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Monday Morning State News Summary Sun, 12 Jan 2014 23:37:54 EST (MI-Cong Seat Loss) Despite statistics that Michigan's population has started to come back, an online political website says Michigan is likely to lose another seat in the US House after the next census in 2020. The website "RealClearPolitics.com" predicts that Michigan will be one of seven states that will lose a congressional district. The others are Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Illinois. Losing a seat would mean Michigan would have 13 House seats instead of 14. Comparatively, as recently as 1970, Michigan had 19 US House seats. The website predicts that the big winner in 2020 will be Texas, which is expected to gain two US House Seats. Gaining one seat each will be Montana, Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Congressional seat assignments are based on population trends as determined by the US Census. (MI-Underutilized Labor) A new state report says the rate of underutilized labor in Michigan shrunk at a faster rate than the nation as a whole. However Michigan still lags significantly behind the US in underutilized labor. Underutilized labor includes both the unemployed and underemployed. In quoting the state report, the Lansing-based Gongwer News Service says the underutilized rate of labor in Michigan last year averaged just under 16-percent of the total workforce. That compares to well over 16 percent in 2012. A similar report shows the national rate at just over 14-percent. The report comes from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. (Waterford-Plane Crash) Oakland County International Airport officials have released the identity of the pilot killed in Friday night's small plane that crashed on its final approach near the airport. The pilot, who was the only person on board the twin-engine Cesna 310, has been identified as 32-year-old Andrew Demos of Waterford Township. Officials say the flight, which was operated by Royal Air Freight, was coming back from Atlanta. The NTSB says it may take weeks to find the cause of the crash. (24/7 News Source) (UM-Gas Mileage) Researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute say gas mileage of new vehicles sold in the U.S. was 24.8 mpg in December, the same as the average for all of 2013-the best annual mark ever. According to researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle, average fuel economy (window-sticker values) of cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs purchased last year was up 1.0 mpg from 2012 and 3.9 mpg from 2008, the first full year of monitoring. In addition to average fuel economy, Sivak and Schoettle issued a monthly update of their national Eco-Driving Index, which estimates the average monthly emissions generated by an individual U.S. driver. The EDI takes into account both the fuel used per distance driven and the amount of driving-the latter relying on data that are published with a two-month lag. For the fourth straight month, the EDI tied its best mark at 0.80 (the lower the value, the better) during October, the seventh time that it has registered that low in the past two years. The index currently shows that emissions of greenhouse gases per driver of newly purchased vehicles are down 20 percent, overall, since October 2007. (MI-Conservation Officers) A new Michigan conservation officer training academy began on Sunday. And it means the state will have up to 30 or more new conservation officers by this summer. The training program runs 14 weeks and includes both police training and conservation-related training. Recruiting is also underway for an academy scheduled for the fall. (Mi-MDOT-Maintenance-Budget) While state and local road crews are being highly praised for their work during last week's massive snow storm, officials with the Michigan Department of Transportation say that effort has taxed an already-stressed maintenence budget, and it could limit work this spring and summer. M-DOT spokesman Jeff Cranson says the state maintenance budget has averaged about 88 (m) million dollars a year for the past five years, but with the added demand from last weeks storm, it will now require a re-evaluation and probably limited work for non-winter maintenance later on, such as mowing, pothole patching and badly-needed upgrades to equipment like road vehicles including snow plows. Cranson says M-DOT continues to face "tremendous resource challenges" and officials are "running on borrowed time" with some equipment. He blames a gas tax that hasn't been adjusted for inflation and people driving more fuel-efficient vehicles for not bringing in the needed revenue. All state highways are maintained continuously during a storm, and all of the roughly 300 MDOT snowplows and 900 county and municipal winter maintenance vehicles that are available are on the road. MDOT's annual maintenance budget starts in October, with winter maintenance being the top priority, because of health and safety concerns. (Saginaw-Moving Car Shooting) Police in Saginaw are investigating a vehicle to vehicle shooting in which a woman was injured. According to police, the woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries Saturday night when shots were fired from another vehicle into the back of her Chevrolet Cavalier, while traveling near the intersection of South 14th and Burt. The victim was transported to a Saginaw hospital where she was being treated for her injuries. M-Live reports Sgt. David Kaiser of the Michigan State Police says police believe there were five people in the car including the victim. There are no suspects in the case and it remains under investigation by the Saginaw Police Department and Michigan State Police. (Green Oak Twp-Minor Driver) A Livingston County woman who let her nine-year-old son take the car to dump the garbage off will not serve jail time. 34-year-old Leah Jaglowski will serve one year probation for allowing an unlicensed minor drive. She was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor but that charge was dropped. The incident happened on November 2nd of last year, and before dropping the garbage off, her son also picked up a five-year-old boy from the neighborhood to go along for the ride. (24/7 News Source) (Pontiac-Deputy Charged) An Oakland County Sheriff's Deputy could be looking at up to a year in jail after being charged Friday in a crash that killed two men. 50-year-old deputy Dennis Alvis crashed into a car back on November 1st at an intersection in Pontiac. Alvis was driving to help other deputies involved in a pursuit, and his emergency equipment was activated. The driver of the car he hit along with the lone passenger were both killed in the crash. Alvis will next be in court on January 16th. (24/7 News Source) ---Note Nature--- (Orion Twp-Child Sexual Assault) An Oakland County man could spend up to 25 years in prison after being charged Saturday with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. 