TRAVERSE CITY RECORD-EAGLE
Published:
June 24, 2009 06:40 am Green Careers forum to be
featured at fair
ONEKAMA — A Green Careers job forum that highlights job training and career opportunities in renewable and energy efficiency fields will be held June 26 as part of the annual Michigan Energy Fair.
The event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Lions Club building at the Manistee County Fairgrounds in Onekama. Local employers and educators will discuss employment and job training opportunities in so-called green technologies, including solar and wind energy production, energy audits, green lodging and weatherization.
The forum is co-sponsored by the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments, Northwest Michigan Works! and the Northwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. More information on the Energy Fair is available at
www.GLREA.org.
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TRAVERSE CITY RECORD-EAGLE
June 24, 2009
Local home sales see 32 percent increase
Nationally, sales rise less than expected
From Staff and Wire Reports
WASHINGTON — Sales of previously occupied homes rose modestly from April to May, the third monthly increase this year, but signs of a housing recovery are fragile at best.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that home sales rose 2.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 4.77 million, up from a downwardly revised rate of 4.66 million in April. The results, however, missed analysts’ expectations and stock markets edged lower on the news.
“While activity has stabilized, a meaningful recovery has yet to begin,” wrote Paul Dales, U.S. economist with Capital Economics.
Locally, home sales in the 5-county area picked up significantly in May. The Traverse Area Association of Realtors reported 166 residential units sold in May across Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Antrim and Kalkaska counties, an increase of almost 32 percent from April.
But home sale prices in the local market continue to lag with foreclosures and other distressed sales pushing down prices. The average home sale price in May was $145,609 in the 5-county area, down almost 10 percent from April. The median or midpoint sale price was $115,000, a decline of 13 percent from April.
Nationally, the bursting of the housing bubble helped push the U.S. economy into the worst financial crisis in seven decades. Now the economy is hindering the recovery of the real estate market. As companies continue to shed jobs, more cash-strapped homeowners are predicted to go into foreclosure.
About one in three homes sold last month was a foreclosure or distressed sale, dragging down the median price to $173,000 — 16.8 percent below a year ago. The median sale price for the 5-county area is off about 21 percent from May 2008.
Falling prices coupled with new rules for property appraisers have caused many transactions to fall apart or be delayed.
“We have just been flooded with e-mails, telephone calls on the appraisal problems,” said Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist.
One bright spot, however, was that the number of unsold homes on the market at the end of May fell 3.5 percent to nearly 3.8 million. That’s a 9.6 month supply at the current sales pace, compared with about 6 months in a normal market.
The drop in inventory was “the best news in the report,” said Joseph LaVorgna, Deutsche Bank’s chief economist.
Still, the inventory figures don’t reflect the large number of houses being held off the market by owners reluctant to sell while prices are so weak, noted Richard Moody, chief economist with Forward Capital.
Mortgage rates are another problem. Interest rates for 30-year home loans, which fell to all-time lows this spring, have been edging back up. The average rate was 5.38 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac.
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TRAVERSE CITY RECORD-EAGLE
State budget cuts threaten clinic
Youth health center could lose
half its funding
By LAURA WRIGHT and BRIAN McGILLIVARY, Record-Eagle staff writers
TRAVERSE CITY — College student Angela Hecker finally found affordable health care last November, but it could be gone by fall.
Hecker receives medical service from Grand Traverse County’s Youth Health and Wellness Center, which serves students aged 10 to 21 from a five-county region. The clinic could close if proposed state funding cuts are adopted.
The Northwestern Michigan College Student said she doesn’t know what she’ll do if the clinic closes.
“I wouldn’t have a doctor and most places charge a lot,” Hecker said.
The Senate Appropriations Committee recently eliminated all $4.7 million in funding for child and adolescent health centers from next year’s state school aid budget. If the cuts hold, Grand Traverse County’s Youth Health and Wellness Center will lose $175,000, more than half of its funding.
The clinic served about 1,100 young people in 2008, many without health insurance or a family physician. Nurse practitioner Pattie Friedli said the clinic is geared toward teens who are more comfortable at the clinic located in the Career Tech Center on Parsons Road.
“If we close, the whole region is going to suffer,” Friedli said. “They’ll end up not getting care, or they’ll go longer without care. That will equal lost days of work, lost days of school, a sicker community.”
The clinic operates on a sliding fee scale, but also bills insurance and Medicaid, which brings in about $52,000 of its $324,000 annual budget.
Jill Kuhlman, a former patient, used the clinic to obtain vaccinations.
“It was so much cheaper,” Kuhlman said. “If the clinic closed, it would be a lot harder to get effective health care at a cheaper cost.”
