Steve Carmody

Not exactly 'beach' weather

Steve Carmody — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:13:26 +0000

The summer holiday season is getting off to a cool start this weekend.

There’s a chance of frost tonight in parts of Michigan. And daytime temperatures will struggle to make it into the low 70’s the rest of the weekend.

It may feel a little chilly for the first weekend of summer, but weather forecasters say more seasonable temperatures are coming.

But will this be a warmer or cooler summer?

Jeff Andresen is a state climatologist. He says Michigan’s average summer high temperatures range in the upper 70 to lower 80’s.

Lansing's mayor vetoes city council changes to his budget plan

Steve Carmody — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:04:14 +0000

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero today vetoed all the changes the city council made to his budget plan for next year.

The city council passed a budget on Monday that axed many of the mayor’s spending priorities in order to avoid new streetlight and fire hydrant fees. The fees would have added up to about 46 dollars a year for the average Lansing Board of Water and Light residential customer.

Money for road repairs, economic development, city IT services and personnel hiring were among the line items the city council axed from the budget.

AAA predicts a million Michiganders will hit the roads during the Memorial Day weekend

Steve Carmody — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:59:00 +0000

Ah, the summer road trip. Packing up the family and heading to the beach, a campground or the Upper Peninsula.

AAA Michigan predicts 1.1 million Michiganders will travel more than 50 miles by car or truck between Thursday evening and Monday night.

That’s about the same number as the past two summers.

Nancy Cain is with AAA Michigan. She says many Michiganders are forgoing the summer road trip this year.

“They’ll be traveling,” she says, “but perhaps not as much.”

Lansing's mayor threatens to veto parts of city budget approved by the city council last night

Steve Carmody — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:24:06 +0000

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero has a long list of items he plans to veto in the budget passed by the city council last night.

The Lansing city council struggled for three hours trying to agree on amendments to the proposed city budget for next year.

The numbers got so confused, the council took a forty minute break to give the city’s finance director time to figure out if the budget was still balanced, as it’s legally required to be.

Mayor Virg Bernero says the meeting was extremely disorganized.

Michigan's farmers' markets take a step toward adding wine sales

Steve Carmody — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:05:00 +0000

You could soon be able to pick up a bottle of wine at your local farmers' market.

Tomorrow, the state House Regulatory committee will discuss legislation that would allow wine sampling and sales at farmers’ markets. The bills (SB 79 and SB 279) have already passed the state Senate.

Donna McClurkan is with the Michigan Farmers Markets Association. She says it’s a way to support another part of Michigan's agricultural industry.

“We see it as a potential growth opportunity for aspiring small wineries,” says McClurkan.

Flint's budget balanced, but multimillion-dollar deficits loom

Steve Carmody — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:01:00 +0000

Flint’s emergency manager is delivering a balanced budget for next year, but the future may not be as bright.

The city of Flint is closing out its current fiscal year with a balanced budget. Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz says next year’s budget should be balanced as well. City officials gave state Treasury Department officials a briefing on the budget, before showing Flint’s city council the plan.

Flint city council members expressed concern that the proposed FY2014 budget is a little too tight.

Lansing city council votes on FY2014 budget tonight

Steve Carmody — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:30:00 +0000

The Lansing city council votes tonight on a budget for next year.

The vote will likely put the council at odds with Mayor Virg Bernero.

The mayor wants to fill a five million dollar hole in the 2014 budget, with added annual fees for city water and electricity customers. The money would pay for streetlights and fire hydrants.

Last week, the city council dumped the fees from the budget.

Flint's emergency manager to rollout the city's FY2014 budget today

Steve Carmody — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:23:00 +0000

Flint’s emergency manager will unveil the city’s budget plan for next year later today.

Elected officials in most Michigan cities have spent the past month or so holding public meetings to discuss and get public feedback on their spending plans for next year.

But in Flint, the emergency manager has sidelined the mayor and city council

So the budget has been drafted behind closed doors.

The plan will be made public late this afternoon, after state officials have had a look and possibly made some changes.

Michigan's got a dog bite problem

Steve Carmody — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:09:00 +0000

A new report says dog bites are a big problem in Michigan.

The American Veterinary Medical Association ranked Michigan sixth in the nation for dog bites.

According to the association, insurance companies paid out $4.6 million in claims for dog bites in Michigan in 2012.

Bonnie Beaver is a former AVMA president. She says they’re not sure exactly how big the problem is.

The East Lansing Art Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend

Steve Carmody — Sat, 18 May 2013 16:04:00 +0000

Up to 70 thousand people are expected to attend this weekend’s East Lansing Art Festival.

The festival marks its 50th anniversary this year. The festival started back in the mid-1960’s, when a group of local artists simply wanted to hold a small show along Grand River Avenue. It’s grown a lot since then.

Corinn Van Wyck is the festival’s director. She says organizers try to focus on the quality of art, not just quantity.

Michigan's gasoline prices pushing $4 a gallon - again

Steve Carmody — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:21:57 +0000

Gasoline prices have risen sharply during the last few days.

"GasBuddy.com" pegs Michigan’s average price per gallon at $3.85. That's up ten cents from a week ago, and it's 20 cents higher than the national average. Many gas stations are already charging $3.99 a gallon, with a few charging more than four dollars.

Gregg Laskoski is a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. He says prices are not rising because of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.

Laskoski blames refinery problems in Indiana and Illinois for prices pushing four dollars a gallon.

Showdown brewing over Lansing's city budget for next year

Steve Carmody — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:00:25 +0000

The Lansing city council has rejected a plan to increase fees on city utility customers.

Today the city council approved a budget plan that axes the 46-dollar utility fee and several million dollars in spending in the mayor’s proposed budget for next year. Final council approval is expected Monday night.

“I think many of us had heard the concerns that people wanted to make sure we were making the cuts that needed to be made,” says Carol Wood, Lansing city council president.

Dow Chemical plans to appeal a big class action suit decision

Steve Carmody — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:43:24 +0000

A federal judge has slapped Midland-based Dow Chemical with a billion dollar judgment in a price fixing case. The company allegedly colluded with its competitors to fix the price of urethane.

The collusion allegedly occurred between 1998 and 2003. Urethane is used in automotive, construction, appliance and furniture products.

In February, a jury turned in a 400 million dollar verdict against Dow Chemical. This week, a federal judge tripled the penalty to $1.2 billion.

Dow plans to appeal the verdict. BASF, Huntsman International and Lyondell Chemical Company have already reached out of court settlements with the plaintiffs.

Two big jackpots stoking lottery fever in Michigan

Steve Carmody — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:11:00 +0000

Michigan lottery players are dreaming of winning two huge jackpots these days.

More than 700 million dollars is on the line in this weekend’s Powerball and Mega Millions drawings.

Andi Brancato is the spokeswoman for the Michigan Lottery. She says the two big jackpots are pushing lottery ticket sales.

“Maybe you have regular Mega Millions players who think ‘Gee, maybe I’ll get a Powerball ticket as well’,” says Brancato, “and vice versa with the Powerball players.”

Michigan's jobless rate dips again, total workforce rises

Steve Carmody — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:56:02 +0000

Michigan’s unemployment rate declined by one tenth of one percentage point last month.

Michigan’s April unemployment rate was 8.4%, down seven tenths of a percentage point from April of 2012. The state’s jobless rate has been on the decline since last September.

The biggest gains last month were found in the leisure, manufacturing and health services industries, while professional and business services posted a big decline.

And the state’s latest labor numbers are not just about people with jobs.