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BY RICK PLUTA Michigan Public Radio Network
Michigan's unemployment rate has dropped slightly to eight-point-five percent. This is the state's lowest jobless rate in five years.
The drop in the monthly jobless rate was actually a change from recent history because it is due to 17 thousand more people being added to payrolls, and not because people were leaving the workforce and no longer competing for jobs. Most of the job gains in March were in temporary help, and business services like IT and accounting. There were some job losses in the volatile retail and construction sectors. The new rate is also half a percentage point lower than it was at this time last year. That was led by improvements over the year in plastics and auto-related manufacturing, healthcare, and mortgage banking. But Michigan's unemployment rate remains higher than the national rate of seven-point-six percent.
BY JAKE NEHER Michigan Public Radio Network
Michigan's unemployment rate went unchanged last month. The rate stayed at 8.9 percent, the same rate reported in November. State officials said overall job gains have leveled off since last summer. But state budget department analyst Bruce Weaver said 2012 was still a good year for Michigan jobs.
"The unemployment rate in Michigan averaged 8.9 percent for the entire year. That's well below the unemployment rate we had a year ago, back in 2011, when the rate was 10.3." Weaver said.
Weaver said the biggest job gains came from the manufacturing industry, both in December and throughout 2012. The national unemployment rate last month was 7.8 percent. The U.S. rate also did not change between November and December.
BY RICK PLUTA Michigan Public Radio Network
Michigan's monthly unemployment rate dipped slightly in October, and is down almost a full point from where it was at this time last year. It's still higher than the national average.
The new jobless rate is nine-point-one percent. Bruce Weaver is an economist with the state Bureau of Labor Information. He said the state is adding thousands of jobs each month, but more people are also competing for jobs.
"So, essentially, what the state has recorded is a small rise in the size of the workforce since late last year and we've had some relatively modest job growth." Manufacturing, temp services, and business services like IT and accounting are adding jobs. Construction, retail, and local governments cut jobs over the past 12 months. The state's combined rate of unemployment and under-employment is also going down, it's almost two points below where it was a year ago.
BY AMANDA HARRISON
Volunteers at the Flint Animal Shelter have been dismissed from their position of dog walking earlier this week.
The decision came after employees filed a complaint about being harassed.
A blog accusing Flint Animal Shelter employees of abuse, listed their names and addresses and even created problems for the employees.
Chief of the Genesee County Animal Control, Walter Rodabaugh, said the situation was so bad one of the employees daughters was threatened in her work place.
He said he believes the blog was created by volunteers, which is why he asked them to step down until the matter can be resolved.
He said the volunteers deny creating the blog but stand by the content.
"They mentioned several issues this morning in front of the board. One of the issues I'm not allowed to talk about because it's under investigation still in progress, it's going to be the issues they talked about. Animals not being taken care of, cruelty to animals, and neglect to animals and blah blah blah all the way down the line."
Rodabaugh said he's working with the board and the union to get the volunteers back to work by the end of the month.
BY RICK PLUTA Capital Bureau Chief, Michigan Public Radio Network
DETROIT -- A jobs fair for veterans in Detroit this week is expected to draw thousands of jobseekers and prospective employers from across the Midwest.
The event is sponsored by the U.S. Veterans Administration. The need in Michigan and surrounding states was a big reason to hold the event in Detroit. Jason Allen is the deputy director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. He says more than one in 10 Michigan veterans are unemployed and looking for work. Employers from across the Midwest will be interviewing for 22 thousand openings.
Allen says other sessions will help small business owners who are veterans with advice and help winning government contracts. They'll also connect veterans with benefits they're due for their service.
"We're, unfortunately, not utilizing our G.I. Bill. We're not utilizing our pensions and compensations, and we're not using our health care," said Allen.
Allen says Michigan ranks last out of all the states, Washington D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico in veterans using their government benefits.
By Rick Pluta
Michigan's
unemployment rate fell to eight-point-three percent in April, a drop of
two-tenths of a percentage point. That news came amid predictions that
Michigan's economic recovery will continue, but at a slower pace than it has.
