April 26, 2013 CNS Budget

April 26, 2013 – Week 14
To: CNS Editors
From: Eric Freedman & Sheila Schimpf
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BONUS WEEK AHEAD: Next Friday, May 3, will be our traditional end-of-semester bonus file with still-timely stories you may not have had space for before. Of course, CNS members can continue to use other archived stories and visuals.
HERE’S YOUR FILE:
ETHANOL: Demand for biofuels is stagnant in Michigan, causing problems for the state’s ethanol industry that has five plants in Riga Township, Caro, Albion, Lake Odessa and Marysville. We talk to the Corn Growers Association, Associated Petroleum Industries and officials at plants in Riga Township and Lake Odessa. By Kyle Campbell. FOR BLISSFIELD, GREENVILLE, MACOMB, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, BROWN CITY, LAPEER & ALL POINTS.
ACCESSIBLEVOTING: Michigan election officials, including ones in St. Joseph and Ottawa counties, say they’re working to make polling places more accessible to voters with disabilities. Flint made improvements after the U.S. Justice Department stepped in. Meanwhile, the GAO says 45 percent of polling places nationally have impediments to voters with disabilities. By Cortney Erndt. FOR STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, SOUTH BEND, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, HOLLAND, LANSING & ALL POINTS.
DROUGHTRESISTANTCORN: First came drought in 2012. Then came heavy rains and flooding in 2013. Michigan weather is unpredictable, but  some farmers are trying drought-resistant corn this season. We talk to farmers in Hopkins, Portland and Lansing Township, plus the Farm Bureau and Corn Growers Association. For  news and agriculture pages. By Justine McGuire. FOR HOLLAND, LANSING, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, BLISSFIELD, GREENVILLE, BROWN CITY, THREE RIVERS, LAPEER, STURGIS, SOUTH BEND, GLADWIN, LUDINGTON, BIG RAPIDS, MANISTEE & ALL POINTS.
DROUGHTRESISTANTCORNTABLE: Top five-producing counties in 2012 and yields in 2011 and 2012: Saginaw, Sanilac, Gratiot, Huron, Tuscola. Source: Michigan Corn Growers Association.
MENTALHEALTHCOST: The cost to counties of providing jail inmates with mental health care will continue to rise unless the Legislature expands Medicaid coverage, experts say. We hear from jail officials in Oakland and Allegan counties, the Sheriffs’ Association and Community Health. By Cortney Erndt. FOR HOLLAND, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, ROYAL OAK, DEADLINE DETROIT & ALL POINTS.
PSYCHIATRICCARE: Closure of most state psychiatric hospitals since the mid-1980s still has serious repercussions for prisons and jails. The Mental Health Association, Sheriffs’ Association, Corrections Department and Community Health Department opine, as do jail officials in Ingham and St. Joseph counties. Remaining hospitals are in Northville, Caro, Kalamazoo, Westland and Ann Arbor. By Michael Gerstein. FOR MICHIGAN CITIZEN, ROYAL OAK, MACOMB, DEADLINE DETROIT, LANSING, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, SOUTH BEND, LAPEER, GREENVILLE, MARQUETTE & ALL POINTS.
INSURANCECOMMISSIONER: A proposed constitutional amendment from Detroit and Taylor senators would let voters elect the state’s top insurance regulator, a move sponsors say would benefit consumers. The Insurance Institute, a Hamburg senator and governor’s office criticize the idea. By Justine McGuire. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, DEADLINE DETROIT, LANSING & ALL POINTS.
WALLEYESTUDY: DNR researchers are in the final year of a study of walleye spawning in U.P. rivers to better manage populations. The best waters for walleye fishing are the Lake-Erie-Detroit River-Lake St. Clair-St. Clair River system, as well as the Tittabawassee and Muskegon rivers. By Edith Zhou: FOR MARQUETTE, ST. IGNACE, BAY MILLS, CHEBOYGAN, MACOMB, LUDINGTON, MANISTEE, ALPENA, ALCONA, CADILLAC, CRAWFORD COUNTY, HOLLAND, LAKE COUNTY, MANISTEE, BIG RAPIDS, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, SOUTH BEND, GLADWIN, BAY MILLS,  TRAVERSE CITY & ALL POINTS.
