Stateside with Cynthia Canty

Brooms up! This weekend in Genesee County there will be a big exhibition match of quidditch. Yes, that's the sport played by the witches and wizards of the Harry Potter novels.

Since true witches and wizards are in fairly short supply around these parts, this will be Muggle Quidditch, “muggle” being the name applied to all of us non-magical types.

College players from the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern, Miami of Ohio and more will be playing the game at the Deer Run Soccer Complex in Linden Township.

Krystina Packard, a former quidditch player with Michigan State, joined us in the studio to tell us how a game that was created in the imaginative mind of author J.K. Rowling has become a surprisingly serious sport for these muggles.

Listen to the full interview above.

A piece of history is being written in the United States Congress.

Tomorrow is the day that John Dingell becomes the longest-serving member of Congress ever, surpassing the late Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

He began representing the people of southeast Michigan on December 13, 1955. And 57-and-a-half years later, he is still there.

He joined us today to talk about his experiences.

Listen to the full interview above.

When Jimmy Rhoades was 26-years-old, his father was diagnosed with cancer. Rhoades was told he would have between six months and a year left with his dad. He went home, and really got to know his father.

"I found out more about his biography in the last six months of his life than in the previous 26 years," Rhoades said.

With the loss of another family member after his father passed away, Rhoades realized the therapeutic value in having your story heard. 

It’s time to "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" as the Cole Porter song goes. And, while you're brushing up on your Shakespeare, you can get in touch with Mother Nature.

It's pretty common to find outdoor summer productions of Shakespeare. But for 13 years Shakespeare in the Arb has been staging the bard's plays outdoors in a different way.

Shakespeare in the Arb is kicking off its 13th season with "Much Ado About Nothing." It's presented by the University of Michigan Matthei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, and the U of M Residential College.

Katherine Mendeloff, a lecturer in the Drama Department of the Residential College, joined us in the studio today.

Listen to the full interview above.

It's Thursday, which means it’s time for our weekly check-in with Detroit News Business Columnist Daniel Howes.

This week, it seems the topic is the fact that the proverbial "Day of Reckoning" is at hand when it comes to the City of Detroit. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is trying to work out settlements with the city's creditors, and the treasures at the Detroit Institute of Arts could be at risk.

He joined us in the studio today to discuss the issue.

Listen to the full interview above.

He's worked with 11 presidents, taken several thousand votes, and tomorrow, Michigan Congressman John Dingell becomes the longest serving member of Congress ever. We spoke with Dingell about his 57 years in D.C.

And, Shakespeare in the Arb is starting its 13th season with “Much Ado About Nothing.” Katherine Mendeloff, a lecturer in the Drama Department of the Residential College, spoke with us about the upcoming performances.

And, this weekend, Harry Potter fans are gathering in Michigan to watch college quidditch teams compete. Former player Krystina Packard joined us in the studio.

Also, a new project launched in Ann Arbor is working to bring together high school students and senior citizens to make history come alive. We spoke with the project’s co-founder and one of the participating teachers about how this has impacted students.

First on the show, it's time for our weekly check-in with Detroit News Business Columnist Daniel Howes.

This week, it seems the topic is the fact that the proverbial "Day of Reckoning" is at hand when it comes to the City of Detroit. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is trying to work out settlements with the city's creditors, and the treasures at the Detroit Institute of Arts could be at risk.

He joined us in the studio today to discuss the issue.

Election 2014 is coming up, and the U.S. Senate seat will be open as Democratic Senator Carl Levin retires.

Michigan Congressman Gary Peters announced last month that he will run for the Democratic nomination, but there appeared to be some hesitation on the part of Republicans.

That is, until this week, when former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced she will run as a Republican in the race.

Terri Lynn Land joined us in the studio today.

Listen to the full interview above.

It seems there is at least one thing we can agree on in our state: the need to fix our roads, potholes, crumbling bridges, and decades-old infrastructure. But we can’t seem to agree on how to pay for it.

As we’ve talked about before on Stateside, Gov. Snyder says he wants more than a billion dollars just this year to fix the state’s roads and bridges. The Governor floated the idea of an increase in the gas tax and drivers paying more vehicle registration fees. Neither of those proposals, however, has gained traction in Lansing.

Now the state budget becomes almost complete with only some $350 million in road funding.

All of this leads to the question: Why is it so hard to find a way to fix our roads?

Craig Thiel is a Senior Consultant at Anderson Economic Group here in Michigan. He recently wrote a piece in Bridge Magazine entitled “Will there ever be a good time to fund road repairs?”

Thiel joined us in the studio today to discuss the issue.

Listen to the full interview above.

When we think about food grown in Michigan, many people might assume that Michiganders are the ones who are consuming it.

It turns out we aren't the only ones eating our state's crops.

Michigan is number 17 among other states in agricultural product exportation, but that could increase in the next ten years. 

Jamie Zmitko-Somers is with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

When you hear the phrase "social media" and think of what that phrase represents--Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr and more--it seems strange to think that not even a decade ago, many of us had never even heard of "social media."

And with so many choices, you can find the social media site that truly reflects your interests and goals for social media networking.

And if you can't find one, you can come up with your own social media site. That is what native Ann Arborites Steve Clausnitzer and Mark Katakowski did with their new site called Hubski.

The two co-founders joined us today.

Listen to the full interview above.

There's a growing push in Michigan to start exporting more food like soy beans, cherries, and blueberries internationally. We took a look at the consequences for farmers, consumers and the state economy if more Michigan-grown food leaves the state.

And, former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has thrown her hat into the 2014 Senate race, a seat open because of Carl Levin's retirement. We talked to Land about why she wants to be the Republican nominee.

Also, two native Ann Arborites have created a brand new social media website called Hubski. The two co-founders joined us today to tell us all about it.