George
Fulton is a University of Michigan economist.
He said Michigan's jobless rate remains high, but the state has been outpacing the
nation in creating new jobs.
"The largest job gains have been
the higher wage sector and we see job growth continuing for the next few years,
but not quite at the pace we saw last year."
Fulton
said that's largely because of an expected slowdown in car and truck sales,
plus overall slow growth in the national economy. He said that is threatened by
instability in the European economy that could derail progress on this side of
the Atlantic.
Still
the mostly good economic news was enough to convince state budget officials to
up their revenue projections based on expected income improvements and more
consumer spending. Copyright 2012, MPRN
By Amanda Harrison
Military veterans are one of the groups with a high rate of unemployment. Now one Michigan corporation is working to fix that.
Kalitta Air and it's service maintenance division, STS Aviation of Oscoda, were honored Wednesday for their commitment to hiring veterans.
Michigan Veterans' Services Division presented an award to the employers honoring them for having a 30 percent veteran workforce.
Connie Kalitta is the owner of Kalitta Air. He said hiring veterans is just common sense.
"It's a quality of the people, they've all had good training from the military. Because we're in the maintenance business many of the people that we have hired that are veterans have had some sort of maintenance background before they get here. It's a mutual relationship with them, they bring us good service, quality work and they make good employees."
Kalitta says it is an honor to be recognized by the Michigan Veterans' Services Division.
By Rick Pluta A law signed Wednesday makes Indiana the first right-to-work state in the industrial Midwest. That has stirred discussions in Michigan on the topic. Governor Rick Snyder was asked for his thoughts on right to work as he testified in Washington D-C before a congressional committee. The question was posed by an Indiana lawmaker. Governor Snyder did not rule out Michigan becoming a right-to-work state sometime in the future, but said that debate should not take place in 2012. "We have many problems in Michigan that are much more pressing, that I want to find common ground issues that we can work together on before we get into divisive issues." The governor says roads, public transit, and connecting the chronically unemployed to jobs are all higher priorities. But Republican state Representative Mike Shirkey said having a right-to-work state next door in Indiana could force the governor and the Legislature to confront the question. "I am dismayed by the fact that they beat us to it, but I am happy to have the additional help." Shirkey said he hopes to have a right-to-work bill introduced before the Legislature begins its spring break in May. Copyright 2010, MPRN
For the first time in six years, the number of people moving into and out of Michigan has evened out.
Up until last year, the trend had been for people to move out of the state.
The figures come from Atlas Van Lines, a major international moving and shipping company.
They labeled Michigan as a balanced state in 2011, meaning the number of people leaving the state was just about equal to the number of people entering it.
That's the first time Michigan has been labeled as "balanced" since 2004. Over the next six years, more people were leaving the state than entering it.
The migration numbers show that Michigan's economy is slowly improving. Unemployment rates have dropped from a high of 14-point-one percent in August, 2009 to nine-point-eight percent in November of last year.