Lost state funding also would threaten the planned creation of another clinic in Kingsley.
State Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, called the clinic is a good program, but said the state is “hemorrhaging millions of dollars a week.”
Allen said one of every five tax dollars in the state budget comes from the auto industry and the demand for new cars is “near depression levels.”
“We’re facing huge economic challenges and (school) superintendents said their No. 1 issue is to try and ensure per-pupil funding remains level,” Allen said.
The full Senate will vote on the bill Thursday. If passed, the bill will go to a conference committee with the House. If the cuts hold, program funding could fall to Grand Traverse County.
“We knew there would be continued pressure to fund the local health department because the state and feds are cutting back in that area,” said county Commissioner Larry Inman. “I’m in favor of taking a hard look (at the clinic) for 2010.”
The state budget year ends Sept. 30 so the county board would first need to spend about $44,000 just to keep the clinic operating through year’s end. The board would have to readdress the clinic during fall budget discussions.
“The budget hearings this fall are going to be excruciating,” said county Commissioner Christine Maxbauer. “We are going to have to make some tough decisions.”
The county contributed $83,000 to the clinic this year and Maxbauer said other county programs would need to be cut to keep the clinic open.
“The health clinic is high on my list, but I don’t know where it rates with other commissioners,” Maxbauer said.
The county board will discuss the potential state funding cut when it meets today at 7 p.m. in the Governmental Center.
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TRAVERSE CITY RECORD-EAGLE
Residents try to stay cool during
heat wave
TRAVERSE CITY — Sprinklers were more for kids than lawns, car washes more for the person washing than the car on a day when temperatures reached record highs.
“We hit 95 in Traverse City, which tied a record high,” said Tom O’Hare, 9 & 10 News chief meteorologist. “When you throw in that humidity, that humidity is making a big difference, making it feel that much muggier. It’s pretty impressive.”
The heat was expected to break Wednesday evening, but those who live and work in Traverse City found numerous ways to deal with furnace-like conditions.
“We certainly complained about the cold,” said Joyce Rouse of Traverse City. “Not complaining now; I might go jump in the water.”
Residents relaxed under downtown awnings with cold drinks and ice cream.
“Anytime it gets hot like this, our numbers are very strong. We love this weather,” said Joe Welsh, Cold Stone Creamery manager.
To enjoy a bit of outdoors, Brett Nichols and wife Kristina sat in front of Cold Stone, with chocolate ice cream.
“We’re not doing a lot,” Nichols said. “Enjoying this, then going into an air-conditioned restaurant.”
Precautions come into play for those who work outside and can’t enjoy awnings and ice cream.
“Drink plenty of fluids, and while waiting for the trucks try to find a shady spot,” said Sara Zeigler, an Elmer’s asphalt crew laborer.
Asphalt generally is hot, and on days like Wednesday, it’s even worse, Ziegler said.
“Yesterday, I only worked the first part of the day,” said Brent Miller of McCuron Creek Landscaping. “You have to pace yourself and take lots of breaks. Getting into a steady rhythm is so important. You can’t spend yourself.”
Jim Leffew, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier for 23 years, said his truck is littered with water bottles on such hot, sticky days.
“Park the truck in the shade usually,” Leffew said. “Do like an old dog does, and find a cool spot.”
Those who toil outside aren’t alone in risking heat-related problems.
“The younger ones can only be outside for 10 to 15 minutes. We do things in the shade under a tree, like read a story,” said Andrea Saunby, Alphabet Soup Preschool’s assistant director. “We spray down the sand box so the sand is cool. We may go to the park in the morning, and try to keep kids in, in the heat of the day.”
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TV 9&10 NEWS
posted June 16, 2009
Lawmakers Consider Breaking
Michigan Promise Scholarship
A promise for students may turn out to be a broken one: lawmakers are taking the first steps to eliminate the popular Michigan Promise Scholarship.
A Michigan Senate subcommittee voted on Tuesday to eliminate the grant that provides one to four thousand dollars to tens of thousands of students across the state.
Eliminating the program would save about 140-million dollars each year as lawmakers try to fill a 1.7-billion dollar budget deficit before the next fiscal year begins in October.
“It would be a huge effect on our students,” Diane Fleming, the Associate Director for Scholarships and Financial Aid at Central Michigan University, told 9 & 10 News, “It’s going to mean students are going to take out more in loans.
Last school year, the state provided 4.2-million dollars in promise scholarship money to students at CMU. For next year, the state was on track to provide more than 3-million dollars.
Fleming says the cuts would hurt hard given the struggling economy.
“Especially now with the Michigan economy the way it is and the number of people who’ve been laid off, a thousand dollars is a big sum of money,” Fleming told 9 & 10 News.
