Ballots, Ballots Everywhere
Yesterday was the deadline for campaigns to file to get on the November ballot. “A measure that would require two-thirds super-majorities in the Legislature to raise taxes could be one of half a dozen ballot questions decided by voters in the November election. A campaign to stop a proposed new international bridge in Detroit also filed in the final hours before the deadline – as did one to protect union rights for home health workers who are paid by Medicaid. In total, if all of them are given the OK by elections officials, there would be six proposed amendments on the ballot in November. A referendum on Michigan’s emergency manager law could also be on the ballot if it survives a court challenge,” Rick Pluta reports.
Charter Schools Coming to Muskegon Heights
A private-for-profit-charter company will run the Muskegon Heights Public School district for the next five years. Lindsey Smith reports:
The state appointed emergency manager of the Muskegon Heights Public School district announced the deal yesterday afternoon. Mosaica Education runs more than 50 charter schools around the globe. Six of those schools are in Michigan. The contract is signed but officials would not release it until the state signs off on the deal. So there’s a lot about the deal that we still don’t know – like how much Mosaica will make running the district. Mosaica officials began interviewing candidates for teachers and staff right after yesterday’s announcement.
Kalamazoo Oil Spill Update
Federal regulators will release a report this morning that includes the reasons why an oil pipeline broke near Marshall, MI in July 2010. “Environmentalists want to see if problems with federal oversight of the pipeline industry will be cited in the report. The National Transportation Safety Board has spent the 23 months since the pipeline break analyzing everything from the pipeline company’s records to a section of the pipeline itself trying to determine why Line 6B ruptured. Enbridge has spent $765 million dollars cleaning up more than 800,000 gallons of crude oil from the spill,” Steve Carmody reports.