By Laura Weber State lawmakers approved a measure that would make it harder for people who are out of work to receive unemployment benefits. Republican state Representative Wayne Schmidt said the measure would discourage fraudulent claims by people who are capable of finding jobs. "To make sure that those who are truly impacted by this economy, who have lost work due to no fault of their own, have those unemployment insurance payments there, and that they're not going to people who just want to sit there and do nothing." The Legislature also approved a proposal to issue bonds to pay off the state's debt to the federal government for unemployment benefits loans. The bills now head to Governor Rick Snyder. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta Michigan's unemployment rate has dropped a third consecutive month and now stands at nine-point-eight percent. That's the lowest the rate has been in more than three years. But, there's good and bad news in the numbers. The jobless rate fell by eight-tenths of a percentage point in November. That's a sharp drop and much of it was due to new hiring. But retail was the only sector to show significant growth from month to month and much of the decline is also due to about 19 thousand fewer people in the workforce competing for available jobs. All told, there are still about 457 thousand people in Michigan without jobs and looking for work. At nine-point-eight percent, the state's unemployment rate is still above the national rate. When people who have quit looking are counted, along with part-time workers who'd like to be full-time, Michigan's rate of unemployment and under-employment is 18-point-eight percent. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta Governor Rick Snyder was at Delta College near Saginaw Thursday to deliver a message on education and worker training. The governor said there is a mismatch between the skills workers have, and what employers are looking for. Governor Snyder said the state could immediately drop its jobless rate by filling 77 thousand positions that are vacant because workers don't have the skills to fill them. The governor rolled a web portal that will help people chart out a career path by identifying prospective employers and the skills they are looking for. "We were missing the basics of economics, there's a demand side. Not to force people on a path, but to say: here's a better opportunity, a better match because you should want to go on that path because you know there's opportunity." The governor also wants to allow some people to collect unemployment benefits while they start a business. And he said the state needs to focus more on helping veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, who have a jobless rate that's almost three times higher than the state's overall unemployment rate. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Laura Weber Republicans at the state Capitol have unveiled a plan to limit the issues over which lawmakers can be recalled. The Senate Republican proposal is in response to the swath of recall campaigns against lawmakers this year, most of them against the G-O-P. The proposed state constitutional amendment would require a lawmaker to have committed a serious crime or malfeasance while in office in order to be recalled. If the Legislature approves the proposal it would require voter approval to amend the Michigan Constitution. Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville said lawmakers should not be threatened with recall for the way they vote on controversial issues. "This is the beginning of a discussion, I think it's an important one, because we're talking about taxpayer dollars in some ways being used for nothing more than political posturing or gathering of information." Republican state Representative Paul Scott was recalled last month in part because of his support for changes to teacher tenure rules. The recall campaign against Scott was funded largely by the Michigan Education Association teachers' union. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta Governor Rick Snyder will deliver his fifth special message of the year Thursday at Delta College near Saginaw. The governor will outline a strategy to better match worker skills to positions that are available right now. The governor is looking for ways to bring down Michigan's persistently high unemployment rate. More than one in 10 working-age people in Michigan are unemployed and actively seeking jobs. Governor Snyder is expected to say one big problem is too few people with skills that match positions that are available right now in fields like welding and software design. Sara Wurfel is the governor's press secretary. She said the governor believes employers will respond if workers pick up new, in-demand skills. "He believes the Number One most-important recourse Michigan has is its talent, its people, and the skills and the background that they bring." The governor is expected to say the state and educators need to do a better job of identifying employment trends and the skills businesses will be looking for. Snyder's predecessor, Governor Jennifer Granholm, also made job training a high priority. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta Michigan's unemployment rate fell by half a percentage point last month to 10-point-six percent. That means nearly half a million people statewide are out of work and looking for a job. The state's been slowly adding jobs in manufacturing, business services, and healthcare. Eight thousand jobs were added from September to October, said Bruce Weaver. He's with the state agency that tracks jobs data. "But the main reason why the rate went down was there were just fewer workers seeking jobs." That's because they either quit looking or left Michigan to look for work. When discouraged job seekers and part-timers who can't find full-time work are also counted, the state's rate of unemployment and under-employment is 19 percent. The most job losses were due to government layoffs. A report this week by the firm I-H-S Global Insight forecasts employment in Michigan won't return to pre-recession levels until 2017, and perhaps later than that. