Sept. 13, 2013 – Week 2
To: CNS Editors
From: Eric Freedman & Sheila Schimpf
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/capitalnewsservice/. For technical problems, contact CNS tech manager Andrea Raby at rabyand1@msu.edu or 616-914-9670.
All articles ©2013, Capital News Service, Michigan State University School of Journalism. Nonmembers cannot reproduce CNS articles without written permission.
MICHIGAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION AHEAD: On Mon., Sept. 16, our correspondents will interview MEA President Steve Cook. Potential topics include legislative challenges to the Common Core curriculum; school closures and class size; charter schools; teacher supply for sciences and special education; and MEA legislative priorities.
HERE’S YOUR FILE:
MISSINGPERSONS: Richard Hitchcock of Allegan went missing in 1990, like as many as 8,000 or so Michigan residents each year, and the painful mystery of his fate remains unsolved for his family. The State Police Missing in Michigan program, which recently met in Bath, helps families in such situations. We interview Hitchcock’s cousin, from Kalamazoo, and detectives from the State Police and Allegan County Sheriff’s Department. By Lacee Shepard. FOR HOLLAND, MICHIGAN CITIZEN & ALL POINTS.
TRAMPOLINES: Acting at industry urging, a Lowell senator wants commercial trampoline parks to warn patrons of the risks of the sport and to force users to be more cautious. We \hear from the Lansing Area Safety Council and Sky Zone, which operates in Kentwood and Canton with plans for facilities in Shelby Township, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Novi. Another commercial operator is in Troy. By Matthew Hall. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, GREENVILLE, MACOMB, ROYAL OAK, LANSING CITY PULSE, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS, DEADLINE DETROIT & ALL POINTS.
LAKEEFFECTS:: An exhibition opening Oct. 6 at the Michigan Historical Center delves into the state’s weather history, including such extreme events as the Great Storm of 1913 that killed more than 200 Great Lakes sailors, the Flint-Beecher Tornado of 1953 with its 100-plus death toll and the Heat Wave of 1936. It’s also intended to get kids enthusiastic about weather science. The curator and a meteorologist explain. By Becky McKendry. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, MARQUETTE, MANISTEE, LUDINGTON, ALPENA, ST. IGNACE, CHEBOYGAN, HOLLAND & ALL POINTS.
w/LAKEEFFECTSBANNER: Credit: Becky McKendry.
w/LAKEEFFECTSICESHANTYPHOTO: Credit Becky McKendry
w/LAKEEFFECTSINFOBOX: Information about the exhibition.
INTERNET: High-speed Internet is creating educational opportunities at northern Michigan schools. We hear from officials at the Cheboygan-Otsego-Presque Isle ISD and Eastern U.P. and from an Ann Arbor nonprofit firm that got a $103 million federal grant to install 2,300 miles of fiber-optic cable in the UP and northern Lower Peninsula. By Stephen Ingber. FOR MARQUETTE, ST. IGNACE, BAY MILLS, CHEBOYGAN, ALPENA & ALL POINTS.
SCHOOLSTART: A bipartisan cohort of lawmakers wants to once again give public schools the option of starting before Labor Day, modifying a 7-year-old ban imposed at the behest of the tourism industry. We hear from the lead sponsor from Lansing, the chair of the House Tourism Committee from Presque Isle and the MEA. Cosponsors include legislators from East Lansing, Troy, Marquette, Dearborn Heights, Grand Rapids, Saline and Redford Township. By Sheila Schimpf. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, ALPENA, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, MARQUETTE, ROYAL OAK, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, DEADLINE DETROIT, MACOMB & ALL POINTS.
FEDERALFOREST$: Michigan rural counties are losing $229,491 in federal timber payments because of the budget sequester – money that would be used for such purposes as rural schools and roads, wildfire prevention and environmental projects. Affected are counties such as Alger with land in the U.P.’s Ottawa and Hiawatha national forests and Huron-Manistee National Forest in the northern Lower Peninsula. By Eric Freedman. FOR CADILLAC, ALPENA, ALCONA, CHEBOYGAN, ST. IGNACE, MARQUETTE, MANISTEE, LUDINGTON, BAY MILLS, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, HERALD STAR, LAKE COUNTY, TRAVERSE CITY & ALL POINTS.
TRAINS&CARS: Amtrak passenger counts are up and some Michigan trains are accommodating bicycles and Wi-Fi users. Ford hired 1,400 workers to build Fusions at its Flat Rock plant. Yet a new book by a Kalamazoo author shows the glory days of railroading – new lines in U.P., Thumb and Western Michigan, for example, and passenger service to take Midwestern city dwellers to resorts in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Alpena, Mackinaw City and Traverse City – are long past. And the auto industry’s World War II boom in Michigan where it made essential contributions to the war has gone dramatically bust as well, a Wayne State author explains in his new book. By Eric Freedman. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, MACOMB, ALPENA, ALCONA, TRAVERSE CITY, ST. IGNACE, HARBOR SPRINGS, PETOSKEY, MICHIGAN CITIZEN, DEADLINE DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE & ALL POINTS.
w/TRAINS&CARSTRAINCOVER: Credit: MSU Press
w/TRAINS&CARSCARCOVER: Credit: Wayne State University Press.
w/TRAINS&CARSFACTBOX: Information about Michigan Railroad Conference.
CNS