Mark Brush

If we're lucky, we can catch a glimpse of a migrating bird or two as they pick their way north, but most pass over without us ever knowing.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes it this way in their Round Robin blog:

An invisible river of animals, rivaling any scene from the Serengeti but consisting of half-ounce birds that pass quietly overhead, in the dark.

As the Obama Administration began making its case against 'the sequester' - the mandatory, across-the-board budget cuts that were never supposed to happen - delays at airports was one of the big issues they highlighted.

Here's Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood at a press conference on Feb. 22, where he said more than $600 million will have to come out of the Federal Aviation Administration budget.

So what will this mean at Detroit Metro?

LaHood said the majority of FAA employees will be furloughed for one to two days per pay period.

Michael Martinez writes for the Detroit News that airport officials don't expect cuts this month, but they do expect them next month:

Gov. Snyder announced today that he agrees with a state financial review team finding that Detroit is in a "financial emergency." His announcement clears the way for a state-appointed emergency manager. Snyder has a candidate in mind, but wouldn't give up any details on who he has chosen.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing reacted to the news this way:

With urgency in his voice, Gov. Snyder today announced that the city of Detroit is in a 'financial emergency.' An emergency financial manager appointment could follow. The city has ten days to appeal Gov. Snyder's finding.

Update 12:30 p.m.

When asked what role Detroit City Council would have in a city with an emergency financial manager, Snyder said he thinks they're "going to have an opportunity to define that."

"If they just want to yell... and not come up with any solutions," Snyder said, he doesn't expect them to be part of the process.

Gov. Snyder praised the work of Detroit Public Schools' emergency financial manager Roy Roberts and said he hopes a new emergency financial manager for Detroit would have similar success.

The school system has been under an emergency financial manager for years. When asked how a Detroit emergency financial manager could get the job done in 18 months, Snyder responded that the new emergency manager law calls for the appointment to be reviewed after 18 months.

In closing his remarks Gov. Snyder made a plea for people to stop fighting over this decision.

"This is not the time for fighting and blame. Detroit is in a financial emergency," the Gov. said.

"I want to solve it. I want to help you solve it. Let's just go. I would appreciate your support in this. It's about speaking up and taking action," said Snyder.

The Detroit Free Press reports Detroit City Council members are considering a lawsuit to stop the appointment of an emergency financial manager:

The council has been discussing its options during a meeting today, including the filing of a lawsuit to challenge an appointment.

“We have to fight till the end, but we have to fight smart,” Councilwoman Saunteel Jenkins said this morning.

12:15 p.m.

Gov. Snyder indicated he does have a candidate in mind for the job of emergency financial manager of Detroit, but he would not name that person saying it would be inappropriate to do so at this time.

The city has ten days to appeal his finding of a 'financial emergency.'

Gov. Snyder said the people in Detroit are suffering because of its failing finances.

When asked if the state would bring more resources into Detroit to help the police department, Snyder said he would rather 'partner' with the police department in the city to improve crime prevention.

12:08 p.m.

Saying he looks at today as a 'sad day' for the city of Detroit, Gov. Snyder said the city is in a 'financial emergency.'

City leaders now have ten days to appeal this decision. After that, an emergency financial manager can be named to run things in the city.

"We went from the top to the bottom over the last 50 or 60 years [in the city of Detroit]", said Snyder.

If city leaders contest the finding, there will be a hearing on March 12th, the Gov. said.

Compuware's headquarters is the One Campus Martius building in downtown Detroit.

JC Reindl of the Detroit Free Press reports this morning that the company plans to lay off 160 employees "and close or shrink" 16 offices around the world. Those layoffs will affect workers in Detroit:

Sources told the Free Press this week that several executive-level workers at the firm’s downtown Detroit headquarters lost their jobs, including a top official with a total compensation package last year that exceeded $1 million.

Compuware has yet to confirm or deny reports that it is actively seeking a buyer. In January the company’s board rejected an unsolicited $2.3-billion, $11-per-share offer from a New York hedge fund as too low.

Reindl reports the company employed close to 2,000 people in 2012 at its downtown headquarters.