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta Governor Rick Snyder said the state Department of Human Services is reviewing whether cars and trucks should be counted as part of an assets test for families on food assistance. Critics quickly took aim at the policy, saying people should not have to get rid of their vehicles to qualify for food assistance in a state with the nation's third-highest jobless rate. Governor Snyder said there were enough complaints to warrant a second look at the rule. "That's a valid concern that they should be looking at and addressing and they are making a review of that topic." "We don't think there should be an asset test at all." Judy Putnam of the Michigan League for Human Services said most states do not require an assets test for food assistance and, of those that do, only two include family cars and trucks. "Revisiting the vehicle inclusion in the asset limit is a great idea." There's no word on how long the Department of Human Services review will take. About 34 thousand people lost benefits when the new rule was enacted a month ago. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta Governor Rick Snyder's administration has reached a deal with unions representing 35 thousand state employees on a two-year contract beginning next year. Last week, both sides declared their negotiations were deadlocked. The agreement averts arbitration hearings that were to begin Monday. Details on compensation and benefits are not being made public pending union ratification votes. But the tentative agreement does include some employee concessions, while the Snyder administration has agreed to examine manager-to-staff ratios and the cost of outside service contracts for possible ways to save money. If it is approved by the members and the state Civil Service Commission, this contract will take effect in October of 2012. The state unilaterally resolved a deadlock to come up with 265 million dollars in savings in the current fiscal year by imposing four unpaid furlough days, and not filling 367 vacancies. About two thousand corrections employees will also lose their jobs as the state closes a prison in Detroit. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Chelsea Hagger Michigan's top judicial official said the state has too many judges, and some of their positions should be eliminated. Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Young has presented a plan to do that to the state House Judiciary Committee. Chief Justice Young said a Supreme Court study found there are courts with workloads that no longer justify the number of judges they have. The report recommends eliminating 45 positions over several years. Young said some judges don't agree with the proposed cuts. But, he said most have accepted the reality that courts are too expensive and have too many judges. "It may not be something all members of the judiciary relish, but I think most of us recognize it's necessary." Young said Michigan taxpayers are paying more than they should be. He said he wants to make cuts in ways that won't compromise the integrity of the judicial system and assurances that people are getting fair trials. © Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Laura Weber A Democratic state lawmaker said the Legislature should reconsider the cap on cash assistance for poor families, in light of a recent federal court ruling. A federal judge said the state must continue making welfare payments to families affected by the four year limit until the families are better notified of the changes. Democratic state Senator Coleman Young said lawmakers should simply repeal the recent cash assistance cap. "We have the chance to right one of the wrongs committed by this body, and to save thousands of children from starvation and homelessness." Republican lawmakers appeared unfazed by Young's plea. On Republican senator said the cash assistance cap was necessary to increase self-sufficiency among struggling Michiganders. Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta A group of families on welfare has filed a class-action lawsuit in an effort to block a new limit on benefits that took effect Saturday. The rule sets a 48-month cap on cash assistance payments. Thousands of families will immediately lose benefits under the rule. The payments are used to meet living expenses such as food, rent and clothing. The lawsuit said the state violated the rights of welfare clients by failing to provide them with enough notice the cutoff was coming. Governor Rick Snyder signed the law four weeks ago. State Department of Human Services officials said everyone affected was sent multiple notices. Deputy Director Brian Rooney said efforts are also being made to connect families with other services such as job placement help. "So we're setting them up for as much success as we can with the limited resources that we have." Human services advocates said job placement is not much help in a state where more than one in 10 people who are looking can't find work. © Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta This weekend, thousands of Michigan families will lose state cash assistance welfare payments. They will be the first people to hit the state's new 48-month limit on