News

Will the real next Spartan hockey coach please stand up?

After conflicting reports, it seems as if the job may go to CCHA commissioner Tom Anastos. From WILX-TV:

Former Spartan Tom Anastos will be announced as the next Spartan hockey coach at a 4 p.m. press conference at Munn Ice Arena. Anastos played for Ron Mason at Michigan State from 1981-85 scoring 60 goals and 143 points in his 4-year career.

Over the last 13 years he has served as the commissioner of the CCHA. He currently serves as the president of the Hockey Commissioner's Association. They created College Hockey Inc. which is responsible for growing the sport of college hockey.

Anastos was the head coach at the University of Michigan-Dearborn from 1987-1990. He was then as assistant to Mason at Michigan State from 1990-1992. The 46-year old will be just the 6th coach in Michigan State history.

Anastos emerged from a field of approximately twenty candidates, including Danton Cole, a former Waverly High School hockey star, who many believed was set to replace for MSU's hockey coach Rick Comley.

Comley guided the Spartans to a national championship in 2007, and is the fourth all-time winningest coach.

Students of Western Michigan University are reacting to the donation of $100 million dollars to Western Michigan University for their medical school. MLive reports:

A few hours after the announcement of a $100 million cash gift to jump-start Western Michigan University’s medical school, the event was replayed on a video kiosk inside the Bern­hard Center and caught the at­tention of several students.

With the detailed U.S. Census numbers in, Republicans in the state legislature can begin the process of redrawing the state's political boundaries for Congress and for the State Senate and the State House of Representatives.

Some ground rules first.

• Because the state lost population, Michigan will now have 14 Congressional districts (down from 15). When these districts are drawn, they must hold an equal number of people in them. That's why you see districts that cover large areas in the state's northern districts (places where there's less population) and smaller districts in the southeast (places where population is more concentrated).
• For Michigan's state legislature, districts must hold close to an equal number of people (they can deviate within 95% to 105% of each other), and "existing municipal and county boundaries should be respected as much as possible."
  

Detailed Census Data released

The U.S. Census Bureau released detailed population numbers for the state yesterday. The numbers spurred a number of stories across the state as cities and counties reflected on what the numbers mean:

Census: Detroit Shrank while the suburbs changed

Census: Lansing population falls 4 percent

New 2010 Census data shows Flint population at 102,434

Ottawa County shines as West Michigan shows relative strength in latest U.S. Census figures

Census 2010: Bay County's population decrease could have been worse

U.S. Census data shows slight growth in Muskegon County during decade of Great Recession

2010 Census data shows Michigan shifting rural

Granholm enjoying post-Governor life

In one of the first interviews since leaving the Governor's office in Michigan, Jennifer Granholm says she's enjoying life as a private citizen.

From the Detroit News:

Granholm — after getting to avoid the airport security line as governor — now faces the same indignities as all frequent travelers do.

"I got the whole pat-down today, but it is what it is," she said with a laugh.

Granholm relishes her new quieter life. "I kind of like being low-key. I kind of like being able to wear sunglasses again," she said.

She ate lunch on Cosi and was glued to her BlackBerry — and no one bothered her. "It's a beautiful thing," she said. "I am enjoying life."

Granholm and her husband, Daniel Mulhern, are moving to California, temporarily they say, before moving back to Michigan. Both will be teaching at U.C. Berkeley  and they're working on a book together.

Granholm says she won't engage in criticizing her successor, Governor Rick Snyder.

Republicans will start to redraw political districts in Michigan

The U.S. Census numbers are in hand, now its time for politicians to re-draw some fancy lines for new political districts. MLive's Peter Luke says Republicans are wasting no time in redrawing political boundaries for Congressional and State legislative seats.

From M-Live:

Republicans, who have a 9-6 edge in congressional seats, likely will seek to put two or more Democratic incumbents — say U.S. Reps. Dale Kildee, Sander Levin and Gary Peters — in the same district.

The process could give some Republicans heartburn as well. The 1st Congressional District currently represented by U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek, R-Crystal Falls, extends from Ironwood to Bay City and will require about 55,000 more residents in the northern Lower Peninsula from districts held by fellow Republicans.

Giving Benishek Grand Traverse County, for example, shifts the 4th Congressional District of U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, somewhere else.

The U.S. Census Bureau released detailed data on the state's population. Earlier this year, we heard that Michigan was the only state in the country to lose population. Now we can take a more detailed look.

You can explore the data below, or by going to the Census Bureau page.

The big news to come out of the data was the number 713,777.

That's the population in Detroit. According to the Detroit Free Press, Detroit's population hasn't been this low since 1910:

four years before Henry Ford offered $5 a day to autoworkers, sparking a boom that quadrupled Detroit’s size in the first half of the 20th Century.

Detroiters reacted to the news in this video, saying crime, a lack of employment, and poor schools are reasons people have left the city:

MPRN's Rick Pluta had reaction from Governor Snyder:

Governor Rick Snyder says the U.S. Census Bureau information shows Michigan cannot continue down the path it has been on for many years:

"It’s time to step up. It’s time for bold action, and thoughtful action, and that’s the message we’re on, and the path we’re on, and I just hope people join us in that effort," said Snyder.

