10/29/21 CNS Budget — Week 8
To: CNS Editors
From: David Poulson and Judy Putnam
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/capitalnewsservice/
For technical problems, contact CNS technical manager Eryn Ho at (616) 485-9295, hoeryn@msu.edu.
For other matters, contact Dave Poulson at (517) 899-1640; poulson@msu.edu.
Here is this week’s file:
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NEW NURSES: Michigan community colleges want to offer bachelor’s degrees in nursing to battle a shortage of nurses surging across the state and fueled by the pandemic. Demand is intense and the community colleges need a legislative change to meet it. But four-year university officials say the state needs more nursing students, not more nursing schools. We talk to Rep. John Roth, R-Traverse City, the president of the MI Community College Association and the CEO of MI Association of State Universities. References to community colleges in Berrien, Jackson and Wayne counties. By Cameryn Cass. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, BENZIE COUNTY, LEELANAU, PETOSKEY, DETROIT, THREE RIVERS, STURGIS, LANSING CITY PULSE and ALL POINTS
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ELDERLY SUICIDES: The suicide rate of Michigan senior citizens aged 75 and older in 2020 was the highest for this age group since 1991, according to state records. It was also the highest rate of all age groups in 2020, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. We talk to a state official overseeing suicide prevention efforts and an Ingham County member of the Tri-County Office on Aging Advisory Council. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE and ALL POINTS.
W/SUICIDE DEATH CHART: The number of deaths by suicide for those 75 and older over time. Source: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
W/SUICIDE RATE CHART: W/SUICIDE RATE CHART: The rate of suicides for those 75 and older over time. Source: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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CIVIL RIGHTS CASE BACKLOG: The backlog of Michigan civil rights discrimination cases numbers in the thousands due to complications from the pandemic and a staffing shortage. “Our complaints remain sky high at 2,500 investigations,” said John E. Johnson Jr., the Department of Civil Rights’ new executive director. We also spoke with a Lansing civil rights attorney and fair housing directors of Detroit, Southeast Michigan and Mid-Michigan. By Barbara Bellinger. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, DETROIT and ALL POINTS.
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HIV ORGANS: A lawmaker wants to make more organs available for transplants by allowing HIV-positive donors to give organs to HIV-positive patients. The effort, supported by Gift of Life Michigan, could add up to 1,000 organs a year in Michigan. We talk to the head of the kidney and liver transplant team at the University of Michigan, a Pittsfield Township lawmaker, a Pontiac woman who received a liver transplant, and an official with the Gift of Life of Michigan. By Vladislava Sukhanovskaya. FOR DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE and ALL POINTS.
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HOMELESS MICHIGANDERS: A recent report indicates a statewide drop in homelessness. But local officials say that’s not true across the state and they are worried that it merely reflects the short term availability of pandemic relief funds. We talk to state and Traverse City-based advocacy groups, and service providers for homeless residents in Lansing, Grand Rapids and Cadillac. By Emerson Wigand. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CADILLAC, WKTV, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS
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OPIOID OVERDOSES: Churches, libraries, homeless shelters and other community gathering places could offer life-saving drugs to prevent overdose deaths under a Senate bill. We spoke to Sen. Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids, Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. By Danielle James. FOR GRAND RAPIDS, LANSING and ALL POINTS.
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PRISON HEADSCARVES: Religious practitioners required to wear head scarves can keep them on for identification photos in the state’s prison system under a new policy prompted by a lawsuit. By Cameryn Cass FOR ALL POINTS
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KOSHER PRISONS: A recent U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals decision on kosher meals provided to Jewish inmates could help expand religious freedom in Michigan prisons across the board, prisoner advocates say. We spoke to the lead attorney based at Michigan State University, the Michigan ACLU and the Anti-Defamation League. By Nicholas Simon. FOR BLISSFIELD, IONIA, MARQUETTE, BAY MILLS, SAULT STE. MARIE, GREENVILLE, OCEANA, DETROIT and ALL POINTS.
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FARMERS ALMANAC: After an unusually warm and stormy summer, the Great Lakes region has in store a “frosty flip-flop” winter, according to the 2021-22 Farmers’ Almanac forecast. It’s going to be a mixed bag of weather, the publication’s managing editor says. We compare what the almanac and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says about the upcoming Great Lakes winter weather. By Gabrielle Ahlborn FOR MICHIGAN FARM NEWS and ALL POINTS
W/FARMERS ALMANAC PHOTO: Cover of 2022 Farmers’ Almanac. Credit: Almanac Publishing Company
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ELECTRIC BIKE BOOM: From the streets of the Sugar Hill Arts District in Detroit to downtown Grand Rapids, electric rental bicycles seem almost everywhere. Now bike stores and distributors are experiencing a boom in demand for e-bicycles. We speak with bike shop employees about waiting lists and sales figures. References to stores in Okemos, Grand Ledge, Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. For news, business and outdoors sections. By Elaine Mallon. FOR DETROIT, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP!, LANSING CITY PULSE and ALL POINTS.
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NAIL SALONS: Nail technicians, most of them immigrant women, are exposed to on-the-job chemicals that pose dangers to their health, a new U-M study says. We talk to U-M and MSU experts. The research was done in the Ann Arbor area. For news and business sections. By Cameryn Cass. FOR DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! and ALL POINTS.
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SALMON SNAGGING: Some anglers are pushing for legalization of salmon snagging during the annual run when the fish return to the northern Michigan rivers where they were born, lay eggs and die, a practice that got outlawed in the 1990s. DNR reports about 100 snagging-related incidents over the 2018-20 salmon runs. We hear from an angler at Tippy Dam in Manistee County, a worker at DNR’s Platte River State Fish Hatchery in Beulah, a Traverse City fly fishing guide and a Brethren fishing tackle shop owner. For news and outdoors sections. By Max Copeland. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, MANISTEE, LUDINGTON, BENZIE COUNTY, CRAWFORD COUNTY, MONTMORENCY, ALCONA, CHEBOYGAN, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, CADILLAC, BAY MILLS, CLARE COUNTY, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, BIG RAPIDS, HERALD REVIEW, LAKE COUNTY, OCEANA and ALL POINTS.
w/SALMON SNAGGING PHOTO: Anglers flock to the Tippy Dam in Brethren to fish during the salmon run. Credit: Max Copeland.
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CNS