benefits. It will also become harder for people to qualify for food assistance. This is the start of a sweeping makeover of public assistance for people in Michigan who have fallen on hard times. October first marks the beginning of the state's fiscal year and, with it, the state Department of Human Services will immediately close the files on 12-thousand-300 cash assistance cases. The program helps families with children or pregnant women with living expenses such as rent, utilities, food and clothing. A total of 41 thousand people will lose benefits. About 30 thousand are children. The only exceptions to the four-year limit are for people who are disabled and their caretakers. "We're really trying to get back to old-fashioned social work to help people in difficult parts of their lives get to a point where they can be self-sufficient." That's Brian Rooney, a deputy director at the state Department of Human Services. He said families who lose benefits may still qualify for help with their rent, and the state is trying to connect as many as possible with private agencies and help finding jobs. "The outreach that we have done with our community partners, different faith-based organizations, volunteers to try to provide as soft a landing as we can for people coming off of long-term cash assistance is unprecedented, really." But Gilda Jacobs said the state's timing could not be worse. She is the president of the Michigan League for Human Services. "It's been one assault after another on low-income and unemployed people in the state." More than one in 10 Michiganders is officially unemployed. Twice that many are not counted in that number because they are under-employed or have given up looking for work. Half of the unemployed in Michigan have been looking for a job for six months or more. In addition to the new limits on cash assistance, the state will require people who receive food assistance, Bridge cards, to list their assets. People with five thousand dollars or more in savings or non-retirement investments, or a personal car with a market value of 15 thousand dollars or more will be cut off. "Sounding like it should." Jim Alfredson is a self-employed musician, music teacher, and piano tuner. Married. Father of three young daughters. He said every part of his business has slowed down as the economy's grown worse. Alfredson said he's grateful for food assistance, which some months is a quarter of his household income. "We appreciate it because it's the one thing that's constant in what I do. Every month is different. Some months are great. Some months are really bad. But we know that at the very least we can afford groceries." But his family was told that, as of October first, they are no longer eligible for benefits based on the value of two cars. Both are used as family and business vehicles. Alfredson said food assistance helps to keep families like his in the middle class. "It seems like a lot of the families that we know are in the same situation. The situation looks good on the outside, but they're just one transmission failure away from bankruptcy." "There is a big storm coming..." Scott Dzurka is with the United Way of Michigan. He said the state and not-for-profit groups are trying to plot a new course for public assistance in Michigan. But Dzurka said that's a big job. The people losing benefits this weekend, he says, are just the first wave of people who will be looking elsewhere for help when the state cuts them off. "This population that rolls off in October, while significant, we're also going to continue to also continue see month by month more of that population roll off of their benefits, so we're going to continue to see this for some time." He said the next big challenge will come in January, when a new wave of thousands of long-term unemployed people will need help after they lose their extended jobless benefits. © Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Mike Horace
President Obama was in North Carolina today, promoting the jobs bill unveiled last week.
Some Michigan lawmakers are throwing their
support behind the legislation as well, including Senator Carl Levin.
Levin said if passed, the American Jobs Act would create at least
one-point-five million jobs, providing a much needed shot in the arm for
the economy.
"The best way to do that, one of the best ways, is investing in the
infrastructure, which has been neglected. So we got all kinds of roads
and bridges and surface transportation, and other infrastructure, ports
that need to be dredged. We have a jobs need out there, and this is one
way of getting jobs created very quickly, and they're good paying jobs."
Republicans remain on the fence about many of the president's proposals, and appear more likely to support tax cuts than new federal spending.
Levin said he's hopeful the two sides can reach an agreement.
The Michigan House has approved legislation making it easier to pull people with outstanding warrants off state welfare rolls.
State Representative Jon Bumstead sponsored the legislation.
He said it allows the state police and the Department of Human Services
to work together to identify bridge card recipients that have
outstanding warrants.
"Collaboration is what we're looking at in the State of Michigan, and
this is one example of what we're working towards. They can work
together, back and forth with crosschecking references. And if somebody
has warrants for arrest, they can be taken off their assistance." Said Bumstead.
According to the non-partisan House Fiscal Agency, the information
sharing effort could remove nearly 6-thousand people with outstanding
warrants from assistance programs.
The legislation still must be approved by the state senate.
