Daily News

LansingStateJournal.com

Written by: Tim Martin 

Arpil 28, 2011 12:41 A.M. 

Michigan tax plan clears first hurdle; House panel OKs Snyder's restructuring

      Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's sweeping plan to cut business taxes, eliminate or reduce tax exemptions for some retirement income and make other significant changes cleared a preliminary hurdle Wednesday in the Michigan House.

        The GOP-led House Tax Policy Committee approved bills included in the tax plan along mostly party-line votes. The full House could vote on the proposal as early as today.

Republican leaders have not guaranteed the plan will pass, although the GOP has majorities in both the House and Senate. There are lingering concerns about aspects of the proposal, including measures related to ending or reducing tax exemptions for some seniors.

Snyder has significantly scaled down his original proposal, which would have raised an estimated $900 million by ending tax exemptions for most retirement income. Snyder's revised plan calls for raising about $300 million through retiree income tax changes. Those 67 and older as of Jan. 1, 2012 would continue to get the same tax breaks they get now, while exemptions would be reduced for those ages 60 to 66.

        Republicans appear to be on board with Snyder's plan to cut business taxes by roughly $1 billion next fiscal year and $1.7 billion the year after. The Michigan Business Tax would be replaced with a 6 percent income tax applied to corporations with shareholders. Many tax exemptions would be eliminated or phased out.

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Film Incentives

Jack Rodzik

April 28, 2011

Film Incentives

248-974-8926

rodzikja@msu.edu

WORD COUNT: 803

What is Wrong With Film Incentives?

            LANSING – Mich., Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is working to decrease local film tax incentives, while the program succeeds. Snyder wants the state’s budget to be finalized before May 31, 2011, putting pressure on film advocates to inform the public of benefits.

            Gov. Rick Snyder wants to put a cap on how much money can be given to companies who come to Michigan to film. As of now, there is no cap for the program, allowing for many opportunities, such as Scream 4, to spawn locally. The cap Snyder is looking to enforce would be $25 million, which may seem like quite a lot of money, but has made advocates of the film industry upset.

            RicksWrong.com is a website dedicated to proving why Gov. Snyder’s actions could prove to be drastic error. On April 17, 2011 the website hosted a 12 hour webathon raising money to keep the film credit. The money raised by the webathon is being spent on advertising featuring local individuals who have benefited from the incentives, including those who have received jobs and careers.

            With this website gaining attention, and as the public becomes educated, more people are jumping on board to keep the incentives high, after all, most of the time that is why companies choose to film where they film.

            “Certainly not having any incentive put in place would make Michigan less competitive compared to states that do have incentive in place, “ said Michelle Begnoche, 28, Communications Advisor for the Michigan Film Office. “The fact of the matter is, this is an industry that is attracted to incentives and goes to where the incentives are.”

            The Michigan Film Office does its best to educate the public of incentive spending as well as the benefits it yields. On their website you can find each annual report since 2008, when the incentives were first approved in April.

            The annual reports the Michigan Film Office release show the benefits of having film incentives. The report is split up so that each total can be viewed separately, showing both direct and indirect gains for Michigan. In 2010,

            Initial projections for film incentives were included in the 2008 report, which includes created jobs. In 2008 there were 1,102 jobs created and projected jobs for 2012 is at 2,922. So far it has created 3,867 jobs in 2009 and has hired 5,310 Michigan residents in 2010.

            The filming industry in Michigan uses the Regional Modeling Incorporated’s (REMI) Policy Insight to gauge and understand the industry changes along with their policies. This technique is similar to how business is conducted in Louisiana and New Mexico, the two states along with Michigan that, according to the Michigan Film Office’s 2008 Annual Report, are the top three states to film in.

            Michigan has also improved on creating a self-sustaining film industry, with five film studios placed throughout the state.

            “Over the past three years, Michigan has built up a reputation where there is infrastructure in place,” said Begnoche.

            The Michigan film industry was not always so successful, before the incentives of 2008, the state had very different statistics. According to a Michigan State University economic impact study, in 2007, only two films were made in the state, creating two million dollars in state expenditures where as in 2008 after the law had passed, 32 productions were finished creating almost $70 million in direct expenditures.           