35-year-old Matthew Ryan McBee is accused of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's seven-year-old daughter on numerous occasions. McBee had lived in the same home in Orion Township as his girlfriend and her daughter for roughly two years. McBee is currently behind bars with his bail set at a half-million-dollars. (24/7 News Source) (MI-Notable Books) The Library of Michigan has announced the 2014 Michigan Notable Books - 20 books celebrating Michigan people, places and events. State Superintendent Mike Flanagan says they express the variety of character, tone, and flavors that are purely Michigan and appeal to people of all ages. The 2014 list includes titles covering topics such as a detailed discussion of Chief Pontiac’s Rebellion; a biography of former Detroit Tiger Mark “The Bird” Fidrych; a children’s graphic novel about vaudeville comedian and slapstick actor Buster Keaton’s summers spent in Muskegon; the deadly Great Lakes hurricane of 1913 and a collection of articles studying the Great Lakes sturgeon. Each year, the Michigan Notable Books Program list features 20 books published in the previous calendar year that are about Michigan or the Great Lakes region, or are written by a Michigan author. Selections include nonfiction and fiction books that appeal to a variety of audiences and cover a range of topics and issues close to the hearts of Michigan residents. Michigan Notable Books is a statewide program that began in 1991 as part of the Michigan Week celebration. For more information call 517 373-1300 or go online at michigan.gov/notablebooks. (MI-More MEDC Transparency) The Public Interest Research Group of Michigan (PIRGIM) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are calling for more transparency of state business incentive programs like the Michigan Economic Growth Authority and the 21st Century Jobs Fund. While the Mackinac Center and PIRGIM don't see eye-to-eye on many issues, in the case of making Michigan’s development programs more transparent, PIRGIM Program Associate, Eric Mosher says the two groups couldn’t agree more. Mosher says given the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's (MEDC) lackluster record of meeting their goals, the taxpayers who make the agency’s funding available should know whether their investments are going toward success stories or boondoggles. Assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center, James Hohman, says the need for basic reporting on discretionary business incentives should be obvious to policymakers. He says at a bare minimum the state should disclose what these programs cost and the number of jobs at facilities subsidized by state taxpayers. The groups say when governments hand out discretionary refundable tax credits or subsidies to business projects, the state should report not just how much was awarded, but how much actually gets transferred from the state treasury to these companies. (MI-Fishing Tournaments) Those running fishing tournaments in the state will have an easier time scheduling this year with a new online system to be launched next week. Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division Chief Jim Dexter says the Fishing Tournament Information System will allow tournament directors to see online which lakes and access areas are available for the week they are planning, and then to reserve a space through the same site. Dexter says also that once the tournament is complete, officials can enter data about the fish caught through the system as well. The schedule of tournaments will also be open to the public, though the fish data would be available only to the department staff. (MI-MckBrdg Traffic) Traffic on the Mackinac Bridge dropped slightly last month. Robert Sweeney, Executive Secretary of the Mackinac Bridge Authority, says 200,602 vehicles crossed the span during December compared to 200,821 in 2012, down 0.1%. Fare revenue was down 0.4% compared to the year before. Officials say all revenue collected is used to maintain, operate, and protect the 56-year-old bridge linking Michigan's two peninsulas. (Weekend lottery) Tuesday's Mega Millions jackpot will be worth $30 (m) million dollars. There were no winning tickets in saturday's Classic Lotto drawing. That means Wednesday's jackpot will be worth one-point-seven-five (m) million dollars ($1,750,000). The numbers drawn Saturday were: 01, 16, 22, 23, 25, and 44. There were no winning tickets in saturday's powerball drawing. The numbers drawn Saturday were: 10-15-33-48-54. The Powerball number was 34. Wednesday's jackpot will be worth $93 (m) million dollars. The winning numbers for the midday 3 lottery on sunday were: 1-4-2. The winning numbers for the midday 4 lottery were: 4-4-2-2. The winning numbers for the evening 3 lottery were: 4-9-1. The winning numbers for the evening 4 lottery were: 5-0-7-1. The winning numbers for the fantasy 5 lottery were: 07-10-11-19-36. The winning numbers for the keno lottery were: 04, 07, 15, 17, 18, 19, 24, 26, 33, 39, 40, 43, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 60, 61, 70, 75. The winning numbers for the midday 3 lottery on Saturday were: 9-2-3. The winning numbers for the midday 4 lottery Saturday were: 8-3-1-3. The winning numbers for the evening 3 Saturday were: 9-2-1. The winning numbers for the evening 4 game Saturday were: 7-4-5-4. The winning numbers for the fantasy 5 lottery Saturday were: 04-10-16-20-35. The winning keno numbers Saturday were: 07, 08, 15, 18, 20, 24, 27, 28, 31, 32, 40, 42, 43, 50, 51, 55, 57, 62, 66, 69, 71, 79. Tuesday's Mega Millions jackpot will be worth $30 (m) million dollars. |
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