Politics & Government

Storms spin off tornadoes in southeast Michigan

More than 100 homes were severely damaged and 13 homes were destroyed by an F3 tornado in Dexter; a tornado touched down for 3-5 minutes in Monroe County; and a possible third tornado ripped a home from its foundation in Lapeer County.

But amazingly, so far, there have been no reported deaths or serious injuries from these storms.

The Associated Press spoke with Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Deputy Ray Yee after he went door to door in Dexter:

Yee approached one destroyed home Thursday, and saw a hand sticking out of the rubble. He pulled out an elderly man, who was shaken but walked away.

“That’s the best part,” Yee said. “Every place I went to, I would have thought I would have found somebody laying there — deceased or whatever. But, knock on wood, everybody was OK.”

A shelter has been set up to help those affected by the storm in Dexter at the Mill Creek Middle School.

The Associated Press reports teams from the weather service will examine the damage today in Washtenaw, Monroe, and Lapeer counties.

Flint's emergency manager stripped of his power

Flint’s emergency manager, Michael Brown, will have to step down from his position after a judge prevented him from ‘taking any action’ on behalf of the city.

The judge's order was sought by Flint's unions. Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody spoke with a union representative about the order:

"Because these proceedings were conducted illegally, including the appointment of Michael Brown as Emergency Manager, the court has quite properly enjoined Mr. Brown from acting on behalf of the City of Flint," says Lawrence Roehrig, Secretary-Treasurer of Michigan Council 25 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

State officials say Brown will abide by the order. A court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

More power for Bing? Detroit leaders working on counterproposal 

The state's consent agreement plan unveiled to Detroit's city leaders on Tuesday was loudly rejected by Mayor Bing and several city council members. Bing and council members are working on a counterproposal to the state.

The Detroit Free Press reports that proposal would give Bing more power than he has now:

Under the 26-page draft, obtained Thursday by the Free Press and first reported on freep.com , Bing proposes taking over many of the responsibilities of the state's proposed financial advisory board. He would assume the powers of an emergency manager, except that of being able to terminate union contracts.

Their time to work up a proposal is limited. Gov. Snyder says his deadline is March 26, and as Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek reports "their position gets even weaker as their bank account approaches zero—a time bomb that could blow up before the end of April."

Grand Rapids voters could decide if people caught with marijuana should only be charged with a civil infraction, instead of a criminal charge. A group of residents begins collecting signatures Friday to put the measure on the November ballot in the city.

The group modeled the proposed changes to Grand Rapids’ city charter after Ann Arbor’s. In that city, people caught with marijuana pay just a $25 fine for the first offense, but get no higher than $100.

The proposed charter change reads in part;

Governor Snyder and other state officials have told Detroit this week it needs to accept a consent agreement to avoid going broke.

A draft agreement has been presented to the City Council. It would give the state a great deal of say in how Detroit is run.

But lots of politics stand in the way of reaching an agreement.

The consent agreement State Treasurer Andy Dillon has crafted for Detroit—the only “official” proposal out there right now--can be seen in one of two ways.

"The Real Kwame Kilpatrick" a film by Ayanna Ferguson Kilpatrick (Kwame Kilpatrick's sister) is coming soon.

The documentary will recount the life of the former Detroit Mayor and promises “rare expressions” from his wife Carlita Kilpatrick.

The movie trailer released Monday on YouTube begins with the voice of Kilpatrick himself saying, “Today I want you to sit back, relax, open your mind, because I am the real Kwame Kilpatrick.”

Here's the movie trailer:

A book of memoirs titled "Surrendered: The Rise, Fall and Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick" was released in August of last year.  

The Michigan Court of Appeals said former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick would not get to keep the money from sales of his new book.

The Associated Press reported:

A judge has ruled Kilpatrick's profits will be placed in escrow to help satisfy $860,000 in restitution he still owes Detroit as part of his plea to a 2008 criminal case.
 

Kwame Kilpatrick who was charged with perjury, spent 99 days in a Michigan prison, and was released Aug. 2. He lives now in the Dallas area.

U.S. Representative Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) wants the state to hold off on plans to appoint a financial advisory board to oversee things in Detroit.

Clarke is quoted in the Detroit News saying "even though Detroit is in a financial crisis, this current financial board has the power and the focus to cut staff, outsource departments and sell assets. That's not the way you get out of a financial crisis."

From the Detroit News:

Clarke says he wants the federal government to provide relief similar to what was given to New York City in 1975 to keep it from going into bankruptcy.

Clarke, who says he's prepared to introduce legislation in Congress next week, says he understands it's a long shot, but said the idea is worth pursuing. Any legislation would have to be passed through the Republican-led House and Democratic-led Senate.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Lower-than-expected tax collections could threaten parts of Gov. Rick Snyder's next state government budget plan.

Republicans who control the Michigan Senate have preliminary plans to spend roughly $150 million less overall than Snyder has proposed for the fiscal year starting in October.

The targets include about $25 million less than Snyder proposed for information technology system upgrades and $45 million less on the state prison system.

The Senate targets do not reduce Snyder's funding proposals for education. Proposed spending would be relatively flat for K-12 schools, while universities and community colleges could get average increases of about 3 percent.

The Snyder administration says it's too early to change its budget plan, noting more information will be available when state economists gather in May for an official revenue estimating conference.