President Trump’s proposed budget includes cuts in Great Lakes restoration programs. Petition language is approved for a recall of Albion’s mayor pro tem. New leadership is announced for K-College's board of trustees. The basketball season ends for WMU’s men’s and women’s teams.
(Interlochen Public Radio) President Donald Trump has proposed a 90 percent budget cut to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. It’s part of the President’s 2020 budget proposal announced yesterday and decreases funding from almost $300 million to $30 million. The GLRI includes over 4,000 projects aimed at protecting and restoring the health of the Great Lakes. This is the third year in a row that the President has tried to slash the GLRI’s budget. In the past Congress has restored funding.
The Board of Trustees at Kalamazoo College has a new chairman. The college says retired Stryker Corporation executive Si Johnson was picked unanimously. He'll take over as chairman on July first. Johnson, who graduated from K College in 1978, has been the board's vice-chairman for nine years. He'll replace outgoing chairwoman Charlotte Hall, who's held the post since 2012.
(Battle Creek Enquirer) Petition language has been approved for the recall of Albion’s Mayor Pro Tem. The Battle Creek Enquirer reports that the Calhoun County Election Commission approved the petition language yesterday that aims to recall Sonya Brown. The petition focuses on an electronic message from Brown to City Manager LaTonya Rufus, which the recall petition says called for the firing of Public Safety Department Director Scott Kipp. Rufus is now on administrative leave for undisclosed reasons and Kipp is the acting city manager. Brown admits sending the message, but says it was not a directive for Rufus. Brown plans to appeal to Calhoun County Circuit Court. She has 10 days to file an appeal.
(MPRN) There’s a constitutional problem with the law creating the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority, but a judge says the law stands anyway. Last year, the Legislature passed a law that created a board to oversee the creation of a new tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. The tunnel will house a new section of the Line 5 pipeline to carry oil and natural gas liquids. The law gives board members appointed by the governor a six-year term. But the judge ruled that’s unconstitutional. And the plaintiffs argued that as a result, the whole law should be thrown out. The judge disagreed. The judge says the members can serve up to four years, and that the rest of the law stands.
(WCMU) More than 600,000 Michigan residents may have been impacted by a data breach of Detroit-based Wolverine Solutions Group. Officials say the breach may have compromised information including social security numbers, date of birth, and addresses for customers of Blue Cross Blue Shield, McLaren Health Care, and Health Alliance Plan, among others. A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s office says Michigan residents should put a fraud alert on their credit file and consider a security freeze.
(MPRN) Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s appointees for top level offices are in the clear. The state Senate has 60 days to object to Whitmer’s appointments. It has not objected to her picks to lead departments like health and human services, natural resources, and agriculture. And the clock has run out for the Senate to stop those and other appointments. The Senate is still considering Whitmer’s pick to lead the Public Service Commission. The governor has not announced a director for the department of Talent and Economic Development.
Western Michigan has been eliminated from the Mid-American Conference men’s basketball tournament. The Broncos lost at Central Michigan Tuesday night, 81-67 in the first round of the MAC tournament. Western finished the season with a record of 8-24 overall and 2-16 in conference play.
Western Michigan’s women’s basketball season ended with a 70-69 loss at Northern Illinois Tuesday night in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament. The lead changed hands five times in the fourth quarter, but the Huskies advanced to the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament in Cleveland.