            Before 2008, the future of film in Michigan looked unpromising, even for students graduating within the state with film degrees.

            “I know when I was leaving it was basically this idea the whole market in Michigan was in shambles and they had this untapped market,” said Joshua Ginnard, a Film Production graduate from Grand Valley State University. “It’s a really great state to film in, they were trying to figure out some way to promote it.”

            After finding a secure way to promote the industry Gov. Rick Snyder wants to put a cap on the growing market of film. The Senate wants to cap at $10 million. If that was not enough, the House Appropriations Committee continues to vote on the outcome of the film industry, Michigan’s House of Representatives wants to cut funding entirely, without informing the pubic of its benefits.

            RicksWrong.com is putting together a large petition while its audience grows. The petition was made with the intent to secure Michigan’s film incentives, keeping and creating more jobs for those in need.           

The Michigan Film Office remains positive no matter what the outcome.  “Regardless of what happens with the film incentives themselves, the film office will still be here and we will still continue to do the work that we do to attract projects to Michigan and also to support our local filmmakers,” Begnoche said.

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LansingStateJournal.com

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Written By: Chris Christoff - Detroit Free Press

11:53 P.M. April 25, 2011

Snyder says teachers should have more flexibility to teach

He says schools must be held accountable

EAST LANSING - Michigan's public schools need to more rigorously measure students' academic growth, but with fewer state rules to make that happen, Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday.

That means more autonomy for individual schools and teachers, and a system to financially reward outstanding teachers who can mentor others.


Also, state schools Superintendent Michael Flanagan called for a virtual deregulation of schools, such as eliminating minimum number of hours or days students must attend each year.


That's a change Snyder hinted he'll include in his special message on education Wednesday. He said the state should give teachers and schools and the state more flexibility to teach and to lift all students to higher academic standards.


Snyder gave a preview of his upcoming message when he told several hundred school officials from around the state that too many students aren't learning basic reading and math skills, and fare dismally on standardized tests.


He said he will call for changing a public school system designed for agrarian or heavy industrial societies that are being overtaken by a more high-tech world.


"It's a future world of world competition and the need to leverage technology and innovation," Snyder said at the 16th Annual Governor's Education Summit.


Flanagan told the gathering that there should be less top-down state management of schools. Afterward, he said getting rid of such state mandates as the required minimum of 1,098 hours of class time for students each year is an example.


Instead, schools would set their own guidelines for students to meet state academic goals.
"My goal is to take away as many regulations as we can but hold people accountable for academic growth - a year's growth for every year they're in school," Flanagan said.

More autonomy

 

Snyder said teachers and individual schools should have more autonomy in how they meet academic goals, though he didn't say what the specific goals would be. He said all school districts should have "dashboards," a continuing measurement of academic progress - or lack of it - that the public can view online.

"We have to put much more emphasis on proficiency, on growth, on measurements and results than we have had in the past," he said. "It's about really delivering results for these kids, to show the whole system needs to be geared to say each child gets a good year's education each and every year."

He said teachers and administrators must be given more incentives and training to improve the schools.



"The way to approach it is not to get down on people, it's not to approach it with blame," he said. "It's not be negative with one another. It's about how we look to the future and be positive and build on that as an opportunity to succeed together."

Cuts proposed

 

The governor has proposed cutting school district funding by $300 per student in addition to a $170 per-student cut that already was in place when he took office. The $170 cut was filled with federal money for many districts this year, but the federal funds won't be available for the upcoming school year, leaving districts to absorb a $470 per-student cut.


Snyder wants to cut $300 per student so he can use the money to pay for community colleges and universities out of the school aid fund rather than the general fund. That idea isn't going over well with some GOP lawmakers who control the budget process.


Democrats argue any cuts will send scores of Michigan school districts to the brink of insolvency next year, and that Republicans are using money for community colleges and universities that should be going to K-12 school districts.


"I think the most important thing that we can do as a state, to move us forward, is to continue to invest in our kids' education," Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer of East Lansing said Monday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Daily News

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By: Melissa Domsic
12:24 A.M April 21, 2011

Michigan State University gets $2.9 million for biofuel research

EAST LANSING - Michigan State University has received $2.9 million in federal grants for biofuel research.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded five-year grants for three projects focusing on various aspects of producing biofuels, which use renewable plant materials instead of petroleum.
"Americans who are now going to the gasoline pumps and dealing with sticker shock know that we need to find other ways of doing things in this country," said Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. deputy secretary of Agriculture.
Most gasoline blends sold in the United States contains at least 10 percent of the biofuel ethanol. Nine billion gallons of biofuel were blended into transportation fuels in 2008, and the federal government is calling for 36 billion gallons by 2022.
Merrigan visited MSU on Wednesday to talk about the grants and tour research facilities at MBI International. MBI, based in Lansing and part of the MSU Foundation, helps prepare bio-based technologies and innovations for commercial use.
Overall, the USDA awarded $36.3 million in competitive grants to 27 universities, one college and two USDA research arms for sustainable bioenergy research.
It's a significant win for MSU, which will use the money to pay faculty and student researchers and fund other project costs, said Doug Gage, director of the MSU BioEconomy Network.
"We are very proud that our faculty are competing against the best in the country and wining awards," he said.
MSU professors will lead the three research projects on campus that look at topics such as greenhouse gas emissions associated with biomass production and ways to use byproducts from the production of biofuel.
Entomology professor Doug Landis is researching pests that affect switch grass, a plant used to produce biofuels.
Biofuel research is moving away from food plants such as corn in favor of non-food crops or plant waste products.
"It would be inappropriate to place a crop into the landscape that would then cause a spillover effect on our current crops," Landis said.
Landis will work with other MSU professors and students to conduct research on farms throughout southern Michigan.
"MSU is doing cutting-edge research here on biofuels," Merrigan said. "They've made significant investments, they're bringing together a variety of disciplines in their scientists to come together and sort of really deconstruct problems, figure out answers."

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Daily Post

Lansing State Journal

By: Tim Martin

1:03 AM April 19, 2011

Group seeking to recall Snyder

 A longshot effort to recall Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder began Monday with the filing of proposed petition wording by a group upset about the Republican's proposals related to the state budget and local government powers. 

        A group called Michigan Citizens United filed its paperwork in Washtenaw County, Snyder's official county of residence. A hearing on the petition language likely is late this month. If it's approved by county election officials, recall supporters could begin collecting voter signatures as early as next month.

The group would need 806,522 valid signatures of Michigan voters to make the ballot in November.
      The proposed petition language cites a Snyder-approved law that gives broad new powers to emergency managers appointed by the state to run financially struggling local governments and schools. Those powers include the ability to toss out union contracts and strip power from locally elected officials.
      The proposed petition also references what it labels "tax increases" on retirees and lower-income Michigan families and "tax cuts" for corporations. Snyder has proposed eliminating tax exemptions for some retiree income and getting rid of an earned income tax credit for low-income working families while seeking lower overall taxes for businesses.
      "I believe a lot of people in Michigan are angry at him," said Tim Kramer, a resident of Oakland County's Waterford Township and spokesman for Michigan Citizens United. "He wants to come in and do what he wants. That's not democracy."
      A phone call seeking comment was left Monday with a spokeswoman for Snyder, who is in his first year as governor.
      Kramer said Michigan Citizens United is a volunteer effort that so far has raised about $1,000. The group filed paperwork for a political action committee last month.
Kramer said the group is nonpartisan and includes Democrats, Republicans and independents.
An effort also was made to recall Snyder's predecessor, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. A man behind that effort got his petition language approved in 2009, but the campaign fizzled after that.

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Kositchek's

Jack Rodzik

April 11, 2011

Kositchek’s

248-974-8926

rodzikja@msu.edu

WORD COUNT: 584

Fashion Retail Store Prevails Through the Down Economy

            LANSING, Mich. – David Kositchek, 58, owner of Kositchek’s specialty store in downtown Lansing, Mich., said he overcame the challenges brought on by the economic crisis by holding strong to the company’s key business beliefs. In late 2008, Kositchek’s went through a 20 percent sales decrease, but has since exceeded their annual goals.

