STATE OF STATE-MICHIGAN
Whitmer proposes tax cuts, more mental health workers
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Flush with surplus state revenues, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has called for a series of targeted tax cuts while outlining her legislative agenda and touting bipartisan accomplishments before she’s up for reelection. Delivering her State of the State speech virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she called for exempting retirement income from taxation and fully restoring a credit for 730,000 low- and moderate-wage families who on average would get an extra $350 annually. She proposed a $2,500 state credit for the purchase of an electric vehicle and charging equipment. Republicans support a tax cut, though may seek one that’s broader.
DRUGMAKER PROBE-INSULIN
Michigan AG seeks to probe Eli Lilly for high insulin prices
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s attorney general says she sought court approval to investigate Eli Lilly and Co., accusing the drug maker of charging excessive prices for insulin medications used to treat diabetes. Dana Nessel’s filings, announced Wednesday, ask an Ingham County judge to authorize a probe under the state’s consumer protection law, including the use of subpoenas to get records and to interview company officials. Because Eli Lily likely will say the law does not cover drug pricing under state Supreme Court rulings, the petitions requests a judgment saying exceptions to the law do not apply in this case.
PROFESSOR-VIDEO
Professor suspended over video sues Michigan university
DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan professor who was suspended for making a sarcastic video for students that included profanity and criticism of university COVID-19 policies is asking a judge to immediately reinstate him. It’s been two weeks since Barry Mehler was suspended by Ferris State University. Attorneys for Mehler say his First Amendment rights were violated. In the video, Mehler covers a range of topics, including grades, attendance, COVID-19 and the HBO series “Deadwood.” He calls students “vectors of disease” and says they could get a good grade by skipping in-person classes and following course requirements posted online. Ferris State’s president says he was appalled by the video. Mehler says it was just a performance. It has been seen more than 500,000 times on YouTube.
MICHIGAN REDISTRICTING
Commission urges court to reject redistricting challenge
DETROIT (AP) — An attorney for Michigan’s redistricting commission is defending new maps for seats in Congress and the Legislature. Katherine McKnight urged the state Supreme Court to dismiss a challenge filed by Black lawmakers. The lawsuit seeks to have some boundaries redrawn because the maps reduce the number of seats where Black residents account for a majority of the voting-age population. But McKnight says minorities will have greater influence because the population has been placed in more districts, especially in the Detroit area. The lawsuit challenges the work of a commission that was created by voters to take mapmaking out of the hands of politicians. More than 130 hearings were open to the public before new boundaries were approved in December.
AP-US-FLINT-PUBLIC-HEALTH
Mott Foundation gives MSU $25M for Flint-based research
LANSING, Mich (AP) — The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has donated $25 million to Michigan State University to expand its public health initiatives in Flint. The funding is in addition to previous grants that helped establish and expand the university’s public health program in the city. Flint still heals from a water crisis that started in 2014 when the city’s water supply was switched to the Flint River without properly treating the pipes to avoid lead contamination. Researchers began work in Flint in 2014 and it was in 2015 that Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha discovered the link between children’s elevated blood lead levels in Flint and the change in the city’s water source.
POPULATION TRENDS
Michigan deaths in 2020, first year of COVID, topped births
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Deaths exceeded births in Michigan in 2020. It was a rare result influenced by COVID-19. Slightly more than 117,000 people died, while there were 104,000 births in Michigan, according to the state health department. COVID-19 was listed as the main cause of death for more than 11,000 people in the first year of the pandemic, although the virus could have contributed to more deaths. Putting COVID aside, demographer Kurt Metzger says the trend of more deaths than births is a problem for Michigan. He says the state has much work to do to offset the impact of an aging population.
WINTER WEATHER-FROZEN WATER MAINS
Extreme cold leads to 150 frozen water mains in Detroit
DETROIT (AP) — Crews with the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department are working to repair 75 active water main breaks. Water department spokesman Bryan Peckinpaugh says there have been about 150 water main breaks in Detroit since early January due to sustained cold temperatures. The final number for the month could be the most in the city in the past three years. Peckinpaugh says between 3 and 10 breaks were being fixed per day over the past two weeks. Since Sunday, temperatures in Detroit have reached no higher than 27 degrees, while overnight lows have dipped into the low teens and single digits.
GENERAL MOTORS-TECH HIRING
General Motors to add 8,000 technical workers this year
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it wants to add more than 8,000 technical workers this year. The Detroit automaker is looking for software, computer, mechanical and electrical engineers, as well as battery engineers, cybersecurity experts and others. GM says it’s expanding teams that develop vehicle software, engineer hydrogen fuel cells for non-automotive uses, and develop new battery designs. New hires don’t necessarily have to work at in the Detroit area. GM has a policy that allows employees flexibility to work where they want, when the work permits.
ICY BRIDGES-TOLL ROAD
Slide-off leaves truck hanging from Indiana tollway overpass
MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP) — State police say a semitrailer was left dangling from an Indiana Toll Road overpass for hours Wednesday after it slid off the tollway amid icy, frigid conditions that caused other accidents. A car traveling in front of the FedEx semitrailer lost its traction and skidded about 9 a.m. EST Wednesday, prompting the truck’s driver to swerve. State police spokesman Sgt. Ted Bohner tells the South Bend Tribune the vehicle slipped over the tollway’s edge, leaving it hanging from an overpass near Mishawaka. Crews had removed the truck by mid-afternoon. Bohner says near zero- degree temperatures and icy bridge surfaced caused multiple accidents in the same area.
GAY COUPLES-ADOPTION
Michigan settlement lets faith agencies deny LGBT adoptions
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Faith-based adoption agencies that contract with the state of Michigan can refuse to place children in LGBT homes under a settlement filed in federal court, months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for a Catholic charity in a similar case. The state Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday the high court’s ruling against Philadelphia is binding on the state and limits its ability to enforce a non-discrimination policy. Michigan, like most states, contracts with private agencies to place children from troubled homes with new families.
The Associated Press
