Deadline Comes and Goes for Enbridge
Enbridge Energy, the company that owns the pipeline that leaked some 800,000 gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River last summer, has failed to meet a deadline to clean up some of the submerged oil that remains from the spill. From the Associated Press:
The Kalamazoo Gazette and WWMT-TV say Enbridge Energy notified federal regulators that it would not meet the Wednesday deadline. Enbridge spokesman Jason Manshum tells the Gazette there are many reasons. He says the scope of the cleanup grew over the summer. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is investigating.
Report: MI Setting (Bad) Unemployment Record
An annual reportby the Michigan League for Human Services says more than half of unemployed workers between the ages of 26 and 54 looked for work for six months or longer last year. “Even in the 1980's recession when unemployment overall was higher, the long-term unemployment rate was much lower than it is now,” says Karen Holcomb-Merrill who works for the league.
So Long, Price Tags
The state requirement that almost everything sold in Michigan have a price-tag ends today, as a result, the Detroit Free Press explains, “of legislation passed early this year at the urging of Gov. RickSnyder.” The Free reports:
Snyder and other advocates for repeal said Michigan's item-pricing law, the strictest in the nation, was a relic of an era that was slowing innovation and adding more than $2 billion a year in costs to consumers. Defenders of the old law said repeal would sow frustration and anger among shoppers, result in layoffs for store clerks, and doubted that consumer savings would follow… In the absence of individual stickers, the new law requires that prices be displayed conspicuously and in close proximity to the item on sale.
