Politics & Government

A measure that would require Michigan schools to have anti-bullying policies has taken a small step forward. But one father says lawmakers are taking too long and doing too little.

Matt Epling was 14 years old when he was lured to an East Lansing park where he was assaulted and pelted with eggs by a group of older boys in 2002.

Officials called the incident “hazing.”

Kevin Epling says his son had been a confident, creative kid, but the public humiliation was too much. Matt took his own life a few weeks after the attack.

Canada's historic election--check out this excellent commentary by Jack Lessenberry for his thoughts on coverage of the event in the United States--happened earlier this week, resulting in Stephen Harper's Conservative Party increasing their share of the Canadian government.

The Conservative government will be the first majority government in seven years.

The results are good news for Rick Snyder, as Harper and his party are expected to maintain their previous offer of $550 million to defray costs surrounding a new Detroit-Windsor bridge, which the governor supports.

The federal government wants to make money selling real estate. The government has released an interactive map of about 12 thousand federal “excess” properties, including 55 in Michigan.

The government says most of these properties have little market value. But, President Obama wants legislation to increase the number of properties and the speed of sales. He wants the government to use a process similar to that used to decommission old military bases.

Daniel Werfel is the United States Controller

Update:

Robert Bobb, the outgoing emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools, has released a statement regarding Roy S. Roberts, the man who will replace him in that position:

Roy Roberts is an exceptionally strong choice to continue the heavy lift of restructuring and reforming the interconnected finances and academics of Detroit Public Schools.

His position as an icon in the African American community and in the City of Detroit will be of huge benefit to DPS and also a role model for DPS students.

President Obama and his administration have declined to release photos of Osama bin Laden's dead body.

There are worries, voiced by the White House, that the images could "inflame sensitivities."

CBS originally broke the story, and according to NPR's Two-Way blog, White House spokesman Jay Carney just confirmed that the photos will not be released.

From the BBC:

US officials have been discussing whether to publish pictures of Bin Laden's body to counter conspiracy theories that he did not die.

The voters sent an important message yesterday, to themselves and their communities, and indirectly to the politicians in Lansing. It’s a message the governor and legislature need to hear.

Specifically, the people said that they are willing to pay more for services  important to them. They aren’t necessarily happy with the way things are going or with the people running things. In West Michigan area, they tossed out a boatload of school board members.

Yet the same voters renewed a number of millage proposals, often by wide margins. Sometimes they even voted to increase their taxes, when they were convinced services were necessary.

Grand Rapids narrowly voted to increase a rapid transit millage. Hudsonville voted millions to upgrade the school system.

This trend was especially strong in Southeast Michigan. Struggling, older blue-collar suburbs like Ferndale and Hazel Park have been hard hit by declining property values and a steep drop in state revenue sharing.

Yesterday, they asked their hard-pressed citizens for new money to keep up services.

These aren’t people who have a lot of money, and many no longer have jobs. But they said yes. In tiny Clawson, the people voted more money for their library, a year after the voters in the neighboring and more affluent city of Troy voted to close theirs.

By far, the biggest story was in Southfield, a city of office towers and mostly well-maintained split-level and ranch homes north of Detroit. Seventy percent of its seventy thousand residents are African-American -- mostly middle-class families.

City leaders laid it on the line. They needed a five mill property tax increase, mostly for police and fire services, and they needed it now. Otherwise, they would have to lay off half the city’s police and firemen. Residents knew what that could mean.

They voted the additional taxes by a margin of five to one. Now, these results do not mean that the voters are in a wildly spending mood. They seemed discerning. In Flint, they voted money to keep policemen on the job, but turned down a request for new funds to reopen it the city jail. In blue-collar Garden City, home of iconic rocker Mitch Ryder, officials asked for a twelve-mill increase. Voters said that was too much. They also were reluctant to combine services, such as police and fire. They said no to that in cities as different as Jackson and Harper Woods.