WATZ Today's Country

Wednesday News Summary 02-08-23
Wed, 08 Feb 2023 12:16:18 EST

(Stories Courtesy of Michigan News Radio)

GOV WHITMER BUDGET
Today in Lansing, Governor Gretchen Whitmer will present the 2024-2025 budget
Recommendations in front of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. Some
of the top items on the agenda include $180-dollar inflation relief checks, free school
lunches and school literacy and tutoring.

REPUBLICANS LAY OUT BUDGET PRIORITIES
Michigan Republicans are laying out their own budget priorities ahead of Governor
Witmers speech today. The seven recommendations include long term relief, fixing
roads, paying bills, protecting neighborhoods, resources to teachers and students,
mental health resources in schools and aid to state parks. Senate Appropriations
Minority Vice Chair Jon Bumstead said, Just as families in West Michigan and beyond
dedicate their hard-earned money for necessities, the next state budget should focus
on funding priorities we have in common around the state..."

GRAND RAPIDS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Grand Rapids has released its Economic Development Report. In 2022, the city
reports an increase of private investments of 35%, 40% increase in business
neighborhood investments, and $510-thousand dollars in new city taxes. However
they saw a decrease in the average wage of new jobs, and a lower than average
amount of impacted jobs.

THC IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
The Warren Consolidated Schools Superintendent is speaking out after what he says is
a spike of marijuana related issues in school. This comes after multiple 8th graders at
Carter Middle School became sick after ingesting weed cookies and gummies a
student brought from home. According to the superintendent Robert Livernois, this was
no accident. He says he believes the students knew exactly what was in the marijuana
infused snacks and distributed them to additional students. He says it's an on-going
problem since marijuana became legal in Michigan.

STOLEN CABIN
People in Northern Michigan use cabins for hunting, storage and living. One thing they
don't expect to happen - have their cabin disappear without a trace. Michigan State
Police helped recover the stolen 12-by-28 building in Cold Springs Township. They're
made in Kentucky and distributed across the Midwest, so police were able to check
serial numbers of similar cabins in the area. 43-year-old Jeremy Knoll from Kalkaska
tried to hide the cabin behind painted sheet metal, but it was no use. He was arrested
in January and due back in court later this month.

MSP TROOPER UPDATE
A Michigan State Police trooper whose car was hit early this morning in northern
Oakland County has been released from the hospital. The trooper was on Dixie
Highway when another driver lost control of his truck while trying to pass a salt truck
and crashed into the police car. The trooper was wearing his seatbelt and will out of
work for the next few days. The truck driver had minor injuries.

STATE OF THE UNION-MI REACT
President Joe Biden has exhorted Republicans in his State of the Union address to
work with him to "finish the job" of rebuilding the economy and uniting the nation.
Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell says since Joe Biden became president,
we have created 12 million jobs , invested in American manufacturing in critical sectors
including clean energy, semi-conductors, and infrastructure, & cut prescription drug
prices .
Republican Congressman John Moolenaar says President Biden's proclamations about
the State of the Union are out of touch with Michigan families who are struggling to get
by. He says In Mr. Bidens second year, inflation hit a four-decade high, gas cost $5.00
a gallon, China encroached on our airspace, students were left behind, and the border
fell further into crisis.

YOUTH GAMBLING BILL
A Metro Detroit lawmaker has introduced a bill aimed at educating teenagers about the
risks of gambling.
Senator Joe Bellino -- a Republican from Monroe -- is authoring a bill that would require
the department of education to develop an instructional program on gambling addiction.
Bellino says with the popularity of mobile betting apps -- more teens than ever are
having problems with gambling addictions.
Bellino points out that even though the legal gambling age ranges from 18 to 21
depending on the state -- data from the National Council on Problem Gambling
indicates that between 60 and 80 percent of high school students say they gambled in
the past year.