"I think this decline in population for the state really just reemphasizes the issue we’ve been facing; we are in a crisis in the state, and we need to take an approach and an attitude to say we need to reinvent Michigan."

Detroit’s population presents a problem as the Legislature deals with the state budget, which operates on the assumption that Detroit is the only city with more than 750,000 people.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has said the city will challenge the Census numbers. Bing was quoted in the Detroit Free Press:

"We are in a fiscal crisis, and we have to fight for every dollar," Bing said in announcing that the city will seek a recount. "We can't afford to let these results stand."

The city stands to lose investment from the state and federal government if they can't get the numbers to add up to 750,000.

It started last night and is expected to continue through tonight.

Winter storm warnings will remain in effect until 8 p.m. tonight for many communities north of I-94.

Areas east of Kalamazoo along the I-94 corridor to Detroit are under the less menacing "winter weather advisories" until 2 p.m. today.

From the National Weather Service:

Moderate to heavy snow is expected around Midland, Bay City and Bad Axe.  Freezing Rain, Sleet and Snow is expected from a Howell to Pontiac to Mount Clemes line north to a Saginaw to Sandusky line - including the cities of Flint, Lapeer, and Port Huron.  Light Freezing Rain is expected across the Detroit Metropolitan region.

You can follow the National Weather Service's updated forecasts using the following links:

• Latest area forecast discussions for southeast Michigan
• Current winter weather message
• Probabilistic snowfall forecasts
  

A legislative watchdog says Michigan’s unemployment office failed to catch overpayments and cases of fraud as the agency was hammered with jobless claims during the Great Recession.

The Michigan Auditor General says the mistakes cost taxpayers an estimated $260 million.

Like many states, Michigan’s been forced to borrow money from the federal government – almost $4 billion - to cover its jobless claims as unemployment reached peaks not seen in three decades (higher than 14%).

The Auditor General report found the agency ran into trouble handling all those claims.

The auditor’s sample found thousands of cases where the state accidentally overpaid benefits that were never recovered.

The audit also found instances where the state failed to detect cases of fraud that would have also been punished with big fines.

The unemployment agency is disputing some of the findings where the auditor determined there was fraud. The agency says in the other cases, it’s taking steps to fix the problems uncovered by the Auditor General.

The State House failed to reject the Michigan Civil Service Commission's decision to allow state employees to enjoy domestic partner benefits.

The benefits, originally negotiated between the Granholm administration and about 70% of the public employee unions, are scheduled to go into effect October 1st. The benefits are extended to unmarried partners (gay or heterosexual) and their dependents who have lived together for more than one year.

Michigan Public Radio's Laura Weber reported on yesterday's vote in the State House:

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says he wants a recount of Detroit’s 2010 census numbers. That data shows the city with its smallest population since 1910.

Bing says he thinks census numbers that fix Detroit’s population at just under 714,000 are wrong.

 Bing says a recount could turn up as many as 40,000 more residents. That would put the city above a key 750,000 person threshold.

The Detroit International Bridge Company, owners of the Ambassador Bridge, has settled a lawsuit with the owners of a bait shop.

Lafayette Bait and Tackle sits near where the Detroit International Bridge Company hopes to build a second span. The company purchased the land to remove what it saw as a final obstacle to their plans.

Both sides in the case agree fault lay primarily with the bait shop’s former landlord, a group called Commodities Export.

There’s been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth statewide over the new proposals the governor outlined in Grand Rapids yesterday, the ones especially that will affect local governments.

He proposes to hold back one-third of the revenue sharing money communities get from the state, and release it only if cities, villages and townships adopt certain reforms. Those would include putting all new hires on a pension plan based on what they and their employer put in, a so-called “defined contribution plan.”

The State Senate Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing committee tomorrow will discuss a bill forcing government workers to pay between 20% to 25% of their health care costs.

A bill that would ban trash burning in rural communities has been snuffed out for the time being.

A newspaper story last weekend incorrectly reported  the ban would take effect April 1.

That drew complaints from rural residents, and sponsors of a House measure to stop the ban said they would push it through.

Brad Wurfel is with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

He says the agency will regroup and once again take public comments.

But Wurfel says restrictions on outdoor burning are necessary to protect public health.

Michigan’s budget problems could be helped if the state were able to collect taxes on things people buy online. But federal rules limit the state’s powers.

The U.S. Supreme Court says states can’t force a business to collect sales taxes unless it has a physical store in the state.

Terry Stanton is with the Michigan Department of Treasury.

He  says that’s costing Michigan big money.

"We estimate that's more than $300 million a year that the state will miss out on because there's no requirement for sellers to collect the sales taxes," Stanton says.

A 2-million-square-foot former General Motors stamping plant in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming will be demolished this year. Monday night Wyoming’s city council approved plans to destroy the 75-year-old building and redevelop the site.