Business & Economy

Detroit’s comeback might leave some residents behind

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING – Persistent poverty and a focus on commercial developments in Detroit are raising concerns that efforts to revitalize the city are ignoring its low-income population. “We don’t talk enough about how Detroiters who grew up in the city and are now in their 20s and 30s are concerned they won’t be able to participate in the revival of the city that made them,” said Aaron Foley, a Detroit writer whose book, “How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass,” published by Rust Belt Chic, is due out this fall. Detroit’s economic and cultural health are tied directly to Michigan’s overall fortunes. Gov. Rick Snyder has said a strong Detroit is central to revitalizing the state. Millions of dollars have been invested in moving the city through bankruptcy and rebuilding parts of the city, such as refurbishing the David Whitney Building into luxury apartments and office space.

Public Safety

State Police reach out to diversify ranks

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING – Lots of young people in Michigan want to be State Police troopers, but almost all of them are white men. The State Police, like law enforcement agencies across the country, are struggling to recruit minorities into their ranks. “The minority population, many of them, it’s not in their culture to become a police officer,” said Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the State Police. “When you look out at hiring, I would say that actually we’re blessed that we still get a lot of candidates, but we want to make sure that our workforce is diverse, too.”

Officials are working to broaden their appeal by becoming more visible to young people with diverse backgrounds.

Agriculture

State boosts migrant housing inspections with new staff

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING — A doubling of state inspectors the past two years has improved housing conditions for Michigan’s migrant workers, according to state officials and worker advocates. That is a major change from 2009, when a $3 million budget cut shrank the Department of Agriculture’s migrant housing inspection staff from seven to three inspectors. As a result the department conducted only a couple dozen in-season occupancy inspections during 2009 and 2010. But efforts have more than doubled since 2013, when the department hired four more inspectors. Since then, officials have completed about 1,800 inspections, including 389 in 2015.

Public Safety

Bills would help domestic violence survivors

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING — Survivors of domestic violence would be given increased protections in the workplace and greater support when they try to leave abusers under bills being considered by the state House and Senate. The employment bills are part of a package aimed at protecting domestic violence and sexual assault victims in several realms, including increasing confidentiality requirements and promoting updated sexual assault policies and training on college campuses. “No one should ever have to decide between going to the police or keeping a job,” said Rep. Winnie Brinks, a Grand Rapids Democrat, during a press conference. “No one should have to choose between bringing their children to a domestic violence shelter or losing a day of pay.”

One bill would require employers that offer sick time to allow employees to use that time to deal with issues resulting from abuse, such as getting a medical exam, speaking with police officers and prosecutors, moving to a shelter or keeping therapy appointments. The other bill would ensure individuals aren’t disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits as a consequence of being a victim of domestic violence, rape or stalking.

Agriculture

Migrant workers’ housing still unsafe, civil rights official says

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING – Five years after a report called migrant working conditions “intolerable,” Michigan is far from addressing its problems, the state’s civil rights director says. “The migrant farmworker situation in this state, my opinion, is not as good as it should be,” said Matt Wesaw, executive director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. Wesaw, who said he worked in the fields of Southwest Michigan alongside migrant workers as a boy 40 years ago, believes housing conditions for workers are worse now than they were then. “You look at the conditions today, you’ve got a lot of mobile homes that are no longer suitable for other families,” said Wesaw. “But they would be brought on to these farms, hooked up, and you would have multiple families, unrelated, multiple families, living in there.

Business & Economy

Advocates question Snyder’s shyness on social topics

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder has a track record of trying to run Michigan like a business with a focus on jobs and the economy, but when it comes to tackling cultural or social justice issues, Snyder has a self-acknowledged history of staying away. “I don’t spend much time on social issues,” Snyder said in an interview with Capital News Service correspondents. “I spend the vast bulk of my time on economic development, making Michigan better, public safety, all the other issues, because I think that’s typically what our citizens are most concerned with.”
Social issues, particularly same-sex marriage and the question of whether business owners can deny service to people with whom they have religious differences, have been in the spotlight recently. Michigan’s constitutional ban on gay marriage is being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. And the legislature is considering a bill to let businesses turn away customers for religious reasons that is similar to a recent law causing a backlash in Indiana.

Public Safety

Long shifts raise concerns for law enforcement

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING — Although many police officers enjoy the perks of a 12-hour shift, this popular schedule may not be what’s best for officer safety and for the communities they serve, a law enforcement leader says. In many health and public safety jobs — police, firefighters, doctors and nurses — someone has to be on the job 24 hours a day. Such “shift work” is regularly divided into 10- or 12-hour shifts, often to save money. Twelve-hour shifts result in officers working 84 hours every two weeks, instead of 80 hours, said Robert Stevenson, executive director for the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. This means fewer employees, which saves on health and insurance benefits.

Transportation & Roads

Roads proposal could aid officers, advocates say

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING — The controversial May ballot proposal that would raise the sales tax and fix Michigan roads could have an unexpected side effect: safer working conditions for police officers. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among police officers, said Terry Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association. Through March 26, 12 officers across the country died in traffic accidents this year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Michigan recently experienced this first hand when Ingham County Sheriff’s Deputy Grant Whitaker was killed in an automobile accident while chasing a suspect last December. “Our workplace is the highway,” Jungel said.

Government

Police body camera bill raises concerns over penalties

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING – Law enforcement officials and prosecutors are raising concerns about hefty consequences proposed for officers failing to record their activity in recently introduced body camera legislation. The bill, written to increase accountability for police activity, would require judges and juries to accept the defendant’s version of events in cases where a recording is not made or is lost. The same standard would apply in civil cases or in complaints against police departments. “That’s a pretty heavy burden that the legislature would put on law enforcement and the prosecuting attorneys in Michigan,” said Traverse City defense attorney Paul Jarboe, who supports the use of body cameras. “I just think there is going to be too much opposition from law enforcement and the prosecuting attorneys association to put that heavy of a legal burden on law enforcement.”
Jarboe is right about the opposition.

Diversity Issues

Health workers to be trained to spot human trafficking

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By CHEYNA ROTH
Capital News Service
LANSING — Criminals who sell victims for sex or labor leave marks that are rarely noticeable to the average person, but doctors and nurses have a unique advantage to spot these red flags and intervene — if they are properly trained. This training requirement, to spot and properly respond to patients who show signs of human trafficking, was implemented by Michigan legislation that took effect in January. Under the new law, the state Department of Community Health, with a consulting board, will establish standards to train healthcare professionals in identifying and reporting human trafficking. Within two years, this training will be added to requirements for anyone licensed or registered under the public health code. This legislation comes from growing recognition that human trafficking is a problem throughout Michigan.