Governor Snyder in China next week
Next week Governor Snyder will travel to Asia on a third economic development mission to the region. MLive.com reports that he will visit China and Japan to “market the state's export offerings, promote Michigan as a tourist destination, and convince Chinese business leaders that Detroit, despite its bankruptcy filing, is still a good place to invest." Funds for the business trip come from the Michigan Economic Growth Foundation.
Building inspectors charged with bribery
Yesterday Michigan Attorney Bill Schuette charged seven Detroit building inspectors with bribery. Michigan Radio’s Sarah Cwiekreports that Schuette says “inspectors took bribes to overlook code violations – in some cases, going to the lengths of falsifying architectural plans.” An investigation led by the Southeast Michigan Public Corruption Task Force and the FBI led to yesterday’s charges.
Washtenaw program may provide ID cards for undocumented immigrants
Washtenaw County is considering a program that would issue identification cards to all its residents, including undocumented immigrants. The Washtenaw County Board Chairman says that while undocumented immigrants are a large group of people affected by the ID program, they would not be the only ones to benefit. Yousef Rabhi says “it could apply to immigrants; it could apply to folks that are homeless; it could apply to folks that are transgender and who don't believe that the male/female designation on the current state ID is representative of who they really are.”
