Michigan Radio Newsroom

The Associated Press is reporting that Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter will announce his candidacy in the Republican presidential primary on Saturday.

From the article:

The congressman from the Detroit suburb of Livonia confirmed Friday on WJR-AM he'll make a formal announcement about his candidacy on Saturday.

The 45-year-old McCotter is a lawyer and served as a state senator, Wayne County commissioner and Schoolcraft Community College trustee before entering the U.S. House in 2003.

Convention Centers in Michigan are starting to emerge from the recession and see more traffic. The Kalamazoo County Expo Center and Detroit’s Cobo Center are also renovating their spaces and improving their services. Thom Connors is General Manager at Cobo Center. He says the convention industry took a hit in 2008, but he sees a new trend.  

A case which was brought in part by Michigan residents against President Obama's health care legislation received a major defeat today as a federal appeals court ruled its mandate rules as constitutional.

From ABC News:

In a victory for the Obama administration, a federal appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. The decision marks the first time an appellate court has weighed in on the issue and also the first time a judge, appointed by a Republican president, has voted to uphold the law.

The case stems from a challenge from the Thomas More Center, a public interest law firm, and four Michigan residents who claimed that the individual mandate -- the portion of the law that requires individuals to buy health insurance by 2014 or pay a tax penalty-- is unconstitutional.

In his opinion Judge Boyce F. Martin Jr. of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals said the law is constitutional under the Commerce Clause because the provision "regulates economic activity" with a "substantial" effect on interstate commerce.

"In addition, " he wrote, "Congress had a rational basis to believe that the provision was essential to its larger economic scheme reforming the interstate markets in heath care and health insurance."

Martin, who was appointed to the bench by President Jimmy Carter, was joined in the decision by Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, who was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush. Before today every other judge who had voted to uphold the law was nominated by a Democratic president and those who voted against it were nominated by a Republican president.

-Brian Short, Michigan Radio Newsroom

Detroit is among a group of dozens of cities that could challenge 2010 census numbers according to the Associated Press.

Who doesn't wonder what public radio hosts actually look like?

Gaelan Kelly, an artist, went ahead and took a stab at making portraits of various hosts.

Here's the description from Kelly's website:

Well I'm sure we all do this with the voices on the radio, we (for some reason or other) get a mental picture of that person and it sticks.

The shock is when we actually end up seeing the face behind the voice and our mental image is shattered forever!

Michigan Democratic Congressman Gary Peters is partnering with the non-partisan Concord Coalition to present a town hall forum tonight.

Peters and the Coalition will lay out some facts and details of the federal government’s revenue and expenses, and then people will break into groups to talk about how to balance the budget. Michigan Radio's Jennifer White sat down with Peters to get more on the forum.

Democratic and Republican leaders are locked in an ongoing struggle over the federal budget.

Congressman Peters says:

"We’ve got a standoff in Washington. People aren’t working together. There are a lot of special interests involved pulling and tugging there."

The goal of the forum is to introduce some non-partisan, common-sense problem solving in to the mix, according to Peters.

Fourteen Michigan colleges and universities are getting ready for a fall campaign to encourage college students to stay in Michigan after graduation. This campaign, which includes private schools like Calvin College and Marygrove College, stems from research that showed students’ negative perceptions of Michigan. 

Bob Bartlett is President of the Michigan Colleges Foundation.  Bartlett says it will take some effort to change the perceptions of students.

You can no longer sell or give away a traditional drop-side rail crib in Michigan or in the rest of the country.

Drop-side cribs are one of the most popular crib designs. They have a side rail that can be raised and lowered for easier access to the child.

Drop-side cribs have caused more than 30 deaths since 2000.

Crystal Phillips is the Safety Center coordinator at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. She says she is telling parents to stop using the drop-side cribs immediately.

Michiganders don’t have to take a trip to see if their favorite beach is closed. 

BeachGuard is a website run by Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality. It tracks the water quality and closures of all public beaches in the state. 

Shannon Briggs is with the DEQ.

According to the Detroit Free Press, a spokesperson for an auto group is pushing back on a 56 miles-per-gallon efficiency requirement that the White House said may go into effect for 2025.

From the Detroit Free Press:

While Detroit’s automakers themselves are staying publicly mum so far on what they think of a 56-miles-per-gallon fuel economy target by 2025 floated by the White House last week, other interest groups are already weighing in.

Bailey Wood, a spokesman for the National Association of Auto Dealers, said that requiring an average of 56 m.p.g. for cars and light trucks would “mean a tremendous shift in the types of vehicles consumers would be able to buy,” and could price some consumers out of the market for smaller cars.

“To meet that goal, 55% of market share would be hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles, according to the Center for Automotive Research,” Wood said in a statement, noting that such vehicles made up less than 3% of what U.S. consumers bought last year.

-Brian Short, Michigan Radio Newsroom

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been found guilty of 17 of 20 corruption-related charges, including trying to sell President Obama's Illinois Senate seat.

ABC News reports:

A federal jury in Chicago this afternoon convicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of selling the U.S. Senate seat vacated when President Obama was elected in 2008.

The rock band U2 performed last night in Spartan Stadium, making it the second concert ever held at the venue according to the Detroit Free Press.

More from the Freep:

On what just might have been a perfect June night in mid-Michigan, U2 reached high to create its own summer masterpiece.

The powerhouse Irish band brought its 360° Tour to Spartan Stadium on a gorgeous Sunday night, delivering a compelling, glorious performance on a mammoth high-tech stage.

It was a visual and sonic spectacular that deeply resonated with the elbow-to-elbow to crowd, keeping fans off their seats and occasionally dropping their jaws.

Only the stadium’s very upper corners were bare on a night that drew more than 65,000 for just the second-ever concert at the venue.

-Brian Short, Michigan Radio Newsroom

Fifteen Flint Community Schools will offer free preventative dental services this July.  The services are a part of the Smiles Program, a mobile dental office that provides care to low income students. 

Bob Campbell is Community Manager at Flint Community Schools.

"These are all schools where we have summer programs. So these schools will be already active, and it’s also a good time for the organization because they service the entire state."

All teachers in Michigan may be evaluated based on the success of their students.

That’s the goal of legislation introduced by state representative Tim Melton this week. He wants student achievement to be 50 percent of a teacher’s annual evaluation.

Michigan Radio was very pleased to learn that the station won one of 3 RTDNA/UNITY awards for the Muslims in Michigan project. The award is presented to honor outstanding achievements in the coverage of diversity.

The Muslims in Michigan project was formed out of a partnership between Michigan Radio and the University of Michigan Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies. The five part radio series examined life for Muslim people living in Michigan. Beyond religion, the series also explored the cultural, political, ethnic, and social lives of this diverse group. The project also featured film events, speakers, and a community conversation.

You can find out more about Muslims in Michigan series at the story's website.