Tagged: Stateside

Today on Stateside, Michiganders, you have spoken.

A new report is out today about how you think we can move the economy forward.

We'll find out more on today's show, and we'll speak to a former University President who says universities themselves might be contributing to some of the economic crunch they're facing.

But in the first part of our show, we turn to the question of just how much support the state of Michigan should give to the film industry and filmmakers.

Governor Snyder's recent budget proposal contained $25 million in tax credits for film makers. That's a 50 percent cut from the present  film credit cap of $50 million, and some lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, a fellow Republican, say that is one bad plan that he says will drive the film industry out of Michigan.

There is certainly no shortage of reporting, discussion and conversation about what should happen to breath new life into Michigan's economy.

Most of this conversation seems to revolve around the thought of legislatures, policy makers, and Governor Snyder.

But what do Michiganders think should happen to help restore the economy and what do you want to see as a Michigan citizen?

How much support should the state of Michigan give to the film industry and filmmakers?

Governor Snyder's recent budget proposal contained $25-million in tax credits for film makers.

That's a 50 percent cut from the present  film credit cap of $50 million.

Some lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, a fellow Republican, say that is one bad plan.

He says it will drive the film industry out of Michigan.

Take a listen to our interview with the Director of the Michigan Film Office, Margaret O'Riley, above.

The Mayor of Flint says it's time to say goodbye to its emergency manager and make Flint the first city in Michigan to have a transition team appointed under the new emergency manager law, a team that would guide Flint back to being run by its mayor and city council

That was one of the key messages as Flint Mayor Dayne Walling delivered his State of the City message last night - his fourth State of the City address.

Mayor Dayne Walling joined us from Flint. You can listen to our interview with him above.

On today's show, medical marijuana dispensaries - we spoke with a Republican lawmaker who wants local communities to decide whether or not dispensaries should be allowed.

And demographer Kurt Metzger has crunched the numbers and says Michigan is in the middle of an "anti-baby-boom." We'll find out what this means for us as a state.

But first, we spoke with the Mayor of Flint who says it's time to say goodbye to its emergency manager, and make Flint the first city in Michigan to have a transition team appointed under the new emergency manager law, a team that would guide Flint back to being run by its mayor and city council.

That was one of the key messages as Flint Mayor Dayne Walling delivered his State of the City message last night. It was his fourth State of the City address.

The state has kicked off a new, one-year study to find out if Michigan is on track to meet it's benchmark of getting 10 percent of it's energy from renewable sources by 2015.

On today's show, we take a look at the state of renewable energy in Michigan.

And the subject of minimum wage is on the front burner these days, both nationally, and in Lansing.

President Obama announced in his State of the Union address that he wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour, and there's a proposal afoot in Lansing to boost the state minimum wage to $10 an hour. MPRN's Lansing reporter Jake Neher and MSU's Charley Ballard talk with us about minimum wage in Michigan.

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Earlier this month, the State Supreme Court handed down a ruling that is being interpreted as making medical marijuana dispensaries illegal.

That February 8 ruling has marijuana users and the dispensaries essentially going "underground," relying on word of mouth.

Now comes a new chapter in Michigan's Medical Marijuana story.

State Representative Mike Callton, a Republican from Nashville in Southwest Michigan is sponsoring a bill that would let local communities decide whether or not to allow medical marijuana dispensaries.

His House Bill 4271 is being called "The dispensing bill".

State Representative Mike Callton joined us over the phone to tell us more about the bill and why he is supporting it.

Today is the day the State will released the results of its emergency review into Detroit's finances.

Since late last year, a six-member team has taken what's been called "a deep dive" into the city's records to determine just how massive Detroit's money troubles are.

Is getting this report card going to lead to any better cooperation between Mayor Bing and City Council members?

Does the review team offer suggestions for action, or does it just present "the facts" and let the Governor draw his own conclusions?

Michigan Public Radio Network's Lansing bureau chief Rick Pluta talked to us about what to expect from the report.

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Almost everyone who goes online and searches for some bit of information knows about Wikipedia.

For a lot of us it is a great way to answer trivia questions, or settle those friendly arguments among friends over any topic.

But this free encyclopedia that anyone can edit has not been widely accepted in the world of academia. Largely because it is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

In recent years, Wikipedia has gained a new respectability in the world of academia and cultural institutions.

Why is this, and what might it mean in bringing the treasures of those cultural institutions to a wider audience?

We sat down with Professor Cliff Lampe from the School of Information at the University of Michigan and Michael Barerra, who became one of the first "Wikipedians" in residence at the Gerald R. Ford Library.

They told us what this means for the way we gather information in the digital age.