Fleming says concerned students should meet one on one with their financial aid advisors to figure out alternatives — although most schools will likely not be able to replace the loss with grants.
“The loss of a thousand dollars should not prevent any student from going to college,” Fleming said.
Mckenzie Coy, a graduate of Cadillac Senior High School who will attend Michigan State University, says “it was exciting” to get the certificate in the mail notifying her that she qualified for up to 4-thousand dollars in promise scholarship money.
“Every little bit helps and it will add up,” Coy told 9 & 10 News.
Coy, who is working full-time as a lifeguard on a beach on Lake Cadillac, says she would have to revisit her budgeting for MSU — but that an elimination of the scholarship would not phase her.
Lawmakers are considering cuts to other financial aid programs, including state funding for work study programs.
9 & 10’s Ted Haller and Photojournalist Jordan Nagel report on the potential impact of eliminating the popular scholarship.
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June 24, 2009
Granholm, union leaders push health care reform
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
Associated Press Writer
|
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Royal Oak resident John Dick will never forget having to go through bankruptcy after a serious motorcycle accident left him with a leg broken in 11 places.
Dick was a small-business owner at the time, and he couldn’t afford health insurance. He had no way to pay off the $40,000 bill after his accident. The 49-year-old now has insurance through his job as a mail carrier, but said he doesn’t want others to go through what he did. “Every time I look at this large scar on my leg, I hope we will have health care reform this year,” Dick told reporters Wednesday during a conference call set up by the Michigan AFL-CIO. “I will never forget how not having health care insurance has impacted my life.” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday in Washington, D.C., that revamping the nation’s health care system is President Barack Obama’s most important domestic priority. Michigan Rep. John Dingell, the Dearborn Democrat whose name is on the health reform draft under discussion on Capitol Hill, said during the hearing that differences exist over what a revamped health care system should look like. But he added the timing for overhauling the troubled health care system is better than at any time during his 53-year congressional career. “We must not lose sight of the people we were elected to represent – the family who has health insurance but is worried that with rising costs they will no longer be able to afford it; the small business owner who wants to provide her employees with quality coverage, but the costs prevent her from doing so; and our American companies who find it harder to remain competitive in the global economy due to the escalating health care costs,” Dingell said. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm met Wednesday afternoon with Obama and four other governors who discussed concerns people shared at White House regional health care forums the governors held in their states this spring. Sebelius and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett also attended the meeting, along with Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire, Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas and South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds. Wednesday evening, Obama planned to participate in a town hall meeting on health care in the East Room that was to be broadcast by ABC. After the meeting, Granholm told The Associated Press the bipartisan group of governors share many of the same concerns about health care. The Democratic governor and Douglas, a Republican, jointly head the National Governors Association Health and Human Services Committee. “The point that we all wanted to make is that we have much more in common than the issues that divide us,” Granholm said. “We all believe that there must be a sense of urgency about getting health care reform done. We all believe that there are costs in the system that can be wrung out.” Granholm noted the issue has huge bearing on the state and national economies. “I don’t know that General Motors and Chrysler would even be in bankruptcy today if we had had a uniquely American solution to the cost of health care,” she said. Obama said he got a clear message from the governors. “When you look at Medicaid budgets and what that’s forcing governors to do in terms of making choices about trying to still fund higher education and the other things that are going to make states competitive, there’s a recognition that we have to change the status quo,” he said. Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney told reporters Wednesday that the need for a national solution on health care is “critical.” “We need an employer-based system, but at the same time we need a public option that people can, if they can afford, buy into it,” he said. “We think that will provide the competition to, over the years, keep costs down and quality up.” Gaffney said about 50 Michigan union members are heading to Washington by bus to join in a Thursday health care rally. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 24, 2009
Expanded unemployment benefits stall in Michigan
|
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — It appears that Michigan will not use federal stimulus money to extend unemployment benefits for people in job training programs and expand coverage to those seeking only part-time work.
Senate Republicans blocked efforts by Democrats to force a vote on the issue Wednesday. Republican leaders say the plan would permanently raise costs on Michigan businesses because they would be required to keep paying the benefits after federal stimulus money runs out in 2011. The Recovery Act would make nearly $140 million available to Michigan for temporarily extending the jobless benefits. But states can’t make the benefits temporary. Democrats say the benefits are needed in Michigan, which has the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 14.1 percent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 26, 2009
Mich. finally gets good news
with small car plant
AP – Exterior photo of General Motors’ Orion Assembly plant in Lake Orion, Mich., Thursday, June 25, 2009. …
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN and DAVID N. GOODMAN, Associated Press Writers
ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Michigan has snatched back a few of its fast-disappearing auto jobs, winning a high-stakes competition with two other states to build General Motors Corp.’s next-generation subcompact car.
