Snyder Signs Workers Comp Legislation
Governor Snyder signed majorchanges to employer paid benefits into law yesterday afternoon. “One change limits how much injured workers can be compensated(basing their pay on how much an injured worker could potentially make at another job), and another limits a person's ability to collect unemployment payments,” Mark Brush reports. And, the Associated Press reports:
The bills would further limit the ability of a person who was fired for cause or who may have left a job voluntarily from collecting jobless benefits. They would require some unemployed workers to take jobs after 10 weeks of benefits even if the jobs are outside the unemployed worker's previous experience or pay lower wages. The measures also would push injured workers to seek some type of employment once they're able.
Citizen Input on Statewide School District
Leaders of Michigan’s new statewide school district are looking to residents for their input. Sarah Cwiek reports:
The Education Achievement System (EAS) is Governor’s Snyder’s plan to improve the state’s lowest-performing schools. The EAS held input sessions in Detroit and Kalamazoo yesterday. Plans for the EAS have been sketchy so far. It’s set to launch in 2012 with an unspecified number of Detroit Public Schools. EAS Chief of Staff Tyrone Winfrey says part of the reason few details have been announced is because the district wants to hear from the community. Winfrey says the EAS will announce its “strategic plan” and other details in mid-to-late January.
Flint Crime Rate Drops
Preliminary data from the FBI shows there’s been a drop in Flint’s crime rate. In 2010, the city recorded a record number of homicides: 66. Now, the Flint Journal reports:
For the first six months of 2011, the city reported 909 instances of violent crime — a 19 percent decrease from the 1,123 instances reported by the same time last year. There were 22 homicides, compared to 27 last year; 41 forcible rapes, compared to 51 last year; and 229 robberies, compared to 274 last year, according to the data. Any decrease in crime is welcome news in a city that was recently dubbed "the Most Dangerous City in America."
