Rina Miller

Every Saturday Rina Miller talks with Michigan Radio's political analyst Jack Lessenberry about some of the biggest stories in the week's news. Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson was ordered to be in federal court this week, even though she asked someone else to speak on her behalf. Also, controversy surrounding Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R) brings up the question of whether Democrats can be competitive for the Speaker of the House’s seat in November. Plus, a Detroit scandal involving Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee creates head ache for Mayor Dave Bing.

A new version of Michigan's job search Website launched this week crashed almost immediately.

The site mitalent.org was designed to match people looking for jobs with job providers. It's meant to be the new and improved version of the state's old site, known as the Michigan Talent Bank.

Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget spokesman Kurt Weiss says a lot of people tried to log on to the new site on Monday.

Update at 4:30 p.m.

The Michigan Department of Community Health says six cases of fungal meningitis have now been confirmed in Michigan, and the number of cases nationwide have increased to 49. Five people have died from the disease.

Spokeswoman Angela Minicuci says it has not yet been determined from which health care clinics the patients contracted the meningitis.

Minicuci says fungal meningitis cannot be transmitted from person-to-person.

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A report commissioned by the owners of the Ambassador Bridge says Gov. Rick  Snyder has not given voters enough information about the economic impact of a proposed new span over the Detroit River. 

The analysis by a Grand Rapids consulting firm says plans for the new bridge are not economically feasible.

"A CEO in the private sector making a multi-billion-dollar investment with concerns about the bottom line in shareholder return would put this proposal under a lot more scrutiny than it appears the governor has," says Patrick O'Keefe, CEO of O'Keefe and Associates.

The state house has approved a bill that would let Michigan businesses get a liquor license more quickly. The review process often takes months, and in some cases, years.

The proposed law would allow a conditional liquor license while a review is under way.

A bill in the state House would let doctors prescribe medication to the partner of a patient who's been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease -- without examining the partner.

Every Saturday Rina Miller talks with Michigan Radio's political analyst Jack Lessenberry about some of the biggest stories in the week's news.

Scientists who are helping to build the a nuclear research facility at Michigan State University are the focus of a study that looks at teamwork. 

The construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams -- or F-RIB -- will take thousands of people.

The National Science Foundation kicked in about a million dollars for a study to see how well the teams communicate and work with other teams.

MSU Professor John Hollenbeck is one of the leaders of the study.

He says they'll use electronic badges with GPS to monitor interactions.

Two Southeast Michigan hospitals say beginning next year, job applicants who use tobacco of any kind will not be hired.  

Henry Ford and Beaumont health systems say the tobacco ban will include cigarettes, pipes, cigars, smokeless tobacco and electronic cigarettes.

Jay Holden is a Beaumont spokesman.

He says the policy will protect patients and personnel.

Organized gangs that steal from retail stores in Michigan are not only driving up prices, they're putting the public at risk. 

A Michigan judge has ruled a case against the Boy Scouts of America can go ahead.

In 2009, an assistant Scoutmaster with the Chief Okemos Council, which serves Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties, was accused of molesting two Scouts.  

Roger Young was charged with criminal sexual assault and possession of child pornography. He committed suicide later that year.

Calhoun County residents who are coping with deteriorating roads won't be able to blame the Road Commission anymore.

The state legislature passed a law in the spring that allows County Commissions to disband their Road Commissions.

Ingham County did so right away, and now Calhoun County has followed suit.

Art Kale chairs the Calhoun County Board of Commissioners.  He said the board took the action because of what it saw as financial mismanagement by the Road Commission.

Kale said the change had bipartisan support.

"When I hit a pothole, I don't look to see if it's a red pothole or a blue pothole. All I know is that this was the biggest issue our citizens were complaining about," said Kale.

Kale said the Road Commission's managing director will stay on at least through the end of his year-long contract and that no employee changes are planned.

He also said the Teamsters, which represents Road Commission workers, were in favor of dissolving the commission.

Every Saturday Rina Miller talks with Michigan Radio's political analyst Jack Lessenberry about some of the biggest stories in the week's news. This week they talk about Michigan Farm Bureau endorsing Democrat Debbie Stabenaw for the US Senate race, the Kwame Kilpatrick trail and the slew of art story headlines seen this week.

Heroin abuse is increasing in Michigan and so is the number of fatal overdoses.

Felix Sharpe of Michigan's Bureau of Substance Abuse and Addiction Services says that 680 people died from heroin overdoses in Michigan last year.

Many abusers of prescription painkillers have moved to heroin because of its price. Drugs like Oxycontin sell for up to $40 dollars a pill on the street, while heroin sells for about $10.

Sharpe says that many of the victims are young people whose first contact with opiates came through painkillers prescribed to parents and grandparents. He says parents need to lock up prescriptions or dispose of them if they're no longer being used.

According to The Michigan Department of Community Health Bureau of Substance Abuse and Addiction Services' 2011 annual report,  the number of people receiving treatment for heroin abuse in the state jumped from 7,857 in 2001 to 10,924 last year.

Rina Miller talks with Michigan Radio's political analyst Jack Lessenberry this week about the ballot proposals that were approved, the results of the special primary in Michigan's 11th congressional district and what happens now, and the medical marijuana debate in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming.