Craft beer brews economic growth

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Want to boost Michigan’s job growth and economy? Treat yourself to a cold craft beer. Michigan’s craft beer industry grew by 20 percent in 2012, according to a “state of the industry” report from the Demeter Group Investment Bank of San Francisco. Michigan added 17 breweries last year, and outpaced the average national industry growth rate by 12 percent. New breweries opened in Big Rapids, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Lake Leelanau, for example.

Michigan hospitals score big in national rankings

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Eight Michigan hospitals were ranked among the top 100 in the nation, based on new a study, including ones in Grayling, Holland, Southfield and Greenville. Truven Health Care Analytics, the company that conducted the study, analyzes nationwide Medicare data in an effort to improve health care. Jean Chenoweth, Truven’s senior vice president, said the list is intended to recognize health care facilities that best serve their local communities. “The key is developing and maintaining a hospital-wide culture of excellence that cuts across everything, from patient care to housekeeping to administration, and the refusal to rest when it comes to adopting new technologies and techniques,” Chenoweth said. The annual study looks at one year’s worth of Medicare data, comparing statistics that include morality rates, complications, patient safety, profitability, patient ratings and readmissions.

Crossbows gain popularity with Michigan deer hunters

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – The number of deer hunters using crossbows has doubled since 2009, according to a survey by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The survey indicated that while the overall number of hunters in the state have declined, the method of crossbow hunting is growing in popularity. In 2011, about 74,120 hunters used crossbows in the deer archery season. In 2012, the number grew to 88, 565. The rapid growth is attributed in part to the loosening regulations over the past three years.

Charter school students learning more, study finds

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – An average Michigan charter school student will learn more in a year than his or her public school peer, according to a new report by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes. The study found that students from Michigan charter schools learn an average of two month’s more of math and reading per academic year. Twenty-seven percent of the state’s charter school students are from Detroit, and Detroit charter school students gained up to three months’ worth of additional education, it said. Charter schools are publicly funded but can be privately run. They were established in part so that individual schools could have more independence over curriculum and teaching staff.

Communities mark killer storm's centennial

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – If you’re unfamiliar with the worst storm in Great Lakes recorded history, there will be plenty of opportunities to learn about it this year. November marks the 100th anniversary of the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, the “white hurricane” – named for its hurricane-force winds in a blizzard– that destroyed 19 ships and killed more than 250 people. It was the worst maritime disaster to hit the Great Lakes, according to Paul Carroll, author of “The Wexford: Elusive Shipwreck of the Great Storm, 1913” – a history book about a steamer sunk by the storm and eventually found in 2000. Carroll is a member of a committee recognizing the centennial in Ontario. A number of the ships caught in the storm foundered in Michigan.

More children eligible for free, reduced price lunches

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Almost half the state’s public school students were eligible for free or reduced price meals during the 2011-12 school year, according to a report by Kids Count in Michigan. Forty-eight percent of students participate in the free or reduced price lunch program, according to the report, “Health Matters.”
Kids Count is a project that advocates for the health and wellbeing of children. The Michigan League for Public Policy and Michigan’s Children are the project’s partners. The percentage receiving free or reduced lunches increased 2 percent from the 2010-11 school year. Those involved in the project attribute the high, rising percentage to poverty in the state.

Removing barriers for gays could boost state economy

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Discrimination against gays and lesbians hurts Michigan’s economy, according to a new report by the Department of Civil Rights. Emily Dievendorf, director of policy for Equality Michigan, said that reducing widespread discrimination will improve the economy because more people are likely to live and work in a state that promotes tolerance. “Bright, skilled workers no longer flock to a location just because a business puts down roots,” Dievendorf said. “The best and the brightest are most attracted to communities that are also safe and open to all families. “The solution isn’t to kick out our eager young workers who want Michigan to thrive.

Holiday retail sales up except for dip in December

By CELESTE BOTT
LANSING – Retail sales have yo-yoed in recent months, including a dip in December, but Michigan businesses say their overall holiday sales improved from 2011. But the challenge now is overcoming a significant sales decline at the end of the year. Fifty-four percent of retailers reported better holiday sales than in 2011, while 30 percent reported declines. The Michigan Retail Index, a joint project of the Michigan Retailers Association and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, measures the performance of the state’s retail industry. Data is based on the Federal Reserve and the association’s monthly membership surveys.

Health information system aims to improve care, save money

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – A three-year pilot project for an electronic database of patient information may help make health care safer, more efficient and more affordable. It could help lead to a system in which all providers know the relevant details about their patients, without those patients filling out tedious and repetitive forms.
The Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN), based in Grand Rapids, is partnering with Illinois-based Care Team Connect to better coordinate that kind of health care through technology. MiHIN is funding the ongoing Michigan Primary Care Transformation Project, which will allow participating care managers to receive real-time notifications of admissions, discharges and transfers of patients. Care Team Connect will initially provide data for an estimated 25,000 Grand Rapids-area patients. The project will record patients’ medical information and provide treatment updates among physicians electronically through a health information network in Grand Rapids.

Hepatitis is new focus of public health efforts

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – The state will use a new $1.6 million federal grant to better determine barriers to hepatitis screening, testing and treatment. The grant was awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. James K. Haveman, director of the Department of Community Health, said that it was the first time the state received federal funding for the surveillance of this prevalent disease. “Hepatitis affects millions of Americans, and opportunities such as this are critical to detecting and treating those cases,” Haveman said. Hepatitis, a disease that causes inflammation of the liver and eventual liver cirrhosis, requires extensive statewide awareness because according to the department, up to 75 percent of infected people aren’t aware they have it.