            Kositchek’s is a high-end fashion men’s specialty store that caters to a more expensive shopper’s needs. David Kositchek, 58, has been involved with his family business since he was 12, practicing the same ideals three generations of his family have passed down. Kositchek said he believes in using the same business strategies that have worked for his store since it began in 1865.

            “I’m not the boss here,” Kositchek said. “I’m just a team member. The people that work here don’t work for me, they work with me.”

            Although the economy has impacted the success of many businesses, Kositchek’s has only experienced a decrease in sales of about 20 percent Kositchek said.

            “Being a smaller company we can maneuver, we can respond to trends,” Kositchek said.

            With the idea of keeping his company small, with a staff of about only 20 people, he said he was able to respond quickly and efficiently to any problems that were presented in late 2008, when the recession affected Kositchek’s business. “It only gets complicated if you grow fast,” Kositchek said, “We grow incrementally.”

            Small businesses have been impacted tremendously in the recession, not only in East Lansing, but also throughout the entire United States. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from March 2008 to March 2009 there is a 15 percent rate of closing private sector establishments for retail trade in Michigan and 17.5 in the United States, the highest it had been since March of 1998. Kositchek focuses on keeping his company up-to-date and addressing every situation continuously, as a routine business strategy.

            “No matter how long you’ve been in business you have to continue to innovate, you can’t stay stagnant, always creating newness and freshness,” Kositchek said.

            “We focus on quality, we focus on service, period,” Kositchek said.

            With these two concepts, Kositchek’s continued to succeed throughout the recession of the early millennium. Kositchek stated that he does not disclose any numbers regarding his private company, and that is the way it has always been.

            “People come here for the personal service,” said Matt McLeod, 51, an employee of Kositchek’s for 30 years. “They can’t believe people give you honest advice.”

            With maintaining successful business strategies, Kositchek’s sees many of the same customers coming through their doors, helping business grow while seeing evidence of customer loyalty.

            “If you focus on your passion and if I tell you that my passion is pleasing people and you focus on that and only that and keep your eye on the ball everything else falls into place,” Kositchek said.

            “I enjoy coming into work,” said Carl Dorman, 33, Kositchek’s newest employee in eight years, “I do displays so I get creative, making things look nice, of all of the customers you meet about 90 percent are super people”

            Kositchek’s is a store based on the customer, with keeping the idea of business based solely around the customer, the men’s specialty store in downtown Lansing is able to continue to prosper, even in the worst of times.

            “We’ve more than made it up, last year we made it up we started 25 percent

ahead of last year” Kositchek said.

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Written by  Laura Misjak

April 11, 2011

$500,000 to help Lansing's once-polluted Crego Park reopen to public

Land closed in 1986 after sludge, toxic waste found

The sign that declares Crego Park's closure has loomed at the corner of East Mt. Hope Avenue and Aurelius Road for more than 20 years.

But that sign will be coming down in the next year or so thanks to a $500,000 state grant that will help the once-polluted park open to the public.
"I can't wait to take that sign off," said Murdock Jemerson, Lansing's director of parks and recreation.
"This park has gone through a lot in terms of having the negative connotation of being polluted. I definitely want to see it open again."
Crego Park - Lansing's largest park at about 200 acres - is adjacent to Potter Park Zoo, Fenner Nature Center and two of the city's cemeteries as part of the Sycamore Basin.
It's been closed since 1986 when 200 drums of paint sludge and other toxic waste were found.
After the sludge discovery, FMC Corp. of Philadelphia agreed to spend $8 million to clean up the mess. The Lansing Park Board was notified within the past two years that the park was suitable to use, said Ron Lott, a member of the board.
Officials shifted their attention to Crego Park after failing to receive a state grant in 2009 to update Frances Park.
"Especially with (Fidelity Lake) enclosed within the park boundaries, we wanted to take advantage of that," Lott said.
The process of reopening the park began last spring, when the city applied for a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant.

