Zoe Clark

Lawmakers at the state Capitol continued to choose legislative leaders yesterday. In the Senate: Republican state Senator Randy Richardville of Monroe was elected as the next Senate Majority Leader.

New Leaders in Lansing

Kathy Barks Hoffman, of the Associated Press, has a great piece in the South Bend Tribune that takes a look at what went wrong for Democrats in the state before Election Day.  She writes:

Michigan Democrats started 2010 with their main candidate for governor withdrawing from the race, donors feeling the pinch of the poor economy and the drag of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's unpopularity hanging around their necks.

On November 2nd, Republicans won the Governor's office and the races for Attorney General and Secretary of State.  The GOP also widened their majority in the state Senate and won control of the state House of Representatives from the Democrats.

Hoffman notes that Democratic voters did not turn out to the polls like they did in the 2006 gubernatorial election.  She sites data from political strategist Ed Sarpolus that shows 300,000 fewer Democrats voted compared to four years ago.

Hoffman cites other reasons for the Democrat's loses:

• Independent voters swung toward the GOP
• Democrats didn't know very much about their candidates
• Democratic candidate for governor Virg Bernro couldn't match Republican candidate (and now governor-elect) Rick Snyder's fundraising
  

Amind a continuing strike by its musicians, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has canceled concerts through November 28th.  The Associated Press reports:

Andrew Shirvell Fired

Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency briefed people at a meeting last night in Battle Creek about the continuing clean-up of the Kalamazoo River oil spill.  EPA officials say they've finished cleaning up 50 sites in the river. 

Governor-elect Rick Snyder announced this morning in Ann Arbor that he has picked Democrat Andy Dillon to be state treasurer.  Dillon is currently the Speaker in the Michigan House of Representatives.  Interestingly enough, Dillon lost the Democratic bid to be Michigan's next governor to his primary opponent Virg Bernero.  Bernero went on to lose the general election on November 2nd to Snyder.

Chrysler says it narrowed its losses in the 3rd quarter of this year. The automaker reported a net loss of $84 million from July through September. That’s less than half of its $172 million loss in the second quarter. The automaker says this was the third quarter in a row of better-than-expected financial results.

Snyder Filling Positions in New Administration

Update 8:34 AM:

The Associated Press is reporting Govenror-elect Rick Snyder has chosen House Speaker Andy Dillon to be the state's next treasurer.  Former Lt. Gov Dick Posthumus will be his legislative affairs advisor.

7:16 AM:

It appears that Republican state Senator Randy Richardville, who represents Michigan's 17th Senate District, will be the state's next Senate Majority Leader.  On it's Facebook page, the Gongwer News Service says, "Richardville is assured election... as incoming Senator John Pross will drop out of the race."  

It's that time of year again... time to turn back the clocks.  We'll gain an hour this Sunday, November 7th when we change back to Standard Time at 2 a.m.  Dayight Saving Time officially returns on the second Sunday in March when we jump forward an hour. 

Informal discussions have resumed between striking members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and their managment.  In seperate statements released today, both sides said the talks are aimed at getting the

With 20 days to go until Thanksgiving, maybe you're looking to buy airline tickets for holiday travel? Well, if you're flying out of Detroit Metro Airport expect to pay-up. The Detroit Free Press checked round-trip routes to and from Detroit and found:

Fares have risen in the last two weeks. Nationally, holiday fares are about 4% higher than last year depending on the route and date.

It's being reported that Governor-elect Rick Snyder will not be moving into the Governor's mansion in Lansing anytime soon.  Instead, Snyder will live in his Ann Arbor-area home and commute to the state Capitol.  Snyder's youngest daughter, Kelsey, is still finishing high school in the area and Snyder doesn't want to move until she graduates.