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Five Things You Need to Know for Friday, February 10, 2006

Quick Hits: M Go Blog: UM students, faculty & staff get free blogs, Motown Roots: former Detroiters outfit US Olympic team, Houghton area residents attempt to set snow angel record (pretty funny)

Granholm's Proposed 2006-07 Budget Released

The Detroit News reports that public schools, research universities, home health care workers, mass transit riders and the working poor who have no health insurance are the winners in state spending plans for next year laid out by Gov. Jennifer Granholm Thursday. Losers include liquor store owners, businesses that enjoy certain tax breaks, private college students who need financial aid and municipalities hoping for an increase in the $1.1 billion state revenue sharing pot for police and fire protection, road repairs and garbage pickup.

The plan is built on potentially shaky ground -- closing a number of tax loopholes and increasing fees -- measures that are already drawing fire from key members of the Republican dominated Legislature. Add to that the fact that it's an election year with 148 legislative seats are up for grabs in November, and it's almost certain there will be a major battle surrounding the budget.

Read Granholm gambles on budget in the Detroit News

Water Withdrawal Package Passes Legislature

The Detroit News reports that a milestone in the history of environmental protection in Michigan was reached Thursday when the Legislature approved a package of bills setting up the state's first systematic controls on withdrawal of water from the Great Lakes. The comprehensive requires legislative approval of large-scale projects to divert water, sets up a $5,000 permit requirement for major water bottlers and asks Michigan businesses to report on their water conservation efforts.

Read Great Lakes gain protection in the Detroit News

Great Lakes Pollution Increasing, Michigan to Increase Water Cleanups

The Globe & Mail reports that a new report finds that despite decades of effort cleaning up the Great Lakes, industrial discharges of dangerous water pollutants into the lakes soared 23% at US companies and 13% at Canadian ones from 1998 and 2002. The finding is unexpected because companies have spent billions of dollars trying to clean up the environment, and water quality in the lakes has improved dramatically since the late 1960s and early 1970s.

In other news, The Lansing State Journal reports that the Department of Environmental Quality is planning a stepped-up effort to clean some of Michigan's dirtiest waterways. State and federal funding has picked up after a dry spell. The article also has a list of Michigan's 14 toxic hot spots.

Read Pollution in Great Lakes rising despite cleanup effort, study says in the Globe & Mail
More at Pollution Watch
Also State intensifying efforts to clean polluted waters in the LSJ

Pistons Send Four to All-Star Game

ESPN reports that four of five Detroit Piston starters have been named to the NBA Eastern Conference All-Star team. Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace all were picked for the Eastern Conference team that will be led by Detroit coach Flip Saunders. This is the first time four players from one team have made the game since the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers.

Saunders gets to pick the starter to take Jermaine O'Neal's place, but he said he won't pick one of his players. He wants them to enter the game together, as a unit (certainly a reason to tune in to TNT on February 19th!).

Read Four Pistons are All-Stars; 'Melo, Arenas snubbed from ESPN
Also see Pistons: 4 on floor for All-Stars in the Freep

Partisan Gridlock

The Michigan Land Use Institute has an excellent feature looking at how a feud in the state Capitol is blocking more than $100 million in federal transit funding for three of Michigan's largest cities. It's a part of MLUI's Growing Grand Rapids and well worth a read.

Read Horse and Buggy or Rail and Streetcar? from the MLUI