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In this morning's Michigan news headlines. . .

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Michigan unemployment rate up to 9.4 percent

"There were more Michiganders out of work in August. The state’s unemployment rate jumped last month. Michigan’s unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent in August. That's up four tenths of a percent from the July jobless rate. Unemployment has been rising in Michigan for the past four months. Now is at its highest point since last November. A big reason for the jump is large cuts in manufacturing jobs. On the positive side, Michigan’s unemployment rate was still a full percentage point lower last month than it was in August 2011. There were also some gains in the number of people finding work in the professional business and government sectors," Steve Carmody reports.

Public defense bill moves forward

"There’s progress on a bill that aims to fix the state’s public defense system. The House Judiciary committee yesterday sent the measure to the House floor. It would create a state commission to set standards for how counties appoint attorneys to represent defendants who can’t afford one. Right now, Michigan’s system ranks among the worst in the country," Jake Neher reports.

Kilpatrick jury decided

"A jury has now been seated in former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s public corruption trial. The trial is set to start this week. Kilpatrick and three others face a host of federal charges, centering on the allegation that they ran city government like a criminal enterprise. The jury selection process went on for nearly two weeks. Defense lawyers repeatedly expressed concern there were too few blacks in the jury pool. Today, the judge and lawyers finally settled on a 12-person panel that includes five blacks and one Latino juror. The six-person alternate panel also includes three African-Americans," Sarah Cwiek reports.

 

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