$250,000 from city fund

The grant, coupled with $250,000 from the city's parks millage fund, will fit the land with a fishing dock, kayak/canoe launch, a boardwalk to give a pathway from the 17-acre Fidelity Lake on the park's east side to the city's River Trail, and more.
Once the city finds an architectural engineering firm and construction company to work on the project, the hands-on work might not begin until September, Jemerson said.
"What we're doing here is pretty much allowing access to the park and what we call quiet water activities," Jemerson said.
Motorized boats and other motorized watercraft will not be allowed in the park, Jemerson said.
 The city's grant application shows maintenance to the land is expected to cost about $1,200 annually.

Letters of support

Neighbors of Crego Park have expressed fears that opening the park will bring unwanted noise and traffic.
But Lansing resident Marcia Thomas, 47, said opening the park would benefit the city as a whole.
"I think giving people more access to the parks is a good thing," said Thomas, who walked along the River Trail near the park Thursday afternoon. "Maybe it will get more people outdoors and off the couch."
Jemerson said he's received more letters of support - close to 20 - for this grant than any he's ever applied for.
One of the major supporters for the endeavor are fishing enthusiasts, who look forward to tapping into Fidelity Lake's supply of bass, sunfish and bluegill.
The wetlands that make up a majority of the park will remain untouched, Lott said.
"It's a large portion of land, and we want to try to develop it so residents can be able to do some things they can't do in some of the other parks, like use the lake for fishing or paddling," Lott said.

Local grant recipients

Funded by the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund:
• City of Lansing: $500,000 to develop Crego Park
• Clinton County: $1.86 million to purchase 260 acres to add to Motz County Park
• DeWitt Township: $394,200 to construct a baseball field accessible to children with disabilities and update park facilities
• Delhi Township: $283,100 to replace restrooms and pavilion in Valhalla Park
• Hamlin Township: $99,400 to purchase about 25 acres to develop a township park
Source: Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment

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-- JRN200 --

Overfishing Deemed Problematic In Some Michigan Areas

Jack Rodzik

Overfishing

April 7, 2011

248-974-8926

rodzikja@msu.edu

word count: 591

Overfishing Deemed Problematic In Some Michigan Areas

            Starting May 1, 2011, Michigan fishing laws will increase the daily possession limit for Walleyes on Lake Erie from five to six. This new law raises questions regarding the topic of overfishing in Michigan.

            LANSING-Mich., There has been concern that, like the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Michigan’s inland lakes and five Great Lakes may be victims of overfishing. However, overfishing may be a problem wherever fish and fisherman are involved.

            Overfishing has been a concern on the international level, overfishing in Japan concerning the Bluefin Tuna is nearing the point that World Wildlife Fund (WWF) projects that if the rate remains consistent, that specie will become extinct.

            Brian Irwin, a visiting assistant professor at Michigan State University, breaks overfishing up into three different categories. He describes recruitment overfishing as taking more fish than the population can replenish, growth overfishing as taking fish before they reach their optimal size, and the category that is more common among recreational fishing, quality overfishing. Quality overfishing does not push the specie to its reproductive limit, but the qualities of those fish are limited.

            Recreational fishing has become less popular over the years, with new technology and new sources of entertainment, the public trends have been to stray away from spending time fishing. According to the Mar. 2008 Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Research Report 2088, Michigan’s freshwater angler participation declined by 23% from 1991 through 2001.

            Commercial fishing is where the problem lies for overfishing. Whitefish is among the most popular of targets to fish for in the Great Lakes. The Harvest of Fishes from Lake Michigan states that in 1985, 278.6 thousand pounds of whitefish were caught for sport and 7520.7 thousand pounds commercially. The number dropped to 88.2 thousand pounds for sport and 4644.9590 pounds commercially in 2008.

            Overfishing on a wide-scale over two decades has drastically changed the numbers of whitefish in the Great Lakes, but Michigan’s recreational fishing seems to be suffering in an entirely different way.

