Michigan Radio Newsroom

In a press release today, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources says Joseph Seeberger has both a state record and now a world record-sized Great Lakes muskellunge.

The International Committee of the Modern Day Muskellunge World Record Program (MDMWRP) recognized Seeberger’s catch as the biggest ever.  MDMWRP is a committee of muskellunge scientists, industry leaders, anglers and outdoor media personalities that formed in 2006.

Prior to Seeberger's submission, there had not been a MDMWRP world-record entry verified.

Michigan State University researchers may have developed a model to help advertisers figure out where to put their dollars. They say that's critical in an environment where people now view TV while using smart phones, laptops or tablets.

Chen Lin is a marketing professor at MSU who helped develop the model. She says with a little information, it can predict consumer behavior with up to 97% accuracy.  “If you give me the demographics and the media consumption habits for your consumers, I can predict exactly where you should allocate your firm resources.”

Bridge Magazine published an article this week that shows the scale and value of Michigan's tourism sector.

Contributor Jeff Alexander writes the sector accounts for $17.7 billion of Michigan's $300 billion-plus economy.

Citing state tourism data, Alexander writes since it's launch in 2006,  the Pure Michigan campaign has helped attract out of state visitors by focusing on the states natural beauty and historic attractions.

Ursula Zerilli at MLive.com is reporting that a second Kalamazoo Library site has been closed due to bedbugs.

This time they were found in the Children's Room of the Kalamazoo Public Library's Central Library.

Earlier this week, MLive.com reported they were also found at the Washington Square Branch.

"We received a couple of books in the drop box and during a routine inspection, bed bugs were found," said Farrell Howe, a library spokesperson. "They were quarantined in plastic bags and destroyed and we are having an inspection take place."

Because they can become a big problem, the library staff is now trained to check every returned book binding for bed bugs.

The Children's Room is closed until Wednesday.  The Washington Square Branch got the OK to reopen last week after "bug sniffing" dogs inspected the site.

The Kalamazoo Public Library's Central, Oshtemo, Eastwood and Alma Powell branches have also been tested.

- Chris Zollars, Michigan Radio Newsroom

Detroit native, Charlie LeDuff is an author, journalist, and filmmaker, as well as a reporter for Fox News Detroit and The Detroit News .

He is also a former journalist for the New York Times and a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his work on the New York Times piece "How Race is Lived in America."

Currently LeDuff has been gaining press for his newly published autobiography titled Detroit: an American Autopsy.

Snow blankets most of the state

Most of the Lower Peninsula is blanketed in snow as an overnight storm brought up to 9 inches in some areas, creating a potentially treacherous morning commute and causing many school districts to cancel classes. 

Three to 7 inches of snow are expected in parts of mid and West Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press. Areas of Southeast Michigan received up to 5 inches of snow. Parts of the northern Lower Peninsula could get up to 9 inches. 

Snow is expected to continue throughout the morning, and it should taper off by around noon, the paper reported. 

Gov. Snyder releases budget proposal

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder released his annual budget proposal Thursday morning. 

"Sixty-one percent of the total investments we’re recommending are either for savings or education. This is a responsible budget. This is a budget to look to that long term, and learn from our past mistakes," Snyder said in his announcement. 

Among his priorities were increasing taxes to help pay for upkeep of the state's roads. Snyder proposed raising the gas tax to 33 cents a gallon for all types of fuel. He also wants to raise vehicle registration fees. 

Michigan Radio's Mark Brush has a run down of Snyder's other budget priorities, which include increasing funding for all levels of education and expanding medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act. 

Detroit charter school teachers vote to unionize

Teachers at Detroit's largest charter school voted overwhelmingly last night to be represented by a union. 

The teachers and staff at Cesar Chavez academy voted by a 2-1 margin to have the American Federation of Teachers represent them, Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody reports. 

Only a small number of Michigan’s charter schools have unionized employees.

Nate Walker is with the AFT. He expects teachers in some other Michigan charter schools will also unionize this year.

“I think in the future we can certainly expect more collective bargaining campaigns,” says Walker,  “But we can also expect charter school teachers to engage in the policy discussions that impact them.”

- Joseph Lichterman, Michigan Radio Newsroom

In this interview, Michigan Radio's Jenn White speaks with freshman Republican Rep. Dan Lauwers about being the "newbie" in Lansing.

White spoke with freshman Democratic Rep. Theresa Abed last week.

On this week's "That's What They Say," Michigan Radio's Rina Miller and English Professor Anne Curzan discuss how the misinterpretation of older words and their meanings led to the modern pronunciations and definitions of words such as "woodchuck" and "bridegroom."

"Linguists call that 'folk etymology,'" says Curzan. "Where speakers come up with an etymology on their own, and then what they think the etymology is affects the shape of the word."

One such example is the word "bridegroom."

"It was not always 'groom', it was actually in Old English a 'bridegoom', and 'goom', or 'gooma', was an Old English word for 'man.' So it was the 'bride's man,'" says Curzan.

Curzan also discusses the mystery of the origin of popular sayings, such as "the whole nine yards" and "rule of thumb."

Deadly Pileup Leaves Three Dead

Southeastern Michigan is waking up to calmer weather this morning, and hopefully, safer driving.

A massive 30 vehicle pileup on I-75 Thursday morning killed two children and one adult. At least 20 others are injured, and several were hospitalized.

Sandra Bernhard is appearing at The Ark in Ann Arbor this Friday and Saturday. We spoke with Bernhard about growing up in Michigan and her overall career.

She talks about Flint, a city she grew up in and how she plans to visit the city this weekend with a friend she met through Twitter.

President Obama will be sworn in publicly for his second term on Monday.

Michigan musician and storyteller Allison Downey remembers the President's first inauguration:
 

The amount of money you save can have a big impact on your child's life. 

State of Opportunity's Jennifer Guerra recently spoke with Erin Currier, director of the Pew Economic Mobility Project to learn more. According to Currier, a child is more likely to move up the income ladder when his/her parents are able to develop their own assets.

For 20 year-old Monique Norton, 2013 is all about developing her own assets. She's made it her New Year's resolution to save $4,000 by the summer. So far she's saved a little more than half.

Norton wants to use the money to provide a better life for her son, six-month old Jamar. For Norton, this means buying a decent used car and moving out of her mother's subsidized housing complex in Battle Creek.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway has resigned.

That news became public just hours after an ethics complaint was filed against her, along with an unprecedented request that she be suspended from the court.

The state Supreme Court had never been asked to take this kind of disciplinary action against a sitting justice.

Before the court acted on her suspension, Justice Hathaway’s attorney said she had already agreed to resign and won’t participate in any more cases. Hathaway’s resignation becomes official on January 21st.

The complaint accuses her of fraud and money laundering in a real estate deal, as well as lying about it to the Judicial Tenure Commission.        

Hathaway still faces a federal lawsuit that seeks to seize her Florida vacation home.         

Hathaway is a Democrat elected to the court in 2008. It will be up to Republican Governor Rick Snyder to name a replacement.

Update 4:26 p.m.

A lawyer says embattled Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway will retire on Jan. 21.

Steve Fishman tells The Associated Press that Hathaway filed the paperwork on Dec. 20. He made the disclosure Monday after a judicial watchdog agency filed a complaint and asked the Supreme Court to suspend Hathaway over a series of suspicious real estate transactions.

Fishman says the Judicial Tenure Commission was told about Hathaway's retirement in December. He says the filing of the 19-page complaint was a "gratuitous" move.

The commission says Hathaway committed "blatant and brazen" violations of professional conduct in the 2011 short sale of her home in Grosse Pointe Park. Hathaway and her husband put a debt-free Florida home in a relative's name, but regained the property when the Michigan sale was completed.

2:48 p.m.

The Michigan Supreme Court will be asked for the first time to suspend a sitting justice for misconduct.

The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission has filed a formal complaint against Justice Diane Hathaway. The disciplinary board has also asked the court to suspend Hathaway while the proceedings play out.

She has 14 days to respond to the complaint. Hathaway is accused of ethics violations for allegedly using property swaps to arrange a short sale that saved the couple hundreds of thousands of dollars -- a loss that was swallowed by the bank. The U.S. Attorney in Detroit has also filed a lawsuit against Hathaway.

The University of Michigan is researching an ultrasound scalpel that can detach a single cancer cell from surrounding tissue.

The team found a way to change laser light into sound energy with a beam smaller than a human hair.

The beam blasts and cuts with pressure, rather than heat.  

It may make nearly painless surgery possible since the beam is small enough to avoid nerve fibers.

Hyoung Won Baac worked on the project as a doctoral student.   He says it may allow a surgeon to be extremely delicate.

Teenage alcohol and cigarette use is down across the country, and Michigan is no exception.

That's according to the state's Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which collects information on Michigan high school students.

Though many risky behaviors are on the decline, obesity remains the state's biggest health concern, when it comes to students.

Kyle Guerrant helped with the study.   He says the success of the anti-tobacco campaign could help reduce other health concerns.

For the first time, Michigan's community colleges will be able to offer baccalaureate degrees for certain programs.

Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a bill that allows the state's community colleges to expand some of their two-year associate degree programs into four-year programs.

The bill allows these colleges to offer degrees in cement technology, maritime technology, energy production technology and culinary arts.

Michigan universities opposed the idea because it breaks their exclusive right to offer bachelor's degrees.

State representative John Walsh introduced the bill. He says the new programs will help advance a students' career and keep their talent in state.

"With a better education, a more thorough education, you can move up into management or take on other responsibilities that an Associate Degree student wouldn't be able to," he said.

The new year will come early for some people in Southeast Michigan. Tonight, Oakland County Parks and Recreation will host its annual "Almost New Year's" party.

The two-hour dance is specially created for the county's developmentally disabled adults. The party not only occurs before the year change, but the year-end countdown happens at 8:30 p.m. instead of midnight.

Sandy Dorey created the event. She says older parents and caregivers often don't want to stay out late on New Year's. She says it's also difficult to make reservations for Dec. 31.

"We just thought, 'It's a celebration.' We'd have the hats and everything else, so we just kick it off a few days early," she said.

Ford is creating 2,350 new jobs in Southeast Michigan. The Ford Motor Company announced a new plan to invest $773 million into six Michigan plants.

As part of last year's agreement with the United Auto Workers, the car maker pledged to create 12,000 new hourly jobs across the country.

Todd Nissen is a spokesman for Ford. He says his company is growing across the country.