NEW JOBS MID MI
Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation
(MEDC) to announce that the Shyft Group, a manufacturer of delivery and specialty
vehicles, is expanding to produce electric commercial vehicles in Charlotte (SharLOTT) with support from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $16 million and create
680 manufacturing jobs. Michigan was chosen for the project over competing sites in
Indiana and Pennsylvania.

CHILD SEX ABUSE MATERIAL-ALPENA
A 59-year-old Alpena man, Ricky Clewley, has been arrested for for aggravated
possession of child sexually abusive material and using a computer to commit a crime.
The Michigan State Police Computer Crimes Unit, Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Force says Clewley was arrested following an investigation which when a tip was
received from the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children .
Clewley was charged with four counts of aggravated possession of child sexually
abusive material -
involving more than 100 images of child sexually abusive material.

DETROIT HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER DIES
A Detroit high school student, who collapsed during a basketball game last week, has
died.
Eighteen-year-old Cartier Woods went into cardiac arrest during a game January 31st
and was subsequently on life support.
It was Wood's aunt and legal guardian, Dwanda Woods, who had to make the call to
remove the teen from life support Tuesday.
Woods says her nephew had been playing sports since he was ten and had dreams of
playing college ball next year.

MISSING ICE CLIMBER-U-P
In the Upper Peninsula's Munising, a search will resume this morning for a missing ice
climber. The National Park Service says Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore received
a 911 report last evening that an ice climber fell from the Miners Castle cliff formation.
Crews from the Marquette Coast Guard Station along with a helicopter from the
Traverse City Coast Guard Station reportedly responded....but the search was difficult
because of unfavorable ice conditions and five to seven foot waves.

UNSTABLE ICE
The U.S. Coast Guard is warning winter enthusiasts of unstable ice conditions on the
Great Lakes and encourages people to take safety precautions following two major
rescues this week. Coast Guard boat and air crews responded to two separate ice
floes, one in Lake Michigan and one in Lake Huron, rescuing a total of 25 people.
Unstable ice conditions and varying temperatures have resulted in historically low ice
coverage this season on the Great Lakes.

GVSU CHICKENPOX
They're seeing a small cluster of chickenpox cases at Grand Valley State University,
both on the main campus in Allendale Township and on the Pew campus in downtown
Grand Rapids. Students were notified about the rise in cases Monday night. They
were urged to visit the campus health centers if they experience any symptoms and to
make sure they were vaccinated against the virus.

THREE RAPPERS UPDATE
It's an update to the story of three rappers.... found dead last week in Highland Park
after going missing when a performance was canceled. Three people with connections
to the murders are now in police custody.
Michigan State Police said yesterday that Armani Kelly, Montoya Givens and Dante
Wicker were each shot multiple times... and investigators are now close to determining
a motive for the deaths.
One of the people in custody is a 15-year-old found with Kelly's SUV in Warren.
Another person was arrested in a home near where the bodies were found... and a
third was tracked down and arrested in Tennessee.

LAWSUIT AGAINST FORMER ALLEGAN SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
A lawsuit has been filed against former Allegan Public School administrators, claiming
they did not take action against an alleged child predator even though there were
several allegations against James Baird...according to WOOD TV. The the 43-year-old
is accused of molesting girls while he worked as a vision specialist at Garden City and
Westland Schools. But, Baird had been accused of sexual abuse more than a decade
ago by girls in Allegan County.
The lawsuit has been filed by a former student. Attorney Ven Johnson says former
school administrators knew as early as 2007 that Baird was sexually harassing multiple
girls on the swim team and some quit. Baird was the swim coach. He was fired in 2010.

WINTER CARNIVAL-MICHIGAN TECH
A big event this week at Michigan Tech University in Houghton this week ....it's annual
Winter Carnival. President of the Blue Key National Honor Society, Joe Dlugos (Duhlew-gose) of Livonia, says they have a competition to build giant snow sculptures.
Dlugos says they were concerned about having enough snow, but got a lot....now
they're worried about it staying cold enough.
Other activities include: snow soccer and ice bowling.