            Michigan DNR Director and MSU Alumni, Rodney Stokes, addresses four immediate priorities, which he says will influence people to become more involved in the outdoors. The four priorities are; A Renewed Emphasis on Customer Service, Strong Support of the Recreational Passport, Increase Participation In Outdoor Recreation and Reverse the Decline in Hunting and Fishing Participation and Fostering the Growth of Michigan’s Natural Resource-Based Economy. With this plan of action, Stokes seeks to generate more outdoorsmen who participate in more outdoor activities, making more profit on the already-successful, fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing, boating and snowmobiling activities that produce a total of $9 billion a year.

            Stokes intends on generating more fishermen, to counteract the declining amount of anglers in the past.

            The new fishing license that became required on April 1, 2011 made changes to lake sturgeon, lake herring, amphibians, reptiles and crustaceans. Anglers who target/fishes lake sturgeon are now required to obtain a lake sturgeon tag, which is free of charge.

            Overfishing in Michigan is deemed an actual problem when looked from a commercial perspective. The Great Lakes may not be suffering much from it now, but if commercial fishers continue to harvest more than they are allowed, then problems will arise. As far as locally, the limpact of overfishing in Michigan may not hurt Michigan residents directly or at least it would make less of an impact than in other regions.

            “We don’t need fish to survive, we have other sources of protein. Down the street there’s a McDonalds!” Irwin said.

           

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Written by: Kevin Grasha

12:29 AM, Apr. 7, 2011 

Gun charge could bring death penalty in Lansing slaying

Four men indicted in federal court

GRAND RAPIDS - Four of the six defendants charged in last summer's killing of a 19-year-old Lansing woman have been indicted in federal court on charges that could result in the death penalty.

Mustafa al-Din

Walee al-Din

A federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids charges Mustafa al-Din, 23, his brother, Walee al-Din, 21, Dion Lanier, 19, and Demetris Kline, 18, with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and using a gun during a drug-trafficking crime that resulted in death.




They were members of a local gang, the indictment says.



It is the gun charge that can be punishable by the death penalty, according to federal law. Federal prosecutors have not yet indicated whether they will pursue that. Any homicide case involving guns and drugs can fall under federal jurisdiction, officials said.

Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said he approached federal authorities late last year after evidence of a criminal organization began to materialize, as he has done in several other cases.

"I have found that when we uncover what we believe to be these kinds of criminal organizations that the feds have tools that we do not," Dunnings said.

Shayla Johnson

According to testimony and court documents, several armed men went to Shayla Johnson's Lenore Street home on July 23, 2010 to rob her of marijuana and money. Johnson was dragged from the house, thrown into the trunk of a car and shot several times.

Two others - Nicholas Brown, 20, of Lansing, and a 14-year-old boy - still face charges in Ingham County including murder and armed robbery.
It is possible Brown could be added to the federal case at a later date, officials said. The 14-year-old is not subject to federal charges because of his age.

According to the indictment, the defendants, as well as other co-conspirators, were involved in a local street gang known as the "Block Burners" that was involved in acts of violence, often involving guns, to obtain drugs and money.

Gang members had "a shared identity and a code of conduct which promoted allegiance to one another and an agreement not to cooperate with law enforcement," the indictment says.
Mustafa al-Din's attorney, Scott Mertens, said his client maintains his innocence.

Mertens added that his client, who according to testimony had lived in Jackson and had been in Lansing only a few weeks, "denies participating in any gang-related activity."

Lanier's attorney, Andrew Abood, said many issues he already has raised - including that police interrogated Lanier without advising him of his Miranda rights, a violation of the Fifth Amendment - are federal in nature, anyway.

Dion Lanier

Demetris Kline

"The issues we have, at least on an immediate basis, might better be settled in federal court by a judge who handles those issues all the time," Abood said.



Abood added that his client was not involved in a gang. He said the allegation is "a ruse."



Kline and Walee al-Din are being assigned federal public defenders.



Eight people initially were charged in the case, including the 14-year-old's father, Charles Kunta Lewis, who now is in prison for a parole violation. Charges against Lewis and two others, including Brown, were dropped last fall. Brown was charged again in December, partly based on a YouTube video in which he allegedly bragged about the killing.

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Code of Ethics as a Journalist

My code of ethics covers a wide span of topics, some definite and some situational. These ethics follow my morals as an individual, making them somewhat unique to journalism, because I stand with what I believe in. I believe in fairness, decency and good manners.

I. I will never accept any type of offer, be that tangible, symbolic or designed personally for myself, that is not also offered every other reporter/journalist as well as the public that may sway my story to create any kind of bias.

II. I will do my best to remain objective. I will write the facts, reporting on what has happened rather than what I may think that has happened.

III. I will not let my personal affairs reflect or show through in any of my work.

IV. I will remain calm and collected at all times. I will present myself as a respectful individual with self-control holding myself accountable for every action I take.

V. I will take necessary risks to accomplish the goal of the story

VI. I will always present myself as a journalist.

VII. I will credit my sources. If a source asks to remain anonymous, I will then ask how necessary it is for them to remain anonymous, doing my best to credit their name in the story, with respectful limits.

VIII. If a source who wishes to remain anonymous puts any life at risk, I will do my best to ensure the safety of the community, rather than keep that source confidential.

IX. I will never plagiarize. I will properly credit any outside resources included within my work.

X. I will educate the public with my honest all; presenting all of my knowledge on the matter; leaving no detail behind, adding no information without solid facts and evidence to base my story on.

XI. I will do my best to contact the proper or "best" sources for the story.

XII. I will not engage with any source beyond the business aspect of that story.

XIII. I will always represent my sources and material the way they are, not the way they appear to be. I will not misrepresent anyone/anything.

XIV. I will never racially discriminate or involve any kind of prejudice in a story.

XV. I will acknowledge the feelings of others and take into consideration harmful repercussions of writing and/or submitting video/pictures of graphic or controversial nature.

XVI. My work will be finished when I am entirely satisfied with every aspect of the work I have done.

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Gas soars 21 cents in Lansing area to statewide high

Written by: Lansing State Journal

The Lansing area has the highest gas prices in the state.
Dearborn-based travel club AAA Michigan said today average gas prices jumped 21 cents per gallon on the Lansing area and 15 cents per gallon statewide.
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is at $3.79 in the Lansing market. That's up from $3.58 per gallon last week and $2.81 per gallon one year earlier.
At www.lansinggasprices.com, where consumers log prices they see, gas is ranging from $3.53 per gallon to $3.99 per gallon.
AAA Michigan said the average price in the Lansing market is the highest in the state. The lowest is in the Benton Harbor area, where gas is averaging $3.71 per gallon.
Statewide, AAA Michigan said gas is at an average $3.75 per gallon, up from $3.60 per gallon last week and $2.83 per gallon one year earlier.
AAA Michigan surveys 2,800 gas stations daily for its results.

Daily Post

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Court says Michigan can keep deducting 3 percent

Withholding for retiree health costs to continue until next appellate ruling

There may be a big pot of money waiting for thousands of Michigan state employees at the end of a lawsuit over wages winding through the appellate courts.

Or there may be nothing.
The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled the state can continue to withhold 3 percent of the salary of state employees for retiree health care as the court reviews a Feb. 22 lower court ruling that declared the practice unconstitutional.
The administration of Gov. Rick Snyder is appealing the lower court ruling by Ingham County Circuit Judge William Collette. He ordered the state to stop collecting the wages from several state employee unions representing about 28,000 employees.
"We were disappointed," said Ray Holman, spokesman for United Auto Workers Local 6000, which represents 17,000 state social service caseworkers, administrative employees and other workers. "We still believe that we should be getting a full check, and we're looking forward to getting that money returned."
Meanwhile, the state also is continuing to deduct the 3 percent from 13,000 nonunion state employee paychecks despite a similar ruling in February by the Michigan Civil Service Commission to end the practice. The state also is appealing that ruling.
The appellate court ruling, issued March 18, was the latest chapter involving controversial early retirement legislation passed in September to reduce state costs. As part of the law, state employees were to contribute 3 percent of their salary for retiree health care for three years.
That money - amounting to about $60 million annually - is now being funneled into an escrow account pending the outcome of the case. If the state loses the appeals, it would have to repay that money to employees.
Attorneys for state employees have argued lawmakers violated their contracts by reducing their salary as part of the retirement legislation. Attorneys for the state have said lawmakers have full power over setting retirement policy.
Collette eventually ruled the Legislature circumvented the state's constitution as a way to nullify a 3 percent wage increase this year that unionized employees negotiated.
Last year, then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm proposed the salary contributions along with retirement incentives as a reform designed to save millions annually.