By Rick Pluta Governor Rick Snyder has signed legislation that would end cash assistance welfare benefits after a family has been receiving payments for 48 months or more. The new law counts benefits going back to 2007. About 12-thousand-600 cases many of them families with children, will close and lose their benefits when the law takes effect on October first. Governor Snyder's administration said caseworkers will still make sure families who lose benefits will continue to get Medicaid coverage, food assistance, and help with training and job searches. Republican state lawmakers said this won't be the final word this year on changes in the welfare system. The state House could vote as soon as this week on more limits to public assistance including making sure automatic teller machines in casinos cannot accept Bridge Cards to make cash withdrawals, and canceling the cards of people with outstanding warrants. © Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Rick Pluta Governor Rick Snyder has decided not to dangle the threat of layoffs in front of thousands of state employees while contract negotiations continue. Thursday was the deadline to send out 30-day warning notices before the state's new fiscal year begins October first. The Snyder administration is looking for 265 million dollars in employee savings to keep the budget balanced. Sara Wurfel is the governor's press secretary. She said the decision signals the governor's confidence that a deal can be reached with state employee unions without resorting to layoffs, unpaid vacation days, and other stop-gap budget fixes. "This governor is a big believer in structural fixes and really wants to avoid coming back to do the one-time things of the past that haven't achieved the stability the state needs." Wurfel said the decision not to send notices does not rule out layoffs or any other contingency plans later on. The administration wants employees to pay more of their health care costs. Unions said the state pays too much for managers and privatized services. © Copyright 2010, MPRN
By Laura Weber A coalition of Michigan's public university officials said a college tuition is still affordable, despite increases in tuition. A report from the Presidents Council said need-based financial aid is on the rise, and universities are covering more student costs. Michael Boulous is with the council. He said a college education is more important than ever for workers in Michigan. "The number of jobs for workers with high school diplomas is shrinking rapidly. In many cases, entire industries that employed these workers are vanishing. Unemployment for people who have gone to college is half the rate it is for those who have only a high school diploma." Said Boulous. The report said merit-based scholarships have decreased slightly over the past few years. But the report said need-based financial aid has nearly doubled in that time. The report said the average student pays about 48-hundred dollars in tuition at a public university. School officials said about two-thirds of students qualify for financial aid. © Copyright 2010, MPRN
BY LAURA WEBER The state Legislature has approved a four-year lifetime cap on cash assistance welfare benefits for poor families. Human services advocates say tens-of-thousands of people receiving cash assistance are ill-prepared for the change. The cap on cash assistance would begin October first, and the Michigan League for Human Services estimates the move would affect 25-thousand children. The group had hoped Republican lawmakers would reconsider the measure. Democratic state Senator Gretchen Whitmer said she is not surprised that the bills moved quickly. "Well, unfortunately, with Republican domination in Lansing, this is what you get. And it's sad news for a lot of families in the state of Michigan." The Legislature also approved a bill that would require teachers and local government employees to pay more for their health care benefits. Both measures head to Governor Rick Snyder for his signature. Republican leaders said the measures are critical to maintaining a balanced budget. © Copyright 2010, MPRN
BY LAURA WEBER A new report authored by a Michigan State University economist said there could be a short-term boom in construction jobs if Michigan energy companies switched from coal to natural gas. Professor Bill Knudson said as many as 19-thousand new construction jobs at electricity plants would cause unemployment to dip by about four-tenths of a percentage point. "That's a one-time impact that occurs during the construction phase. Once the construction phase is over, then that economic impact kind of disappears." Knudson said a few thousand natural-gas jobs could remain, and there would be a negative impact on the coal industry. But Knudson's report also said coal comes from outside of the state and natural gas is in abundant supply in Michigan. The report which was commissioned by the not-for-profit Energy Foundation does not consider how the natural gas would be attained, such as through controversial method of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." © Copyright 2010, MPRN
K-12 schools are scheduled to begin September 6th but several Michigan teacher unions are still without a contract.
Rosemarry Carry is with the MEA. She said her organization released a critical list of unions she said are struggling.
"A critical List is a listing of those who are having difficulty in bargaining, difficulty in reaching a settlements, usually they are on the list because they've been bargaining for quite a long time."
Carry said the list informs people as to what is going on in their school. And encourages other school unions to show their support.
Schools on the list include Flint and Port Huron.
She said union members will continue to work without contracts this upcoming school year.
Students will not be affected.