w/WALLEYESTUDYPHOTO: Credit: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
AIRQUALITY: Although to a new Lung Association report says the state’s air quality has improved, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Ottawa, Allegan and Muskegon still fail in ozone days, although some of them score As on reduced particle pollution, as do Lenawee, Manistee and Ingham counties. One factor is coal-fueled power plants that environmentalists say contribute to unhealthy levels of ozone. We hear from DEQ and green groups. By Celeste Bott. FOR MACOMB, ROYAL OAK, HOLLAND, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, BLISSFIELD, DEADLINE DETROIT, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, LUDINGTON, MANISTEE, LANSING & ALL POINTS
HEALTHPARITY: State officials and health insurers still don’t know how the Affordable Care Act requirement for parity in mental health and physical health coverage will be enforced. We talk to Psychiatric Society, Mental Health Association, Association of Health Plans. By Michael Gerstein. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, LANSING, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.
COMMERCIALFISHING: The number of state-licensed commercial fishing operations on the Great Lakes is dwindling in a downward spiral that signals a change in culture as well as economics and environment. DNR provides data on yield and value by state and tribal-licensed operators. Fishtown on the Leelanau Peninsula is now more about tourism than commercial fishing. By Eric Freedman. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, MARQUETTE, LUDINGTON, ALCONA, MANISTEE, BAY MILLS, ST. IGNACE, HOLLAND, SOUTH BEND, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, CHEBOYGAN, ALPENA, MACOMB, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS.
w/COMMERCIALFISHGRAPHIC: State-licensed commercial fishing harvest for lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Superior in 2012. Credit: Department of Natural Resources.
DAMS: Many of the state’s 2,600 dams are unsafe or no longer useful, but there’s not enough money to remove or fix them. DNR will spend more than $2 million this year on projects in Grand Traverse, Ionia, Allegan, Gogebic, Tuscola and Shiawassee counties, but 12 others were unfunded. We talk to DNR and Traverse City-based Conservation Resource Alliance. Among those not funded are projects in Oakland, Van Buren, Montmorency, Lake, Otsego and Ontonagon counties. By Justin Anderson. FOR HOLLAND, GREENVILLE, TRAVERSE CITY, MARQUETTE, BAY MILLS, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, LANSING, BROWN CITY, LAPEER LUDINGTON, LAKE COUNTY, MANISTEE, CADILLAC, BIG RAPIDS, HERALD REVIEW, ALPENA, ROYAL OAK, SOUTH BEND, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS & ALL POINTS .
TURKEYS: DNR relocated 31 wild turkeys from Barry County to Lake County in a bid to increase the northern Lower Peninsula flock. We hear from a turkey hunters’ group based in Chase and Wildlife Division experts. For news and outdoors pages. By Nick Vanderwall. FOR CADILLAC, LAKE COUNTY, BIG RAPIDS, LUDINGTON, MANISTEE, BIG RAPIDS, HERALD REVIEW, GLADWIN, CRAWFORD COUNTY, TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, CHEBOYGAN, HARBOR SPRINGS, ST. IGNACE & ALL POINTS.
w/TURKEYSPHOTO: Credit: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
TRAILGUY: An army veteran from Taylor is on a 10-week hike from Belle Isle to the Western Upper Peninsula, the first hiker to tackle the full route of a 924-mile trail network the governor proposed to connect Southeast Michigan and Wisconsin and boost tourism. We talk to enthusiasts in Detroit and Cheboygan and the Greenways & Trails Alliance. By Nick Blaskowski. FOR MICHIGAN CITIZEN, DEADLINE DETROIT, MACOMB, OAKLAND, ALPENA, ALCONA, CHEBOYGAN, ST. IGNACE, MARQUETTE, BAY MILLS & ALL POINTS.
POROUSPAVEMENT: Some communities are using porous pavement to reduce pollutants entering the groundwater and to cut cost of snow and ice removal. Among them are Detroit, Grand Valley State and Michigan State universities, Battle Creek and Ann Arbor. By Justin Anderson. FOR DEADLINEDETROIT, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, MACOMB, ROYAL OAK, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, GREENVILLE & ALL POINTS.
CNS