Whole Foods announced today the store will open on June 5th in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood and will employ 75 people.

The store will be on the corner of John R and Mack, right off of Woodward Avenue.

The Associated Press reports details about job openings will be posted online April 2nd.

In the meantime, Whole Foods is holding informational meetings about jobs on March 5th, 6th, and 7th.

Parts of Detroit have been described as "food deserts," where access to healthy food can be a major problem. Whole Foods hopes to fill that void in Midtown.

The Austin, TX based chain received millions in tax breaks to build the store.

Some have questioned whether this is fair to other grocery stores operating in Detroit.

When it was announced that a Whole Foods would open in Detroit in 2011, Michigan Radio's Jennifer Guerra spoke with the competition:

Kim Smith lives in Detroit. Last year she opened Kim’s Produce, just a couple blocks over from where her competition will soon set up shop. As a resident of Detroit, she’s excited about Whole Foods coming to town:

"I mean that’s the question on everybody’s mind: When they move to Detroit, where am I gonna shop? So I think it is a really good thing for Detroit."

As for what Whole Foods will mean for her business?

"I don’t know. I really don’t know if we can really compete."

Gov. Rick Snyder's office just put out a news release saying the Governor will hold a "forum with invited Detroiters to discuss Detroit's financial situation."

It will be held at tomorrow at noon at the Detroit Public Television studios, 5057 Woodward Ave. in Detroit.

A live stream will be available as well.

It's widely expected that Gov. Snyder will appoint an emergency manager for the city.

Earlier today, the Detroit Free Press reported that Mayor Dave Bing said he doesn't expect Snyder to offer a name tomorrow:

The Affordable Care Act requires that for those Americans who can afford it, they must carry some form of health insurance starting on January 1st, 2014 or pay a fee.

Online 'health care exchanges' will be set up to help people buy health insurance who can't access it through an employer. If the states don't set up an exchange, the federal government will.

Gov. Snyder wanted legislators to set up a state-run exchange last year, but Republican legislators refused to vote on it, hoping the federal health care law would be overturned.

That didn't happen and the timeline for a state run exchange has passed.

Now some state Republicans are reluctantly voting in favor of a setting up a federal-state run exchange.

The Michigan House passed SB 61 and SB 62 today on a 92-18 vote. The bills go back to the Senate for a concurrence vote, and then they'll head to Gov. Snyder's desk for his signature.

The bills are aimed at overhauling how Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan operates in the state.

Similar bills were attempted in the last session of the legislature, but they contained controversial abortion language. The language required an optional rider for abortion coverage.

Gov. Snyder vetoed those bills.

These new bills don't have the abortion language.

More on the changes from MLive's Melissa Anders:

On today's show, troubling headlines have been coming out of Grand Rapids in recent  months a burst of violent crime. Today we take a look at what can be done to curb the violence.

And we turn an eye to medical care: just how can we fix inequality in access to health care in Michigan.

But to start things off... he has been an assistant Wayne County prosecutor, the deputy Wayne County executive under Edward McNamara. He was the CEO of the Detroit Medical Center.Today, Mike Duggan’s is making it official, he wants to be Detroit’s next mayor.

To take a closer look at the Duggan candidacy, we spoke with Rocelle Riley of the Detroit Free Press.

General Motors hopes to rid itself of the 'Government Motors' stigma over the next year or so. After announcing a big sell-off at the end of 2012, the U.S. Treasury has been quietly working on selling off the rest of its stake in GM.

But the government still wants a say in what the company pays its top executives.

The Detroit Free Press' Todd Spangler and Nathan Bomey reported early this morning that GM wants to give Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson a $2.1 million raise:

General Motors is proposing an $11.1-million compensation package for Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson this year, $2.1 million more than it paid him in 2012, according to documents obtained Monday by the Free Press.

But those reports have since been denied by General Motors, here's Bomey's report from later this morning:

The city of Flint consistently makes the list as one of the country's most violent.

Genessee County  Sheriff Robert Pickell says he has a plan to cut down on crime in Flint, but it would cost $3 million. That's $3 million Pickell would like from the state.

Ron Fonger of the Flint Journal reports Gov. Snyder has rejected Pickell's plan: