Government

Senate panel passes bill to replace Common Core standards

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING – Some lawmakers want to change the standards for preparing students for college in hopes of raising Michigan’s education rankings. But critics say they are lowering the standards. The state now falls under the national Common Core standard where schools work with a state’s four-year public university system to certify that students will not need to take remedial coursework in college. Standards are based on what students must know at each grade level to graduate from high school and college to be career-ready. Some lawmakers are sponsoring legislation that would end the Common Core standard  and move to a new assessment based on one that Massachusetts used to use.

Capital News Service

More addicted babies born, go through withdrawal

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service

LANSING— Babies who are born addicted to drugs are a growing problem in Michigan. The disorder is called neonatal abstinence syndrome and it affects newborns whose mothers were addicted to opiate drugs while they were pregnant. The baby becomes addicted, along with the mother, to substances such as heroin, oxycodone or methadone. The babies have symptoms of withdrawal that include excessive crying, seizures, trembling, poor feeding, diarrhea and sleep problems, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. And it’s not just a problem in urban areas.

Business & Economy

Analysis offers free export opportunities

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan growers and processors can gain access to market research without paying thousands of dollars, thanks to a new, free export opportunity analysis. Euromonitor International and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s International Marketing Program developed the analysis. Euromonitor International provides strategic market research. “The analysis gives companies additional information of where new export opportunities are and the top export markets for their products,” said Jamie Zmitko-Somers, international marketing program manager for the department. The reports are designed to assist companies in mapping out an export strategy for 2016 and beyond by highlighting commodities, consumer trends, historic and forecasted consumption, Zmitko-Somers said.

Government

Group pushes repeal of restaurant smoking ban

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING—A group of Michigan residents and businesses is pushing to repeal a state law forbidding smoking in restaurants. Nearly 90 percent of Michigan residents in an online poll want to allow business owners to decide if they want to allow smoking, according to the group that is pushing to repeal the 2010 prohibition on smoking in restaurants, bars and veteran halls, including outdoor eating areas. Ban the Ban Michigan recently polled about 40,000 residents about the issue, said Sheri Woody, a representative of the group. Ban the Ban Michigan has more than 5,000 volunteers who oppose the smoking ban, Woody said. The group has proposed that owners of private businesses be allowed to decide whether to allow smoking in outdoor areas on their property and indoor areas for people ages 21 and up.

Government

Bills would make it illegal to coerce a woman to have an abortion

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING— A two-bill package that recently passed the Housewould make it a criminal act to coerce a woman into getting an abortion. All of the bill sponsors are Republicans: Reps. Joel Johnson, R-Clare; Bruce Rendon, R-Lake City; Lee Chatfield, R-Levering; Larry Inman, R-Traverse City; and Phil Potvin, R-Cadillac are among the sponsorsl. It now goes to the Senate. One bill would make it illegal to coerce a pregnant woman to have an abortion against her will.

Education

Censorship of student journalism would end under Senate bill

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING— Students would have full editorial control over student newspapers and other school-sponsored media under a bill before the Senate. Sens. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, and Steve Bieda, D-Warren, sponsored the bill that the Senate’s Judiciary Committee recently approved unanimously. If signed into law, the bill also would protect student media advisors from being fired for encouraging student journalists to write articles that school administrators dislike. “Victory for freedom of speech,” Jones said after the committee vote.

Business & Economy

Clean energy can produce jobs, economic growth, study says

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING — Thousands of Michigan jobs in the clean energy industry could be created in coming years, according to a recent report. The Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council and Clean Energy Trust report that more than 87,000 Michigan residents already work in that industry. And Michigan leads 12 Midwestern states in clean energy transportation jobs, is second in renewable energy jobs and third in overall highest number of clean energy jobs, according to the study. “These findings are a good indication that, contrary to the sky-is-falling rhetoric we often hear from the fossil fuel industry, the transition from dirty fuels to clean sources of energy is an opportunity for economic growth,” said Andy McGlashen, communications director for the Michigan Environmental Council, a statewide coalition of environmental groups. It is critical that state lawmakers put policies in place to continue that growth, he said.

Business & Economy

Regulation of medical marijuana could generate millions for state

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING — Medical marijuana could generate up to $63.5 million in revenue for Michigan, according to a recent study. Hillsdale College economist Gary Wolfram’s analysis shows how a proposed regulatory framework for medical marijuana could boost the economy by getting more patients registered for medical marijuana and allowing more forms of use. “In 2008 medical marijuana became legal in Michigan,” said Wolfram. “This analysis is a matter of what would happen if it was regulated and taxed.”

The analysis estimates that 10,000 new jobs could be created in the industry. “These jobs will include everything from growing the plant to jobs behind the counter,” Wolfram said.

Business & Economy

Pasta with pets? Senators propose letting dogs dine on restaurant patios

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING — Canines may be allowed as dinner guests in outdoor restaurant dining areas if a new bill passes. Sens. Margaret O’Brien, R-Portage, Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton, and Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City, say they are sponsoring the bill to help increase tourism. Current law allows service animals in food establishments but generally prohibits other animals. The new law would allow pet dogs in outdoor dining areas and give local governments the ability to adopt an ordinance that is more restrictive than the bill.

Health

Vaccination waivers drop, decreasing disease risk in schools

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By JASMINE WATTS
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan schoolchildren are less susceptible to diseases such as pertussis, chickenpox and measles, thanks to a recent decrease in immunization waivers, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Michigan has experienced a 39 percent decrease in the number of waivers submitted for the 2015-2016 school year, compared to the same time last year, the department said in a news release. Waivers, which some parents seek for religious or philosophical reasons, exempt children from required vaccines to enter a specific grade. The fewer children who are vaccinated, the higher the risk of spreading preventable diseases. Michigan had the sixth-highest immunization waiver rate in the country in 2014, with more than 5 percent of kindergarteners lacking required vaccines, according to the department.