The deadline arrives for protestors to leave Kalamazoo’s Bronson Park. A tax abatement will help pay for redevelopment project for Battle Creek’s Heritage Tower. Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard won’t bring “national popular vote” Legislation up for a vote.
(Kalamazoo Gazette) The deadline for protestors to leave Bronson Park came at 7:00 Tuesday night. The Kalamazoo Gazette reports that most of the people who had camped in the park left by late Tuesday night. A small group of protestors waited to be arrested, but public safety officers did not move in.
(Battle Creek Enquirer) The Battle Creek City Commission has approved $7.9-million in tax abatements to help pay for a $34-million redevelopment project on Heritage Tower. Plans call for apartments on the upper floors of the tower with restaurant and retail space on the lower floors.
(MPRN) The speaker of the state House won’t support a proposal aimed at electing presidents based on the national popular vote. There’s bipartisan support in the Legislature for Michigan to join a compact that 12 states have already joined called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Once enough states have entered into the compact to decide a presidential election, those states would cast their Electoral College votes for the candidate who won the national popular vote. Republican state House Speaker Tom Leonard says he doesn’t plan to bring the bill forward. Leonard says the nation’s founders wanted to ensure that all states, including small ones had a voice.
(WCMU) The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has identified two new invasive species that it considers a risk for the state. The spotted lantern fly and a Japanese chaff flower have been added to the DNR’s watch list. Joanne Foreman with the DNR said a risk analysis of both species showed both could spread into the state.