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TexasTowelie's JournalBeto O'Rourke stumps in Virginia for Democrats in pivotal state elections
Virginia Democrat Dan Helmer got a boost in his bid to unseat Del. Tim Hugo over the Labor Day weekend when presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke appeared by his side to whip up voter enthusiasm in a pivotal state election this November.
O’Rourke traveled throughout the state over the weekend, driving home the message that national Democrats want to flip control of the Virginia legislature in part to build momentum for the race for the White House.
“As important as 2020 is, the road to get there runs through 2019,” O’Rourke said at a rally Saturday in Fairfax County.
O’Rourke also campaigned with Del. Chris L. Hurst (D-Montgomery), who is defending his southwestern Virginia seat against Republican Forrest Hite, and Democrat Amy Laufer in her bid to unseat state Sen. Bryce E. Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) in a district that runs between Charlottesville and Fredericksburg.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/beto-orourke-stumps-in-virginia-for-democrats-in-pivotal-state-elections/2019/09/03/f16cfecc-ca89-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70_story.html
Former Gov. candidate Shri Thanedar may run for Detroit state representative
Shri Thanedar, the third-place finisher in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary election, is setting his sights on a smaller target.
He has moved to the Palmer Woods neighborhood of Detroit and formed a committee to explore the possibility of running for state representative in the 3rd District, in a bid to replace Rep. Wendell Byrd, D-Detroit, who can’t run again because of term limits.
He’s one of three people who have filed to run for the seat, including Detroit residents Al Williams, a Democrat, and Lansing Sanchez-Castillo, who has no party affiliation. With 14 months before the 2020 election cycle, 51 people from all over Michigan have filed to run for seats in the state House of Representatives.
“I want to be an advocate for Detroit in Lansing because if Detroit succeeds, the entire state of Michigan succeeds,” Thanedar said. “We’ve seen a lot of progress in downtown, but the neighborhoods are still hurting.”
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/27/shri-thanedar-state-representative-seat/2124669001/
(Detroit Free Press)
Missing Persian cat reunites with Michigan family after 3 years
IONIA, Mich. — A flea-ridden Persian cat so weak she could barely stand was rescued from a residential garden in Ionia and reunited with her family in Grand Rapids after three years apart, an Ionia County animal control officer said.
Violet was found in Ionia on Aug. 6. She was covered in maggots, flies and fleas, the Ionia Sentinel-Standard reports.
Ionia County Animal Control Director Carly Quinn took Violet to a vet who was able to identify the 10-year-old because she was micro chipped. It took more effort to track down her humans 30 miles away.
Drew Potter adopted Violet from the Humane Society in 2012, but his contact information on the chip was outdated. Quinn persisted and found him on Facebook after a few hours.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/09/02/missing-cat-michigan-grand-rapids/2190821001/
(Detroit Free Press)
UAW members uncertain, apprehensive amid scandal, contract negotiations
Beneath the echos of chants and drum lines during Monday's annual Labor Day parade in Detroit, there was an air of anxiety and uncertainty for UAW members, who are facing a union leadership scandal amid upcoming contract deadlines.
The Monday morning parade took place five days after the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service raided UAW president Gary Jones' metro Detroit home, and two weeks before the UAW's contracts with Detroit automakers expire.
The Aug. 28 raid on Jones' home was part of a string of national raids targeting UAW leadership in a federal corruption investigation centering on misspent UAW money. Nine people have been charged in the investigation so far.
Despite the chaotic situation at the top of the UAW, the Monday parade was buzzing with UAW members, many of whom said it was important for them to show solidarity and tradition no matter what their leadership may have done.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2019/09/02/labor-day-parade-uaw-scandal-contract/2191046001/
(Detroit Free Press)
Benton Harbor schools may be open for now, but test scores are the pits
Struggling financially and academically, Benton Harbor schools got a fresh dose of bad news Thursday, with the release of state test scores showing their students are learning at among the lowest levels in the state.
Less than one in 16 third-graders in Benton Harbor are proficient in reading or math, according to proficiency rates for the 2018-19 school year released by the Michigan Department of Education. That proficiency rate of about 6 percent (a year earlier it was below 5 percent) is less than one-seventh the state average.
Proficiency rates in Benton Harbor are even worse in other test subject areas in grades 4-8 and 11, where less than 5 percent of students were proficient.
Benton Harbor is a low-income school district, and test scores are stubbornly tied to poverty. But even among school districts that serve poor communities, Benton Harbor stands out. Among high-poverty school districts with at least 1,750 students, Benton Harbor has the lowest test scores in the state.
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/talent-education/benton-harbor-schools-may-be-open-now-test-scores-are-pits
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: Leaders should 'stop playing games' on roads funding
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called upon Republican leaders in the legislature to “stop playing games” and offer a road-funding solution that will fund necessary infrastructure repairs Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, Republican leaders said they plan to move forward with finalizing the state budget without funding for long-term road and bridge fixes after the governor rejected four plans they presented.
“I’m willing to continue to talk, but we have to pivot and also progress on a budget because the citizens of Michigan deserve the certainty of a budget being done,” Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said Wednesday. “I can assure you there is no reason other than a desire to create a crisis for even the contemplation of a government shutdown.”
If Whitmer, Shirkey and Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield don’t come to an agreement on how the state should spend its nearly $60 billion budget before Oct. 1, the government will shut down and any “non-essential” employees will face layoffs. Whitmer has said she’d agree to a temporary continuation budget if negotiations with the GOP leaders are ongoing in good faith.
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-leaders-should-stop-playing-games-roads-funding
Michigan House Democratic leader says Whitmer's 45-cent gas tax is probably dead
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposal to raise Michigan gas taxes by 45 cents per gallon is likely dead, said House Democratic Leader Christine Greig Thursday.
