Several hundred demonstrators braved cold and snow to gather in front of the state Capitol Saturday afternoon. It was both a gesture of support for Wisconsin protesters, and to oppose some Republican-sponsored measures before the Michigan Legislature.
This was the third big rally this week by unionized teachers, police officers, and other public workers opposed to taxing pensions, suspending arbitration rights, and requiring workers to pay more of their health care costs.
Governor Rick Snyder says he is anxious to avoid the angry standoffs between public employee unions and Republican leaders that have taken place in other states.
More snow on the heels of more snow is bringing up talk of records in Michigan.
For the Detroit area, NOAA lists 1908 as the snowiest February on record when 38.4 inches fell in the area.
The Detroit News says this winter has been the second snowiest on record with a total of 30.3 inches falling in February.
The News spoke with Karen Clark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service:
Clark said she doesn't think the rest of the month will be snowy enough to break the record. "Let's hope not," she said. "That would be a lot of snow in the next few days."
The Detroit News has some historical photographs of snowstorms past in an article from 2002.
What snow storms do you remember most? The blizzards of 1978 and 1979 come up a lot in our office.
Fighting for Film Incentives
Groups met last night to push the Michigan Governor and Legislature to reconsider cutting the Michigan Film Incentive tax credits.
Hulett covered a group meeting last night in metro-Detroit:
The message people need to deliver to Lansing, said Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom, is that the credits have created a rare bright spot in Michigan’s economy:
"This is not about saving Tom Cruise. This is about saving Tom Farmington Hills, and Tom Novi and Tom Detroit."
Hulett reports that "Governor Snyder wants to get rid of the tax credit and replace it with a program worth $25 million a year."
Here's a video of the meeting last night from Fox 2 News in Detroit:
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling gave a "State of the City" address last night, and like much of the state - and the country, for that matter - Walling talked cuts.
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling spent much of last night address talking about what’s working in his city. But he also talked about what he thinks would help the city deal with a growing budget deficit, ‘shrinking the size of city hall.’ Walling wants to drop funding for some city commissions and eliminate some executive positions.
"My proposed changes would save the city of Flint $6 million over 4 years. Over $15 million dollars over 10 years. Its not the whole solution. But its an important part of it. Its an important part that makes a difference."
The city of Flint wants to cover its $17 million budget deficit by raising funds on the bond market.
It has to get permission from the State Administration Board to do that. So far, the Board has tabled its decision.
If the city can't raise bond money, it might be facing bankruptcy or a state takeover.
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.
The city of Flint is facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit. And in his state of the city address tonight, Mayor Dayne Walling proposed ‘shrinking’ the size of city hall as one partial solution.
“I’m not giving up on Flint…and I know you’re not either"
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.
If you had any doubts about how difficult the situation is for local governments these days, consider this. Even before they tackle the budget, our lawmakers in Lansing have been working hard on new emergency financial manager legislation.
Yesterday, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a package of bills designed to make it easier to appoint emergency financial managers to run troubled cities and school districts. The legislation also gives those managers broad new powers. The Senate is expected to easily approve this as well.
They say there are now more than 1,000 such groups around the country, the first time the SPLC has seen the number of "hate groups" top 1,000 since it started counting them in the 1980s.
From the SPLC press release:
Several factors fueled the growth: resentment over the changing racial demographics of the country, frustration over the lagging economy, and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and other demonizing propaganda aimed at minorities and the government.
A hate group is defined by the SPLC as a group that has "beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics."
The SPLC lists 35 "hate groups" in Michigan on their map.
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