Week 1 – 1/20/23
CNS Budget
To: CNS Editors
From: Eric Freedman and Judy Putnam
http://news.jrn.msu.edu/capitalnewsservice/
Welcome to the first regular CNS file of the 2023 spring semester.
For technical problems, contact CNS technical manager Eryn Ho at (616) 485-9295, hoeryn@msu.edu.
WELCOME BRIDGE: Bridge Michigan is the newest member of CNS.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Our new cohort of correspondents is in place.
Here’s your file:
–
STATE OF THE STATE: When the governor takes center stage Wednesday for her State of the State address, she’ll face the Legislature’s first Democratic majority in four decades. It will launch her effort to bring to fruition some past proposals that died when the GOP controlled the House and Senate. The lieutenant governor puts a higher tax credit for working families, a reduced maternal mortality rate for Black women and repeal of the pension tax among them. We hear from legislative leaders from Royal Oak, Porter Township and Richland Township. By Andrew Roth. FOR HOLLAND, DETROIT, WKTV, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
–
CHEATING: Some Michigan education officials and teachers are worried that the free new ChatGPT artificial intelligence software will make it easier for students to get away with cheating, while others see its availability as a positive. Superintendents of Traverse City and Anchor Bay schools, Grandville and Waverly teachers and the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals discuss. By Samuel Blatchford. FOR TRAVERSE CITY, WKTV, DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
CIVIL RIGHTS PRIORITIES: The new Democratic chair of the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, from Detroit, wants the panel to address such issues as gender identity and sexual orientation and advocating for juvenile justice. The GOP vice chair, from White Lake, wants the panel to look at increased transparency of Child Protective Services cases. We also talk to the Michigan Association of Counties. FOR DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
–
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION: Business groups are hoping for action to raise the labor participation rate so employers have a better chance of filling job vacancies. We hear from the Small Business Association of Michigan and Michigan Chamber of Commerce. For news and business sections. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR CORP! GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
w/LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION TABLE: The states with the lowest labor participation rate, including Michigan in 11th place. Source: Federal Reserve of St. Louis
–
JUVENILE JUSTICE NORTHEAST: The absence of a juvenile justice residential facility in Northeast Michigan means kids are sent to facilities in distant parts of the state or out of Michigan. That reflects a wider problem of too few beds across the state, impeding parent-child relations. The only two state-run facilities are in Escanaba and Grayling. The Michigan Association of Counties says the state should spend more money on the juvenile justice system as a task force has recommended. By Sophia Brandt. FOR ALPENA, MONTMORENCY, ALCONA, CHEBOYGAN, LANSING CITY PULSE, IRON RIVER, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, BAY MILLS AND ALL POINTS.
–
EGGS: Blame avian flu in part for the sky-high price of eggs in Michigan as millions of chickens have been destroyed. Quick relief isn’t expected. Avian flu has been found in Kalamazoo, Macomb, Menominee, Livingston, Washtenaw, Saginaw, Wexford, Branch, Oakland, Ingham, Tuscola, Lapeer, Genesee and Sanilac counties. We hear from an MSU agricultural economist, a Harvard public health nutritionist, formerly from U-M, and the Michigan Retailers Association. By Dan Netter. FOR MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, FOWLERVILLE, DETROIT, CADILLAC, LANSING CITY PULSE, LAPEER, IRON RIVER, MARQUETTE AND ALL POINTS.
w/EGGS PHOTO: Eggs for sale. Credit: Flickr
w/EGGS CHART: Price of Eggs from December 2021 through December 2022. Credit: Federal Reserve of St. Louis.–
MENTAL HEALTH: The Mental Health Association in Michigan wants the Legislature’s new Democratic majority to act on mental health equality, substance abuse and related issues. One positive sign, its president says, is the establishment of a new House subcommittee on behavioral health chaired by a Pittsfield Township lawmaker who is a clinical psychologist. By Morgan Womack. FOR DETROIT, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.
–
ROUGE RIVER: Grassroots and government efforts to clean up the heavily polluted Rouge River are continuing. The goal, according to Friends of the Rouge River, is to have the river removed from the list of toxic hotspots designated as Areas of Concern under a U.S.-Canada agreement. By Molly Wright. FOR DETROIT, PLANET DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.
–
ROAD SALT: Michigan has the highest chloride levels in the Midwest and Northeast, causing potential health problems a new study says. The Izaak Walton League compiles data for an interactive map showing chloride levels. Holland’s Outdoor Discovery Center has been monitoring chloride levels in lakes and streams and engages in public education on the topic By Daniel Schoenherr for HOLLAND, WKTV, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS JOURNAL, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, GREENVILLE, IONIA AND ALL POINTS.
w/ROAD SALT PHOTO: A snowplow at work. Credit: Michigan Department of Transportation
–
SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD: An Ann Arbor developer is building one of the first 100% solar-powered, carbon-neutral and fossil fuel-free communities in the U.S. The goal is to pioneer the creation of neighborhoods that limit their contribution to climate change. By Genevieve Fox. FOR PLANET DETROIT, DETROIT AND ALL POINTS
w/SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD PHOTO 1: Digital rendering of residents of Veridian at County Farm at the community garden. Credit: THRIVE Collaborative
w/SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD PHOTO 2: Digital rendering of residents of Veridian at County Farm near the Honey Locust Farm Shop in the neighborhood. Credit: THRIVE Collaborative
w/CLIMATE SOLUTIONS LOGO: Credit: Asher Freedman
–
LAKE ERIE: Harmful algal blooms were much larger in Lake Erie than experts predicted for 2022 because of an increase in biomass that caused more algae. Experts from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the director of the National Center for Water Quality Research at Heidelberg University explain. By Anastasia Pirrami. FOR MONROE, PLANET DETROIT, ADRIAN, BLISSFIELD, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND ALL POINTS.
w/LAKE ERIE CHART: Bloom severity index for 2002–22. The severity index is based on the amount of biomass over the peak 30-days. The 2022 bloom had a severity of 6.8. Credit: NOAA
–
SKY SURVEY: Scientists are only now discovering a new way of exploring the universe by using existing technology to better understand distant objects with strange, previously unseen behavior. It’s a two-fer: Technology that detects heat in the sky can also find supernovae and other cosmic explosions. Experts from MSU, Northwestern and Columbia explain. By Kate Townley. FOR ALL POINTS.
w/SKY SURVEY PHOTO: This exploding star, known as the ‘Firework Nova’ is an example of the types of stellar explosions that can be examined by repurposing radio telescopes. Credit: NASA
CNS