Tagged: morning news roundup

Emergency Manager Law Gets a Challenge

Opponents are a step closer to a public vote on Michigan’s law that gives state-appointed emergency managers authority over local governments. They filed petitions yesterday that would put a referendum on the law on the state’s November ballot. “State elections officials have 60 days to determine if the ballot drive collected enough valid signatures of registered voters. To succeed, they need more than 161,000 signatures. If the petitions are certified, the law will be suspended until after the election in November. There are five Michigan cities or school districts currently under the control of emergency managers,” Rick Pluta reports.

Concerns over Michigan Nuclear Power Plant

Officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission answered questions about safety violations at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant last night. Lindsey Smith reports:

Officials with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were trying to ease the community’s concerns after 5 unplanned shutdowns last year (4 we’re reactor shutdowns). During the three hour long meeting regulators detailed safety violations and actions the agency will take this year to further scrutinize the plant. They reassured repeatedly that the plant is operating safely. Entergy officials chose not to attend this meeting hosted voluntarily by the NRC. However, the company must attend a normal, annual meeting with the NRC in South Haven on March 21st.

Winter Weather

A winter storm has left as much as 16 inches of snow in parts of the Upper Peninsula. “The storm that hit Tuesday eased by Wednesday afternoon, but not before leaving more than a foot of snow in parts of northern Michigan. The National Weather Service says 10 to 16 inches fell in the Iron Mountain area, while the Ironwood area got up to 14 inches and the Menominee area up to 13 inches,” the Associated Press reports.

Primary Day Has Arrived

After weeks of counting down the days, Michigan's presidential primary has arrived. Polls are open until 8 p.m. and Michigan voters will find eleven Republicans on the GOP presidential ballot and President Obama, uncontested, on the Democratic ballot. Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul all held rallies yesterday across the state but, even with all the media attention, the Secretary of State’s office is predicting only between 15-20 percent of the state’s registered voters will turn out to the polls today.

Gas Prices Continue to Rise

Motorists are spending $4 for a gallon of regular gas in Troy and Okemos and other parts of Michigan may soon join them, Steve Carmody reports. From Carmody:

Michigan’s gasoline prices shot up 12 cents on Monday. Dustin Coupal is a co-founder of GasBuddy.com. He says increasing world demand for oil is pushing Michigan’s gasoline prices closer to record high territory. According to GasBuddy.com, Michigan’s average regular gas price is around $3.80 a gallon. The state set a record last May, when the average price hit $4.26 a gallon.

Detroit Violence

Mayor Dave Bing is pleading with Detroiters to “stop the madness” after another violent weekend in the city. Sarah Cwiek reports:

Bing’s plea comes after a shooting on the city’s east side left a six-year-old boy critically injured. Detroit Police have arrested a pair of 15-year-olds in the case. Chief Ralph Godbee says the two were on a carjacking spree when the shooting happened. Even crime-hardened Detroiters have been taken aback by the indiscriminate nature of recent violence. Two Detroit children have died violently in the past month, both in shootings that appeared to stem from petty disputes. The city is also reeling from news that a 14-year-old murdered his mother as she slept.

GOP Candidates Making Final Stops in MI

Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul will all continue their campaigning across Michigan today ahead of the state’s presidential primary tomorrow. After a rally this morning in Rockford, Romney stops in Albion this afternoon and then travels to Royal Oak this evening where he’ll be joined by Governor Snyder. His main rival, Rick Santorum, will spend part of the morning addressing the Livonia/Farmington Hills Chamber of Commerce, then travels to Lansing for an afternoon rally and stops in Kalamazoo this evening. Meanwhile, Paul, who just began campaigning in the state this past weekend, has a visit to Detroit on his campaign schedule.

Voter Turnout

Predicting just how many voters will turn up at the polls tomorrow for the primary is tricky business, Steve Carmody reports. “We don’t have a turnout estimate at this point because it is a presidential primary and they do vary greatly from cycle to cycle,” Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office, told Carmody. “Woodhams says August primaries generally bring in about 18 to 20 percent of eligible voters. But then again that’s August. Adding to the uncertainty is a host of local issues which may, or may not, boost turnout. Voters in parts of Oakland and Genesee Counties are electing people to vacant state house seats,” Carmody reports.

Meeting on West MI Nuclear Power

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting to discuss safety violations at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in South Haven this week.  “The plant had five unplanned shutdowns last year. As a result, the NRC downgraded the plant’s safety performance rating. Now it’s one of only four plants in the country with such a bad safety rating. 'It is not a routine meeting for the agency,' said NRC spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng.  The meeting will run from 6 p.m. to -8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night in South Haven,” Lindsey Smith reports.