BY LAURA WEBER Michigan's unemployment rate is on the rise. That's according to new state jobless numbers out Wednesday. The jobless rate in Michigan rose four-tenths of a percentage point in July to 10-point-nine percent. That's nearly two percentage points above the national average. Thirty-three-thousand jobs were lost in Michigan in July, according to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget. However, there were job gains in government, manufacturing, education and health services. The unemployment rate in Michigan was lower this July than the year before, by one-and-a-half percentage points. Copyright 2010, MPRN
GUERRA:
Flint's
problems are pretty well documented. But just in case, here's a rundown:
murders, arson, blight, poverty, massive police layoffs and the dubious honor
of being named one of the most violent
cities in the country.
And then of course there's Michael Moore's 1989
movie Roger and Me...which basically memorialized Flint's decline on the big
screen. A movie Stephen Zacks would rather forget:
ZACKS:
People
know Michael Moore and they know Roger and Me and so you respond to that
question for your whole life. You keep answering the question: What's wrong
with Flint?
GUERRA:
The
other comment he hears a lot is - oh Flint! Right, I think I've driven by it on
the highway. So Zacks - a Flint native who now lives in New York - has moved
back to his hometown temporarily to start a new, city-wide public art project.
But he wants to be clear about one thing:
ZACKS:
It's
not a project to try to save Flint. It's a project to collaborate with people
who live in Flint. Trying to find areas of the city are underutilized and where
people who live in those neighborhoods would like to see something happen, and
we're trying to make them happen quickly.
GUERRA:
The goal is to create a bunch of temporary art
installations around the city...whether it's in abandoned buildings or along the
river or in someone's front yard. Create almost a kind of critical mass of
small projects....that will maybe, just maybe get the people in Flint to start to
see their city differently.
Zacks is talking to anyone and everyone for the
project. Local and national artists, community organizers, neighborhood
associations, business owners. He even pitched the idea to Flint Mayor Dayne
Waling...who seems to like the idea:
WALLING:
It
would be wonderful if this project creates such strong new memories and new
attachments that our community refers to these now vacant sites as the place
where that really cool installation was put in as opposed to that's where
people went to work and the factory closed and we hit all these bad times.
GUERRA:
Walling
and Zacks met for coffee and talked about the project for about an hour. The
two kicked around ideas for potential sites for the installations...the vacant
lot known as Chevy in the Hole, Atwood Stadium...
WALLING:
Another space to
think about on Grand Traverse and University, one of the long time problem
loitering spaces, former grocery market and parking lot, is being greened, so
all of that is being removed...
GUERRA:
When I asked the Mayor if he really thought something like this could make a
difference in the city...he didn't give a definitive yes, but he said he's open
minded:
WALLING:
I
have tried to really keep that open door to new ideas b/c obviously the old
approaches aren't working in Flint anymore.
GUERRA:
Most
of the money for the Flint Public Art Project will come from grants. Zacks
launched an online fundraising campaign to bring in money that way, too. And while
the projects main focus is on temporary art installations... Stephen Zacks hopes
something more permanent will come out it:
ZACKS:
I
would like for there to be a landmark that is really integral to the place that
emerges from the project. Where you'd see a sign from the highway that says,
that's amazing!
GUERRA:
He
says that'll all depend on how much community "buy in" there is for the idea.
Which is where they might have their work cut out for them. Cade Surface is a
student at U of M Flint and he' helping Zacks with the project. He says he's
already gotten some flak from folks in town:
SURFACE: I've
heard its Auto World 2.0.
GUERRA:
That's
the now defunct indoor theme park in Flint
SURFACE:
I
think sometimes people around here - including myself - can be kind of cynical
of people from outside coming in with their ideas because we have had that come
in before and it hasn't worked. Doesn't mean it's a reason to stop trying!
GUERRA:
Surface
says yeah it might be a pie in the sky...but it also just might work.
Post offices throughout Michigan may be closing depending on observations beginning today (yesterday).
A spokesperson for the postal service said 62 facilities in Michigan will be monitored to determine the amount of business they do.
Casandra Latoski is a store clerk in Elm Hall in Gratiot County. She said residents have already been inconvenienced by their post offices change in hours. It's only open four hours a day.
She said since then the office reduced hours she has seen more demand for postal services at her store.
"We have people calling the store wondering if we do money orders or have stamps. And as far as I know the closest place to get a money order is Alma and which is approximately 15 miles away."
The Postal Service said it will take several months for any final decisions on closures to be made.
Governor Rick Snyder's administration and state employee unions have begun a new round of contract negotiations. The Snyder administration has set a big savings target -- 265 (m) million dollars - or an average of about six thousand dollars per state worker.
Jan Winter is the governor's lead negotiator. She said saving 265 million dollars in employee costs will be tough.
"Go the table, work as hard as you can. A lot of things can happen and we're counting on working out good deals here."
The alternative - layoffs, more contracting out for services, and other cost saving measures forced on state employees.
Cindy Estrada is the lead negotiator for U-A-W Local Six Thousand, the biggest state employee union. She said workers are also looking to fix the state's budget troubles.
"And real fixing means you involve workers and you involve management and you stay in the room until you get it done and I believe we can do that."
But Estrada said the savings should not come out of state employees' benefits or paychecks since they've given up nearly four billion dollars in concessions over the past decade.
Job creation has been dragging for most of this year in the state and across the country. That helped push Michigan's unemployment rate slightly higher in June. As we heard from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta, the new unemployment rate is 10-point-five percent.
There were eight thousand more unemployed people in Michigan last month - a total of 496 thousand people looking for work. The unemployment rate was inching downward as people found jobs in high-tech business services, health care, and manufacturing. Bruce Weaver of the state Bureau of Labor Market Information said all that stalled in February.
"It appears that job levels have flattened out in the state and that's across the board."
The number of hours worked and payroll earnings also fell. The rate of unemployment and under-employment is 19-point-six percent. That number counts part-timers who would like to work full-time, and former job seekers who got discouraged and quit looking.
The Michigan Senate has approved a four-year limit on cash assistance welfare benefits. As we hear from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta, the time limit was called for by Governor Rick Snyder and the Legislature's G-O-P leaders. The 48-month cap is part of Republican plans to balance the state budget.
Come October first, 12-thousand-600 families will likely lose benefits averaging a little more than 500 dollars a month. The vote on time limits broke along party lines.
Democratic state Senator Morris Hood.
"What's going to happen to those folks? Where are those 12 thousand people going to go the next day?"
Republican state Senator Mark Jansen says the four-year time limit will encourage people to move more quickly to find work to avoid exhausting their benefits.
"We can't do everything for everybody. We understand that we don't have the money to do that anymore."
Michigan's welfare time limits would be among the strictest in the Midwest. Indiana limits benefits for adults to two years - with no limit on benefits for children.
BY RICK PLUTA Michigan Public Radio NetworkThousands of new jobs, mostly in retail, were filled by a surge of people joining the workforce, leaving roughly the same number - 681 thousand -- unemployed but looking for work. Manufacturing employees worked more hours in April, but factories did little new hiring. Bruce Weaver is with the state Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth. "Michigan's labor market remained very tight. The unemployment rate remains quite high." When people who've quit looking for jobs, or part-timers who want full-time work are counted, Michigan's rate of unemployment and under-unemployment is 21-point-seven percent. While Michigan is not losing jobs at the rate it was a year ago, economists predict the overall trend of job losses will continue into next year before real job gains begin late in 2011 © Copyright 2010, MPRN
BY RICK PLUTA
Michigan Public Radio News
Economists at the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth say the new unemployment rate of 14.1 percent is still well above the national average. But it reflects a leveling off of job losses, especially in construction and manufacturing. Over the past year, there's also been a loss of jobs in media and telecommunications, banking, insurance, and real estate. At the same time, the education and health care sectors added jobs. There are 684,000 people out of work and looking for employment in Michigan. There are even more who have quit looking, or are working part-time but want to work full-time. When those groups are added in, the rate of unemployment and under-employment in Michigan is 22 percent .
© Copyright 2010, MPRN
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