The news is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy Michigan economy that has seen unemployment hit a nation-leading 14.1 percent, lots of housing foreclosures, unpaid furlough days for state workers and uncertainty for thousands of others worried about whether they’ll still be getting a paycheck in the months ahead.
“We’re delighted,” Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said Thursday after a person briefed on the decision told The Associated Press that GM would keep 1,200 jobs at the retooled midsize car factory in Orion Township about 40 miles north of Detroit. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not been made public.
GM spokeswoman Sherrie Childers Arb declined to comment on whether GM had made a decision. Patterson said he had a phone call scheduled with GM at 9 a.m. Friday.
Tony Medrano, an hourly employee at the Orion Township plant, called it “awesome news.” The Orion plant now makes the Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibu midsize cars, but the Pontiac brand is being discontinued and the Malibu also is made at factory in Kansas City, Kan. The plant was to go on standby status later this year.
Medrano, who has worked for GM for eight years, was one of the plant workers who accompanied Democratic Michigan Rep. Gary Peters to GM’s headquarters last week to deliver letters to company officials pressing for bringing small car production to the factory.
He’s unsure about the future of his job because its unclear if the plant will need the same amount of workers as it has now. But he said he still wanted Orion Township to get the chance to build the 160,000 small cars annually.
“We figured the push for this vehicle was more important than our jobs,” he said.
Auto workers weren’t the only ones heartened by the news. Ron Basar, a 44-year-old engineer with the auto parts supplier Inteva Products, said landing the small car was “quite a relief.”
His company faced shutting at least one of its plants had the Orion Township plant closed, and the township would have suffered a big blow to its finances.
“Without that tax base, it would be pretty devastating,” he said. “We really need them in the area.”
Michigan has lost nearly half its manufacturing jobs since they hit a peak in mid-2000, or more than 450,000 positions. At least half a million workers already are collecting unemployment benefits in the state. So holding onto at least some of the GM jobs it thought it was losing is a major victory.
GM is likely to announce that its Pontiac parts stamping plant will be retooled to make parts for the new car, based on the Chevrolet Spark. About 1,000 jobs could be saved there, more good news for Oakland County.
“We had stiff competition from Tennessee and Wisconsin,” Patterson said. “I think the impact of reopening that plant and making the small car here will have a huge long-term effect not just on Oakland County but southeast Michigan and help us address some of the real serious employment issues that we have in this region.”
Michigan’s win meant a loss for workers hoping GM would reopen a plant in Janesville, Wis., or spare a plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., where 2,500 workers will lose their jobs later this year when production of the Chevrolet Traverse crossover vehicle moves to a plant near Lansing.
“I am going to remain optimistic,” said Cliff Goff, 53, a longtime employee at Spring Hill who has worked for GM since 1975. “I am a person who believes you have got a great work force. You have a great plant. … I would think they understand they have a valuable asset there.”
Goff said in a telephone interview that a “decision to do nothing with that plant would have a serious impact on our workers and our community.”
Lee Sensenbrenner, a spokesman for
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, declined to comment.
Michigan, Wisconsin and Tennessee all offered incentive packages to GM in an effort to lure the plant.
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday that his state’s incentive bid was “nothing like” what GM had originally sought.
But Michigan, facing the effects of Chapter 11 bankruptcies at GM and
Chrysler LLC and the crumbling of its once-proud car culture, pulled out all the stops to win the plant.
“Clearly we have been creative in fighting for the small car plant,” said Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for
Democratic Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. “We have a history of going after manufacturing projects and supporting the
American automobile industry with incentives.”
She declined to give specifics of Michigan’s offer. But the state has revamped its business tax to give manufacturers more breaks and has already handed out millions of dollars in tax breaks to the auto industry.
Michigan’s congressional delegation also lobbied heavily to bring the small car to the state. All 17 members sent a letter to GM last week saying that the state’s economic woes made the project important for Michigan. Peters had begun a “Make it in Michigan!” campaign that collected over 28,000 signatures.
Michigan was expected to get some more good news Friday, when Granholm attends a news conference with General Electric Corp. Chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt to make “a significant jobs announcement” in southeast Michigan, where the
May unemployment rate was 14.9 percent.
Still, Michigan is far from being out of the woods. Michigan likely will see its
jobless rate increase dramatically when GM closes or idles five plants in the state by the end of 2010, including a truck assembly plant in Pontiac a short distance from the Orion Township factory.
But landing the small car did put a note of optimism in the hot summer air.
“I knew that we had been battered for a while, but I never had any doubt that we’d come back,” Patterson said.
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Associated Press Writers Tom Krisher and Kimberly S. Johnson in Detroit, