SW Michigan

LANSING, MI - A group of retired military generals and admirals is among those calling on Michigan to spend more money on preschool programs. Retired Air Force Major General Thomas Cutler said Thursday that more investment in early education programs would better prepare more children for a wide variety of possible future careers, including the military if they so choose.

At least four local attorneys have applied to replace retiring Calhoun County Circuit Judge Allen Garbrecht. Gov. Rick Snyder will select the new judge, but the process is confidential, according to both the office of the governor and the Michigan Bar Association, which conducts interviews with the candidates.

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Three-hundred more jobs in the leisure and hospitality industries and 100 more in construction helped improve the unemployment rate in March in the Kalamazoo-Portage area, the state reported Thursday. One-hundred additional jobs were reported in government as well as in professional and business services, according to the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

An overflow crowd, many people in wheelchairs, filled three committee rooms in the state Capitol on Thursday to hear the opening debate on no-fault auto insurance reform.