, Ypsilanti Township and Hazel Park. We also talk to Ingham County Animal Control and a Charlotte-based advocacy group. By Lauren Gibbons. FOR ALL POINTS.
YOUTHINMICHIGANMILITARY: A distressing 75 percent of potential members of the armed services from Michigan lack the education, physical fitness or clean criminal record necessary to serve, a new national report says. A former state adjutant general and a former Michigan Air National Guard commander support a Saginaw senator’s $140 million proposal for improved for early childhood education, saying it’s necessary to start earlier to prepare potential recruits. By Celeste Bott. FOR ALL POINTS.
ACHIEVEMENTGAP: With 42 percent of Michigan children living in poverty, the achievement gap is widening between them and wealthier students. We talk to a U of M expert, Ann Arbor schools and the Education Trust-Midwest in Royal Oak. By Edith Zhou. FOR ALL POINTS..
OUT-OF-STATERS: Faced with financial pressures, many community colleges are actively recruiting out-of-state and international students because they pay much higher tuition. At Northwestern Michigan College, for example, in-district students pay $84.60 per credit, compared to $12.45 for out-of-staters. Officials at Monroe County and Jackson Community colleges discuss. By Silu Guo. FOR ALL POINTS.
w/OUT-OF-STATERSTABLE: In-district, out-of-district and out-of-state tuition for all Michigan community colleges. Credit: Michigan Community College Association.
HOMELESSNESS: While the number of homeless people declined statewide last year, numbers rose in the Northern Lower Peninsula. We talk to experts and advocacy groups in Cheboygan-Emmet counties, Traverse City and Alpena-north central areas. The U.P. saw a rise in single homeless people but a decline in homeless families. By Saodat Asanova-Taylor. FOR ALL POINTS.
WRITERS&TRAINS: Two new books highlight Michigan authors and train stations, and some of them connect, including novelist Maritta Wolff and the depot at Grass Lake, poet Robert Frost and the depot in Ann Arbor and Civil War historian Bruce Catton whose dreams were sparked by the trains passing through Benzonia. He also learn about classic depots in Petoskey, Suttons Bay, Detroit, Charlevoix, Iron Mountain, Three Oaks, Columbiaville and Lawton. By Eric Freedman. FOR ALL POINTS.
w/WRITERS&TRAINSPETOSKEYPHOTO: 1892 Chicago & West Michigan Railway depot in Petoskey. Credit: Michael Hodges
w/WRITERS&TRAINSGRASSLAKEPHOTO: 1887 Michigan Central Railroad depot in Grass Lake. Credit: Michael Hodges
w/WRITERS&TRAINSINKTRAILSPHOTO: Credit: MSU Press
 
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