Republicans have said the proposal is a non-starter, so “I think we have to have these other options,” the Farmington Hills representative said.
Among them: taxing heavy trucks so they pay an extra cent per mile driven, which she estimated would raise an additional $400 million for roads or closing “corporate tax loopholes” to raise up to $500 million. Those proposals, plus a smaller gas tax increase, could close the gap for necessary road repair funding, she said.
“We have a pathway to lower the 45 cents,” Greig said. “But the important thing is we have to raise $2.5 billion in new revenue to fix the roads.”
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-house-dem-leader-says-whitmers-45-cent-gas-tax-probably-dead
'Disgrace': Michigan House urges indicted lawmaker to resign
LANSING — The Michigan House approved a resolution Thursday urging the resignation of a lawmaker who is facing federal charges over an alleged scheme to trade votes for campaign money.
In the measure, which passed 98-8, the House reserved the right to take further disciplinary action if state Rep. Larry Inman does not immediately step down. House leaders who had previously called for his resignation declined to say if they will move to expel the Traverse City-area Republican, who was indicted in May.
“I’m still hopeful that he does the right thing,” said GOP House Speaker Lee Chatfield, who previously stripped Inman of his committee assignments. Inman also was kicked out of the Republican caucus following the announcement of charges.
The resolution was introduced in June, but the House waited months to vote to let Inman focus on getting treatment for an addiction to painkillers. A spokesman for Chatfield said Inman has completed his treatment.
Read more: https://www.cheboygannews.com/news/20190829/disgrace-michigan-house-urges-indicted-lawmaker-to-resign
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Michigan House urges resignation of Inman, who told donors ‘I need money’
The Michigan State House passed a resolution with a 98-8 vote Thursday urging indicted Rep. Larry Inman to resign from his post representing Grand Traverse County.
Lawmakers passed the measure without debate, and the Republican Inman wasn’t there. He hasn’t attended a single session since May, when he was indicted on federal charges of bribery, extortion and lying to the FBI. Inman has pleaded not guilty and has requested a federal judge dismiss all the charges. Earlier this month, the judge denied the motion to dismiss the charge of lying and said he would rule later on the charges of bribery and extortion.
Inman has repeatedly said he won’t resign. Expelling Inman from the chamber — which would require a two-thirds supermajority vote — is not yet on the table for Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield and Minority Leader Rep. Christine Greig, who have said they are hoping Inman chooses to resign on his own. Meanwhile, Inman continues to receive his $71,685 salary.
"We think he should do the right thing, we believe he should step down," Chatfield told reporters Thursday. However, he implied they do have the numbers for expulsion: "The right step to take today was asking him to resign and that's what we did. We had a supermajority in our request to ask him to resign."
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-house-urges-resignation-inman-who-told-donors-i-need-money
Audit: Michigan Office of the Great Lakes didn't keep track of money
LANSING — Michigan’s Office of the Great Lakes broke federal grant-writing rules, failed to keep track of money and hasn’t updated some plans to clean polluted sites in years, according to an audit published Friday.
Michigan’s auditor general, Doug Ringler, examined how the office charged with protecting and restoring Michigan’s Great Lakes works with universities, nonprofits and others to remove contaminants and restore wildlife habitats in 14 “areas of concern” — lakes and rivers facing heavy pollution from industry and other development.
Ringler found the program, which doled out $10.4 million in grants from 2016 to 2017, “moderately effective.” He flagged a litany of deficiencies but did not list some specifics about grants, including parties involved. The audit found:
• The Office of Great Lakes awarded one unnamed university a $328,000 grant through an informal, poorly documented process that lacked a work plan. The office “could not assess whether a grant agreement met its needs.” The grantee created two classes to teach graduate students about the pollution program and its public outreach.
• The office failed to comply with federal and state grant requirements, prompting the state to issue $13,667 in unallowable or unsupported costs — such sponsorship of a watershed festival, including advertising and charter boat trips. The office accepted financial and program reports from six grantees weeks and even months past deadlines.
• The office seldom updated “remedial action plans” for the polluted sites despite vowing to do so in agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• The office hadn’t updated its plan for remediating Houghton County’s Torch Lake since 2007, and it hadn’t updated plans for the Detroit River, St. Clair River and Rouge River since 2008. The lack of updates limits the public’s involvement in efforts to clean up those sites and delist them from the program, the audit found.
• The office did not consistently notify the public about its removal of certain restrictions on waters in the program as conditions improved — including those related to dredging or eating fish and wildlife, for example.
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/audit-michigan-office-great-lakes-didnt-keep-track-money
Why We Need Molly Ivins's Wisdom Now More Than Ever
Perhaps better than anyone, political commentator and journalist Molly Ivins could describe the absurdity of Texas and its politics with unabashed candor.
“There are two kinds of humor,” she said in a 1991 People magazine story. “One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity…the other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule—that’s what I do.”
Ivins, who grew up in a conservative household in Houston, is best known for her work in the Texas Observer and as a columnist at the Dallas Times Herald and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The response to her column, which was eventually syndicated in hundreds of newspapers nationwide, prompted a billboard ad that read, ”Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?”
Ivins died in 2007 after a battle with breast cancer. Now a new documentary is introducing Ivins to a whole new generation. Raise Hell: The Life and Times of Molly Ivins, which premiered at January’s Sundance Film Festival and played South by Southwest in March, is getting a theatrical release beginning August 30. We spoke to the film’s director, Janice Engel, about Ivins’s fierce spirit and the lessons today’s young people can take from her legacy about taking political action.
Read more: https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/molly-ivins-raise-hell-film-janice-engel-politics/
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,056
