Sarah Hulett

Over a thousand people packed a metro-Detroit banquet center last night to try and rescue Michigan’s budding film industry.

They’re mounting a campaign to persuade Michigan’s governor and lawmakers to preserve tax incentives for filming in the state. For the past three years Michigan has had the most generous credit in the nation, at 42 percent. Governor Rick Snyder wants to eliminate the tax break.

Movie industry supporters are pulling together a campaign to persuade Governor Rick Snyder to reconsider his plan to slash the state’s film tax incentives. For the past three years Michigan has had the most generous credit in the nation, at 42 percent.

Actor Jeff Daniels and columnist Mitch Albom will headline a meeting tonight in Livonia to talk strategy.

Fourth and eighth graders who took a national science test in 2009 posted the worst results among 17 big-city districts.

The scores are from the 2009 Trial Urban District Assessment in science, part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress test – which is often referred to as the “nation’s report card.”

Results for the fourth and eighth graders in Detroit who took the test were worse than 16 other big cities that participated.

Environmental advocates are criticizing a plan to scale back pollution controls for the sewer system that serves metro Detroit.

Officials with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department say population loss and the poor economy have forced them to revisit plans to build a massive underground tunnel along the Rouge River.

The tunnel would store untreated and partially treated sewage so that it wouldn’t get dumped into the river during rainstorms. Officials with DWSD say they still plan to build it, but it would be considerably smaller, and construction would be pushed back about a decade.

But critics say the public should be skeptical. James Clift of the Michigan Environmental Council says DWSD has consistently failed to deliver on promises of a cleaner system.

“Why should we believe you this time? We’ve had decades of permits being issued, and non-compliance from this system.”

Officials with the sewer system say their plan is affordable, and within Detroit’s ability to fund. And they say that will avoid delays tied to the city’s economic recovery.

There is a public hearing on the proposal tonight at 7:00 at U of M-Dearborn.

Wayne State University will offer certificate programs in advanced energy storage. Courses will focus on things like electric vehicle batteries, and updating the electric grid to handle electric vehicle charging.

Jay Baron is the president of the Center for Automotive Research. He says the car industry is clamoring for engineers with those skills:

"When you speak to any of the auto companies, they will tell you: if you’ve got a field of study that has the term 'battery' or 'energy storage' in it, you’ve piqued the interest. My daughter is looking for a job, and I’ve told her if there’s any way she can get 'battery' into the title of her degree, she’d do much better."

Baron says several universities are retooling their engineering programs to incorporate more battery-related course offerings.

But he says there are lingering questions about the long-term viability of the electric vehicle market.

Michigan now has its first-ever statewide advocacy group devoted to black-owned businesses.

The Michigan Black Chamber of Commerce will introduce its leaders and goals at a press conference in Detroit Monday.

Ken Harris is the group’s president and CEO. He says the number of black-owned businesses in Michigan is growing at three times the national rate:

"We want to identify emerging markets that we’re successful in currently, and then more importantly we want to move into areas where we’re not participating."

Harris says the organization will also lobby in Lansing and Washington DC, and there are plans for local branches in several Michigan cities. The group plans a convention in Detroit in June.

Federal prosecutors have charged 21 people with Medicare fraud in metro Detroit.

The indictments include doctors, physical therapists and clinic managers. They’re charged with billing Medicare for $23 million in services that either weren’t needed, or were never performed.

Andrew Arena heads the FBI’s Detroit office. He says one of the most striking examples is a physician who did $8 million worth of home visits:

Detroit’s two pension boards would be required to post all of their spending online, under a bill before the state House.

The legislation is a response to stories published in 2009 about board members’ travel expenses. The boards’ trustees, their attorneys and staff racked up bills totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars for trips to places like Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai.

State Representative Tom McMillin in the bill’s sponsor:

An agreement between Detroit’s mayor and suburban leaders could end years of wrangling over how the city’s massive water system is run.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department serves more than 4 million people in Southeast Michigan. It’s been the center of controversy for years. Suburban customers have complained about rate hikes and cost overruns, and they’ve demanded more say over how the department is run. 

The tentative deal seeks to address those issues. And Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner John McCulloch says it could serve as a model for regional cooperation:

"Of all the regional issues that we’re at odds over, this is one that if we can show we can make it work, we can certainly apply the same formula to all the other challenges in the region." 

The plan calls for Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties to each choose an appointee to the board that oversees the department. A supermajority would be required to approve rates and contracts.

Wayne County Executive Bob Ficano says it’s a good deal for everyone:

"This thing’s been a political football for decades now. And in the past, the parties weren’t able to come together and have a common basis. And plus Mayor Bing is not the previous administration. And I think that went a long way in galvanizing where everybody could work together."

The deal requires the approval of a federal judge. The water department has been under federal oversight since the late 1970s for environmental violations.

Update 6:01 p.m.:

Egyptians in Michigan are disappointed by the news that President Hosni Mubarak plans to remain in office until elections in September.

Ola Elsaid  is a doctor who lives in Rochester, north of Detroit. She stayed home from work today to watch the developments in Cairo.

Elsaid says Mubarak’s announcement was like “a slap in the face,” and she’s worried about the reaction it could produce:

"So we’re afraid that everybody’s going to revolt even more. We see the reaction from our families. I was speaking to my cousin, he’s already dressed and going down to the street to join the demonstration. And we’re just worried about the bloodshed that might ensue in Egypt right now."

Elsaid says she wants to see the U.S. government support the push for democracy in Egypt.

Update 4:39 p.m.:

We're waiting to hear the reaction from local Arab Americans to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's decision not to resign.  The New York Times filed this report from Cairo:

President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people Thursday that he would delegate more authority to his vice president, Omar Suleiman, but that he would not resign his post, contradicting earlier reports that he would step aside and surprising hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered to hail his departure from the political scene.  

In a nationally televised address following a tumultuous day of political rumors and conflicting reports, Mr. Mubarak said he would “admit mistakes” and honor the sacrifices of young people killed in the three-week uprising, but that he would continue to “shoulder my responsibilities” until September, and did not give a firm indication that he would cede political power.

Even as Mr. Mubarak spoke, angry chants were shouted from huge crowds in Cairo who had anticipated his resignation but were instead confronted with a plea from the president to support continued rule by him and his chosen aides. People waved their shoes in defiance, considered an insulting gesture in the Arab world. 

 NPR and BBC will provide continued coverage of the situation in Egypt throughout the evening on Michigan Radio.

A former chief of staff to Detroit City Councilman Ken Cockrel has been indicted in connection with a sludge-hauling scandal in Detroit.

John Clark resigned as Cockrel’s chief of staff in 2008, shortly after allegations came to light that he accepted $3,000 in bribes from a man who worked for Synagro Technologies. At the time, Synagro was trying to secure a sludge-hauling contract with the city worth $1.2 billion.

The man who allegedly bribed Clark, James Rosendall, was sentenced to 11 months in prison in 2009. Former city councilwoman Monica Conyers, and consultants Sam Riddle and Rayford Jackson have also been indicted in connection with the Synagro contract.

John Clark faces up to 10 years in prison for each of the two bribery counts he’s charged with in the indictment. He faces up to five years on two counts of lying to the FBI about the bribes.

Homeowners are starting to get their property tax assessments in the mail. A few organizations are hosting workshops for people who think their home’s value might be over-assessed.

Rose Bogaert is chair of the Wayne County Taxpayers Association:

"Going to the Board of Review and saying 'my taxes are too high' will get you nothing. You have to have information that justifies your contention that your house is over-assessed."

Bogaert says her organization’s workshops educate homeowners about things like how to analyze sales in their neighborhoods. Information about the Headlee Amendment and Proposal A – which govern property tax assessments in Michigan – is also part of the workshops.

Oakland County officials are also hosting a series of sessions about tax assessments through early March.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is expected to announce a program Monday to encourage more police officers to live in the city.

Detroit had a residency requirement until 1999, when the state Legislature outlawed it. Now more than half the officers on the police force live outside the city limits.

Mayor Bing has said he believes neighborhoods are safer when the cops who patrol them live there too. But Detroit Police Officer Carol Harris says she doesn’t agree.

"When I did live in that community that I did patrol, the people that I arrested also know who I was, where I lived and were to come after me, so… it’s just not a safe place."

Harris now lives in Wyandotte, and has an eight-year-old son. She says there’s “no way” she’d consider moving back to Detroit.

She says younger officers without families might be willing to entertain the idea. But Harris says cops who live elsewhere still have a vested interest the city, and care about its future.

A Royal Oak man is suing the city over its medical marijuana restrictions, which took effect this week.

Adam Leslie Brook is a cancer patient in chronic pain who’s certified to use the drug under Michigan’s medical marijuana law. The law allows Brook to grow up to 12 plants at his home. But Brook’s attorney, Joseph Niskar, says Royal Oak’s new zoning rules bar him from doing that: