Blood tests reveal that southwest Michigan children have high rates of lead poisoning. Gretchen Whitmer is sworn in as the state's new governor. Drinking water at a hospital in Hastings has tested positive for the bacteria that cause Legionnaire's disease. The minimum wage will rise this spring but not as fast as it might have. Homicides appear to be down in Detroit for two years counting, and the family of a Novi man arrested in Russia says he is not a spy.
Southwest and south central Michigan children have some of the highest rates of lead poisoning in the state. That’s according to a report from the Battle Creek Enquirer that looked at data from the Michigan health department. Tests reveal that children in Jackson County had the highest rate of elevated lead levels in their blood in 2017. About six percent of the children tested in Jackson County had high lead levels. That’s about twice the state average. Branch, Cass, Calhoun and St-Joseph Counties have the next-highest rates. Health officials say much of children’s exposure to lead in Michigan comes from old paint.
Michigan’s 49th governor has taken office. Gretchen Whitmer – and other new statewide leaders – were sworn in Tuesday. Whitmer is a Democratic governor in a state with a Republican-majority Legislature. During her inaugural speech, Whitmer spoke directly to lawmakers on the other side of the aisle.
“We may belong to different parties, but we are all here today for the same reason. We are proud Michiganders, first and foremost,” she said.
The state Legislature will gavel in for the start of its session on January 9. Republican leaders in the House and Senate have said that they plan to work with Whitmer.
The water at a hospital in Barry County recently tested positive for Legionella bacteria. The Battle Creek Enquirer reports that Legionella, which cause Legionnaire’s Disease, turned up in a sample from the Spectrum Health Pennock Hospital in Hastings. The Barry-Eaton health department got the results last week. The tests came after two cases of Legionnaire’s in patients at Spectrum Health Pennock, though the hospital says it doesn’t know if the bacteria in its water supply caused those infections. The health department says testing has not shown contamination in Hastings’ municipal drinking water.
Michigan workers who earn minimum wage will see a slight bump in their pay this spring, but the issue of worker pay might still end up in court. WDIV in Detroit reports thatthe state’s minimum hourly wage is rising to $9.45 in April, a twenty-cent increase over the current rate. A proposal for a more substantial raise, to $10 an hour this year and to $12 by 2022 had enough signatures to go to voters in November. The issue stayed off the ballot, though, after the Republican-controlled legislature adopted the proposal, then delayed the adoption date for $12 minimum wage by several years. Some supporters of the would-be ballot proposals have indicated they’ll sue over the changes.
The family of a Novi man arrested in Russia and accused of spying is denouncing the charge as completely false. The Detroit Free Press reports that Russian officials took forty-eight-year-old Paul Whelan into custody on Friday in Moscow. The Russian Federal Security Service later said that Whelan was engaged in, in its words, an “espionage operation” but did not offer details. Whelan’s family says he was in Russia for a wedding, that he is no spy and that they are worried about his well-being. Whelan is the head of global security for an auto parts supplier in Auburn Hills.
Homicides are down in Detroit for the second year in a row. That’s according to Detroit Police Chief James Craig who announced the numbers yesterday. He said the city had 261 homicides in 2018. The Detroit News reports that if the tally is found correct on review, it’d be the lowest annual number of murders since the mid-1960s. But the per-capita rate would still be much higher than it was 50 years ago, because although the murder rate has fallen the city’s population has fallen faster. Craig says he’s “happy” about the downward trend in homicides in Detroit but adds that he’s not “flying the flag of success” just yet.