First on the show, it seems there is at least one thing that we can agree on in our state: the need to fix our roads, potholes, crumbling bridges, and decades-old infrastructure.

What we can’t seem to agree on is how to pay for the fixes.

As we’ve talked about before on Stateside, Governor Snyder says he wants more than a billion dollars just this year to fix the state’s roads and bridges.

The Governor floated the idea of an increase in the gas tax and drivers paying more vehicle registration fees. Neither of those proposals however, has gained traction in Lansing.

Now, the state budget becomes close to complete with only some $350 million in road funding.

So, all of this leads to the question: why is it so hard to find a way to fix our roads?

Craig Thiel is a Senior Consultant at Anderson Economic Group here in Michigan and he recently wrote a piece in Bridge Magazine titled, “Will there ever be a good time to fund road repairs?”

Craig joined us in the studio today.

In August 2012, a 26-year-old Detroiter named Everett Dwayne Avery made gay slurs and attacked Justin Alesna in line at a gas station. 

Avery was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he plead guilty to violating the Federal Hate Crimes Protection Act.

Equality Michigan is a group that is part of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) that works to end violence against and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and HIV-affected communities.

The group recently released a report on anti-LGBTQ and HIV-affected hate violence.

As gas prices kept marching ever-upward, one thing we could always say here in Michigan was "well, at least we're not as bad as some places."

As anyone who's gassed up this week has sadly realized, that is no longer the case.

Michigan's average gas price is now the second highest in the country. Only Hawaii tops our pump prices.

AAA finds we're paying an average of $4.10 a gallon. That's up 23 cents from a week ago, and 47 cents more than the same time last year. And this comes as the national average slips a penny to $3.62 a gallon.

So what happened?

Patrick DeHaan, Senior Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy.com, joined us today in the studio to tell us.

Listen to the full interview above.

Think back to the last time you visited your local library. Did you check out a new best-selling book? Borrow a DVD? Meet your study group? Look something up in the reference section?

Since the early 20th Century, libraries have been a fundamental piece of the services people expect from their cities or counties.

But the library we grew up with is changing. The way we interact with the library and the services it offers is also changing.

With new technologies changing the way we access information, we wondered: what does the future hold for libraries?

Joseph Janes, the Chair of Library and Information Science at the University of Washington and the Founding Director of the Internet Public Library joined us along with David Votta, the Community Engagement Library at Midwest Collaborative for Library Services to discuss the issue.

Listen to the full interview above.

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow suspicion-based drug testing as a condition of welfare in Michigan. People on cash assistance could lose their benefits if they test positive for an illegal substance.

As Michigan Public Radio’s Jake Neher reported, it’s not clear how the bill would affect medical marijuana patients. 

To listen to the full story, click the audio above.

In 2004, 58% of Michigan voters voted yes to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

But that was nearly a decade ago. Since that vote, there's been an annual survey testing Michiganders' attitudes towards the issue. And the latest survey by the Glengarriff Group shows a major turnaround in the way we view same-sex marriage.

Today, Michigan voters back gay marriage by a 57% to 37% margin — almost an exact reversal of the vote on the constitutional ban.

With that backdrop, four Democratic senators have proposed a package of legislation that would advance recognition of same-sex marriage in our state.

A group of Democratic Senators in Lansing have proposed a package of bills dealing with marriage equality. We spoke with state Senator Rebekah Warren about why she thinks now is the time to bring up these measures.

And, the library you may have grown up with is changing. We took a look at the new technologies changing the way we access information and what that means for the future of libraries in Michigan.

Also, Michigan gas prices are now the second-highest in the country. Patrick DeHaan, a Senior Petroleum Analyst, spoke with us about how this happened.

First on the show, state lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow suspicion-based drug testing as a condition of welfare in Michigan. People on cash assistance could lose their benefits if they test positive for an illegal substance.

As Michigan Public Radio’s Jake Neher reported, it’s not clear how the bill would affect medical marijuana patients.

Lawmakers in Lansing are quickly wrapping up the state budget for the next fiscal year. What will the $50 billion spending plan mean for you?

And, we took a look at the efforts to help prison inmates rebuild their lives through post-secondary education.

Also, we got an update on just how close the Asian Carp is to the Great Lakes.

First on the show, the Council of Great Lakes Governors met this past weekend on Mackinac Island.

The group talked of economic cooperation, and harmonizing plans for protecting the largest body of freshwater on the Earth’s surface. The discussions were mostly nice, but there were some disagreements, especially when it came to dealing with invasive species.

Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta joined us today to explain.

One of the biggest challenges we face as a state and as a nation is how do we keep paroled prisoners from becoming repeat offenders and winding up back behind bars?

Solid evidence points to postsecondary education as one of the major keys to helping former inmates build productive lives after parole.

After many years without any funding for prisoners to be able to access higher education, the Michigan Department of Corrections has gotten a one million dollar grant to launch postsecondary educational programs and vocational training to a small number of inmates who are near parole.

Michigan almost has a final budget for the next fiscal year, at almost $50 billion dollars.

Lawmakers and Governor Snyder's tentative deadline for completion was June 1, which they didn't quite make, but the budget should be finished this week.

Chad Livengood, a Lansing reporter for the Detroit News, and Chris Gautz, a Capitol Correspondent for Crain's Detroit Business spoke with Michigan Radio's Cynthia Canty about what we can look for in the budget.

"There's not a lot of big, huge things in it. The governor didn't get everything he wanted -- he didn't get the $1.2 billion more for roads and didn't get authorization to add more to a Medicare expansion," Livengood said.

Gautz and Livengood identified specific funding changes in the budget, including a huge boost in early childhood education funding.

To hear the full audio, click the link above.