Republican congressman Mike Rogers says more than a thousand major corporations,unions and other groups have obtained waivers to the new national health care law, so they will not be immediately mandated to carry health insurance or pay a fee instead.    He says they shouldn't be the only ones with that option. 

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard  is making plans to take over the policing duties in Pontiac.  The city of Pontiac is shutting down its police department as the city deals with severe budget problems. 

The city’s rank and file police officers voted to dissolve their union contract this week.    Other public safety unions must also do the same before the Sheriff’s department takes over.  Sheriff Bouchard says policing Pontiac will pose some public safety challenges to his office. 

The head of a Detroit-area civil rights organization says hearings by the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee unfairly target Muslims.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is investigating what he calls the radicalization of the U.S. Muslim community.

Dawud Walid is director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southfield.

He says the scope of the hearings is too narrow, and ignores what he considers the biggest threats to national security.

Michigan and Nevada seem to be linked in some not-so-good ways.

High unemployment rates, high home foreclosure rates, and declining housing prices.

And now... add the lack of a State Fair to that list.

In this age of austerity, Nevada has decided to cut its State Fair. Michigan cut its Fair back in 2009.

The Associated Press reports Nevada and Michigan are the only two states without a State Fair.

From the AP:

The board of directors for the Nevada State Fair says there won't be one this summer.

Board members say budget shortfalls leave them no choice but to bring an end to the fair for the first time in 136 years.

Executive director Rich Crombie said in a statement Wednesday that a last-ditch fundraising effort had produced only a fraction of the estimated $250,000 needed to keep the fair from folding up
its tent.

It means Nevada will join Michigan as the only states in the nation without state fairs.

Crombie says they are debt but don't intend to file bankruptcy. He says the hope is to continue to raise money for another state fair in the years ahead. The first Nevada fair was held in 1874.

The Michigan State Fair, said to be the country's oldest, was closed in 2009 because of declining attendance and budget shortfalls.

Michigan Radio's "Picture Project" has some fantastic images of Michigan's now defunct State Fair.

A Michigan lawmaker says school districts that have set aside a rainy-day fund should use that money, rather than use more taxpayer funds. 

But some school administrators say  that would end up costing districts more in the long run. 

It’s common practice for Michigan school districts to aim for a 15 percent budget surplus for their rainy-day fund.

But the economy has drained those funds for about 300 districts.

About 200 traditional, non-charter districts do have reserves of 15 percent or more.

There’s been a lot of talk in West Michigan lately about how wind power could boost the region’s economy. The area, particularly along the Lake Michigan shore, could be home to several potential wind projects.

On the public radio program Here & Now, host Robin Young was interviewing Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef and owner of the New York City restaurant “Prune.” She wrote a memoir called “Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef,” (which chef Anthony Bourdain called “simply the best memoir by a chef - ever.”).

During the interview Young asked Hamilton about her time in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Young says, "like a lot of Americans, you thought, 'Ann Arbor, Michigan… cheese cubes.'"

You can hear Young's comment in the audio here. It's at the 6 minute mark.

That comment sparked one listener to write in. Phillip wrote:

I do hope that someone from your Michigan network of stations will  contact the host of Here and Now about her  comment yesterday  regarding Ann Arbor; specifically, in an interview with the chef/ author of Prune, the host
remarked something to the effect that "When  most of us think of Ann Arbor, we think of cheese cubes..."  Give me a  break!

Well, we did share that comment with the producers at Here & Now and host Robin Young wrote back:

Dear Phillip

OY YI YI!!!!

The cheese cube kerfuffle!!

We're going to address on a letters segment on air, but I've been writing the (many!) people who've written.

Just to clarify.. what I said was, "YOU" (meaning the author) thought Michigan meant cheese cubes. This is what she writes in the book! Then I went on to say, but you found otherwise.

I buy from Zingermans!! I don't think Ann Arbor means cheese cubes!

SO sorry for leaving that impression,

Best
Robin Young
Here and Now

Nobody in Lansing was neutral yesterday when the Michigan senate completed passage of new, tougher Emergency Financial Manager legislation on a straight, party line vote.

State Senator Phil Pavlov said this is needed to maintain “vital services, such as public safety and education,” when a city or a school district is in desperate financial straits.

This reform, he said, is necessary to allow steps to be taken “to protect public interests and the public’s money and strengthen local control and accountability.” His fellow Republicans all agreed.

But if you talked to any of the Democrats, they sounded like this was the equivalent of Mussolini seizing power.  “An unfair and unjustified power grab,“ Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer called it. One of her colleagues said it went way too far, “and was going to damage our communities and our schools.”

Well, you could say that it is nice to see that our time-honored tradition of bitter partisan divisions is alive and well, but I think the opposite. We’ve had four sterile years of that in Lansing. I think we’d all be better off if this could have been a bipartisan bill.

Michigan’s new ‘Texting While Driving’ law will get its first test in a fatal auto accident in Lapeer County.  The driver who allegedly caused the accident that killed a 78 year old woman was allegedly texting behind the wheel. 

John Hantz wants to turn a blighted swath of Detroit into what he calls "the world’s largest urban farm." But the project, which has been in the works for nearly two years, has been slow to get off the ground. 

City officials just approved a deal to let Hantz Farms buy 20 city lots (about five acres) adjacent to their headquarters. The company plans to clean up the land and create some small orchards.

Roadblocks to city farming

• Hantz Farms is not allowed to sell anything they grow there.

• Large-scale farming requires re-zoning for agriculture, which brings the Michigan Right to Farm Act into play; that law is meant to protect farmers from people who complain about the sounds and smells of regular farming. Some people worry it would give Hantz Farms’ neighbors little recourse if there are problems.

• Until Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s master land use plan for Detroit is finalized, the city is being tight-fisted about its vacant land.

The recent debates about school funding and public employee benefits have teachers in Michigan feeling defensive.  South Lyon East High School Social Studies teacher Keith Kindred has these thoughts:

Last year about this time, I did a commentary for Michigan Radio describing the copious amount of time I had to think while I proctored state proficiency exams given to high school juniors. You may remember I used much of that time to reflect on all the wrath being directed at teachers.

Recent events in Wisconsin, Ohio, and even here in Michigan suggest I may have been prescient in recognizing how severe the disconnect between teachers and the public had become, but they also prove that my plea fell on deaf ears. Clearly, the anger I observed a year ago was but a preview and, moreover, my attempt to plead for both common sense and common ground was a failure.

So in the spirit of perseverance that all good teachers instill in their students, I want to try again.

Ready? Okay, here goes: Are people insane?

When the budget was introduced, it was left to Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley to explain some of the details.  Among them was the Governor’s proposal to eliminate the Earned Income Tax Credit, a move that would take away a tax break for the state’s working poor.

The Committee on Homeland Security is holding a hearing entitled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response.”

ABC News reports:

Today’s House hearing on “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community’s Response” has created a firestorm of criticism by civil rights groups and Democrats who say that Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is intentionally isolating Muslims.

Democrats and rights groups say he’s guilty of “modern-day McCarthyism,” and is using religion to divide Americans.

You can watch the hearing now on C-SPAN.

Here's King responding to critics of the hearing on a CBS affiliate:

Updated:  5:59 p.m.

Outgoing GM CFO Chris Liddell says he only began wrestling with whether to leave GM in the past few weeks, and he and boss Dan Ackerson have been discussing the subject only for the past week.

Liddell says he has no announcement to make as to his next job, but he thinks it will not be a chief financial officer position.

GM CEO Dan Akerson says the transition, from Liddell to his successor, current GM Treasurer Dan Ammanns, should be "seamless."

Akerson says he's committed to remain at the helm of GM for the next five years.  Dan Ammanns also stresses his plan to stay for the long term.

Investors in GM's initial public offering in November had been assured that GM's leadership would stabilize. 

Sheldon Stone is with Amherst Partners, a restructuring consultant firm.

Stone says some investors will likely be concerned about Liddell's departure.

"He (Liddell) was part of that road show, that went out pitching the IPO," says Stone.  "He had his fingerprints all over it. 

Stone says GM needs change.  But this may be too much change.

GM has had four CEOs in the past year.  Several senior executives have left GM in the past year.  And the deck of senior management has been shuffled and re-shuffled several times.

Ken Elias is an analyst with the consultant firm Maryann Keller & Associates. 

He says Liddell, formerly CFO of Microsoft, was brought to GM by former CEO Ed Whitaker, with the understanding that Liddell would be groomed as Whitaker's successor.

But months after Liddell began his new job at GM, Whitaker stepped down as CEO.  GM's Board chose Board member Dan Akerson to lead the company. 

Elias says that could account for Liddell's decision, after the IPO was completed, to leave GM.

---------------------------------

General Motors says its Chief Financial Officer will step down as of April 1st. Chris Liddell will be replaced by Treasurer Dan Ammann. The Associated Press reports:

Spokeswoman Noreen Pratscher said Thursday that Liddell accomplished his goals of finishing an initial public stock offering and returning the company to sound financial footing. She says Liddell did not say anything about his plans for the future.

Under Liddell, GM posted four straight profitable quarters.

Spokeswoman Noreen Pratscher said Liddell accomplished his goals of finishing an initial public stock offering and returning the company to sound financial footing. She says Liddell did not say anything about his plans for the future.

The 52-year-old Liddell joined GM in January of 2010, about six months after it emerged from bankruptcy protection.

Chairman and Chief Executive Dan Akerson said Liddell was a major contributor to GM during a pivotal time in the company's history.

"He guided the company's IPO process and established a good financial foundation for the future," Akerson said in a statement.

GM reported net income of $4.7 billion last year, fueled by strong sales in China and the U.S. as the global auto market began to recover. It earned $2.89 per share on revenue of $135.6 billion.

It was the company's best performance since earning $6 billion in 1999 during the height of the pickup truck and sport utility vehicle sales boom.