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Earlier this week, Governor Rick Snyder signed a package of so-called early warning bills he said will help both school districts and the state, in his words,

“to resolve potential financial issues before they become unmanageable.”

Among other things, they require districts which are getting close to the edge financially to begin reporting to the state what their economic situations and budget assumptions are.

It's rarely easy making the transition from the military to a career in the civilian world.

Jamie Hamming knows that.  She was an Army combat medic between 1990 and 1995.  Her tours included stints in Korea and Somalia.

For many years Detroit residents and businesses didn’t see a lot of services from the city. After an emergency manager and bankruptcy, one of the first city officials some people saw was an inspector or police officer citing them for a building or business violation. Some business owners say it got ridiculous.

Last fall Arab-American gas station owners asked to meet with the Detroit Police Department about getting multiple citations for the same offenses. They complained that police officers would issue tickets for things such as an expired business license. The gas station owners would apply for the license and pay the fee. Before City Hall would issue the license, the police would stop by and issue another ticket.

Just what is the Lost Peninsula?

Don Faber tells us it’s a little strip of land in the very southeast corner of Michigan.

And here’s the kicker: The only way to access it is through Toledo.

Faber tells us that when Michigan and Ohio were still young states, they each performed a geographical survey to determine their boundaries.

Ohio’s survey placed Toledo in Ohio. Michigan’s placed it, well, in Michigan.

What followed was the Toledo War, a short conflict that ended in military stalemate.

Today on Stateside:

We’ve seen the images of people lined up at ATMs, hoping to withdraw a few euros.

Crowds sang and celebrated after voting against the terms of a bailout by international creditors.

The Greek financial meltdown has grabbed the attention of the world, and a pullout from the European Union could destabilize the world's financial markets.

Is it time to take public notices digital?

Those pages in our newspaper, with the government notices of election dates, upcoming public hearings, and legal descriptions of property to be sold or redeveloped are the focus of House Bill 4183.

It's a bill that could cost newspapers a long-time source of revenue, and it could shut out people who don't have Internet access.

The Motor City Blight Busters are developing Veteran's Village Center, which provides housing for veterans and the opportunity to work with their organization.

The Center is currently under renovation. It’s located in Northwest Detroit near other properties owned by Blight Busters. 

When describing the previous ten years of her life, writer Kelley Clink explains, “Being a sister to him made me who I was. Losing him has made me who I am.”

Her brother's suicide in 2004 sent her on a journey of guilt, of mourning, of realizing that her brother is gone. And the feeling that she may be to blame.

Clink turned this emotional journey into a new memoir, A Different Kind of Same.

The Next Idea

I am a veteran of two wars – one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan.  Joining the military has been the best decision of my life.  But if you spend any time watching the news or scrolling through social media, you might wonder why I would say that. 

I like to kick back and get wild and crazy late at night. For example, one thing I usually do is drink some strong coffee and read a detailed summary of what the legislature did that day. Reading the news from Lansing doesn’t usually make me laugh out loud.

The model for Team Red, White, and Blue is simple. Give veterans and civilians the chance to run together in a relaxed environment and let conversations and friendships happen naturally.

There are no fees or forms or requirements to take part, and everyone is welcome.

What started with a few veteran friends at the University of Michigan in 2010 has now ballooned into 115 chapters all over the U.S.

Especially in the early years of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, soldiers burned their waste in big, open-air pits. They burned everything from tires, batteries, and plastic to human and medical waste.

Curtis Gibson is an Air Force veteran. He served in Afghanistan in late 2011.

“I’d see things floating in the air — burned papers — you see them floating through the air so you know you’re taking something in,” Gibson says.

He says he had a medical exam when he came home to Detroit.

Today on Stateside:

• People can be really bad at talking to veterans. We thank them for their service, but then what? As part of our series “Beyond the Battlefield,” we talk with a number of vets about those interactions, and find out how civilians can do better.
• Since 2009, when a wrecking ball finally took down Tiger Stadium, volunteers calling themselves The Navin Field Grounds Crew has maintained the field. Now they fear that the field’s grass may be replaced with artificial turf.
  

People across Michigan have seen their cars, their TVs, their kids’ iPads, even their homes seized by police, often despite never having been charged with or convicted of a crime.

It’s called “civil asset forfeiture,” and it means that state or federal agents can seize your property if they so much as suspect that it has been involved in criminal activity.

The push against civil asset forfeiture is growing.

As civilians it can be hard to know what to say or what to ask when you encounter veterans who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Often people will thank veterans for their service, but Erin Smith, a psychologist with the Veterans Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare system, says this can be a complicated statement for veterans to process.

Veterans returning home after World War II received a big helping hand from American taxpayers. The GI Bill helped millions get a college education. 

Today, veterans returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also get help paying for college. The Post 9/11 GI Bill can pay up to around $20,000 a year in taxpayer-funded college tuition.