Six O'Clock News Briefs - Groundhog Day Edition
Nolan Finley finally surrenders. It's about time. Now if we could only get the rest of the wingnuts to go with him. Meanwhile, back in the real world, the Bay City Times had an excellent editorial recently about how Michigan is changing from a "brawn to brains" image. Well worth a read if you want to feel good about our state.
Kwame Kilpatrick is free tomorrow, and is on his way to Texas for a job interview. Would love to know who it is that actually wants to hire him, but as long as he pays his restitution for the money he cost us, good luck, and good bye. And skip the postcard.
In an interesting bit of rebellion, Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans announces he will not enforce foreclosures.
"Today I will be stopping all mortgage foreclosure sales in Wayne County beginning with the sale that was scheduled for this Wednesday," Evans said. "I am doing so because it's my opinion that recently enacted federal laws provide protections for homeowners facing foreclosure."
Evans said the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, approved by Congress last fall requires the Secretary of the Treasury to implement a plan to mitigate foreclosures and to encourage services of mortgagers to modify loans to enable homeowners to stay in their homes.
If he is serious about this, look for the "law" to get involved soon.
Michigan's Woody the Woodchuck, who resides in Howell, predicts six more weeks of winter.
An early Valentine's present that came the hard way. Carol Cooper, 70, of Concord, needed a cornea transplant, but finances forced her to put it off. Her husband gave her a bittersweet gift...
A day after her surgery was canceled, Carl Cooper — a retired machine operator — collapsed and died. His donated organs and tissue provided transplants to 50 people, Carol Cooper said, including a teenage boy critically injured in a car accident.
The medical fees for the cornea transplant were waived.
Become an organ donor. You can sign up online at the Michigan Secretary of State website - it's quick and easy. Go do it.
GM is holding off on building a new plant for the Volt engine production, but now they are looking at putting the work into the old Fisher Body No. 1 plant in Flint, which was the site of the Sit-Down Strike of 1936-37. In other electric news, Ford plans to have their electric car on the market by 2011.
An update to the earlier diary on the state department cuts: The Republicans will not hold the news conference to present their ideas of reform tonight due to the funeral of Diane Jelinek, wife of Senate Appropriations Chairman Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks. Senator Jelinek was one of the eight Republicans who stood up in 2007 and "did the right thing" by voting to fix our budget. A 30-year teacher, the Senator has served in our state legislature since 1996. Our sincerest condolences go out to the Senator and his family.