 Written By: Scott Davis

Lead

            EAST LANSING – Mich., Overfishing has riddled the world with problems, causing similar disruptions in the ecosystem as those when meddling with the natural environment these species were born into. Lansing, Mich., is having trouble dealing with the growing problem of overfishing, but not in the way that one would expect.

            A topic that has threatened not only the state of Michigan, but the entire world, is now being put under speculation, posing the question “is this really a problem anymore?” Overfishing has impacted the world as a whole and local areas the same. Threatening populated areas of fish and wildlife that rely on the ecosystem will disrupt the natural lifestyle and food chain these species have grown up in, altering their lifestyle and forcing them to do whatever it may take to survive.

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Written By: Associated Press

Michigan driver's licenses add security features

LANSING, Mich. - Michigan motorists getting new driver's licenses will notice a different look.

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said Monday that new licenses will have better security features.
State licenses last were changed in 2003. The updated ones begin circulating later this month.
They'll feature an intricate line pattern and outline of the state of Michigan with the Great Lakes on the front, as well as the Mackinac Bridge. For drivers who have joined the Michigan Organ Donor Registry, a red heart and the word "donor" will appear on the card.
The card also will have the laser-perforated word "MICH" on it.
A new bar code will be on the back with encoded information available for law enforcement use.
The cost of the driver's licenses will remain the same.

 

Daily News Post for March 22

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Written by: Kathleen Lavey

East Lansing schools committee narrows options

Panel to present proposals on updates, renovations, reconfigurations to board

EAST LANSING - A committee charged with looking at East Lansing's elementary schools and middle school is narrowing the options it will take to the school board next month.

Possibilities include:
• Asking voters as soon as November to extend a 7-mill bond that is about to expire. That would generate money to update and renovate buildings.
• Changing the current grade configuration to make fifth grade the top elementary grade and put sixth-graders into the middle school. That could be accomplished by renovating or replacing the now-closed swimming pool area.
• Renovating some elementary buildings with updated technology and more space, and closing or repurposing others.
"There are a lot of different opinions. Nothing is settled," said Eric Schertzing, who co-chairs the committee with Amanda Bright-McClanahan.

Six elementaries

East Lansing has six elementary schools, including Red Cedar, Pinecrest, Marble, and Donley, which serve kindergarten through fourth-graders; and Whitehills and Glencairn, which serve fifth- and sixth-graders.
Seventh- and eighth-graders attend MacDonald Middle School and ninth- through 12th-graders are at the high school.
One of the issues that looms large for the committee: All of East Lansing's elementary schools are smaller buildings that date to the 1950s and 1960s.
"They're beginning to get to the end of their useful life," Schertzing said. Low ceilings mean there is no place to run extra electric or broadband lines for computers and other technology; the schools don't have basements or crawl spaces.
Schertzing said East Lansing could come out of the process with a plan for fewer elementary schools.

Closings common

That has been common across mid-Michigan as school budgets have tightened over the past 10 years. Okemos and Grand Ledge closed buildings last year; Waverly will consolidate from four to three elementary schools.
Lansing also has closed buildings and expects to close more.
The committee will meet again March 24, then host a community forum in early April before presenting its recommendations to the school board.
Superintendent David Chapin said he thinks the committee is on track.
"The wheels are in motion," he said. "I think they're being very thoughtful."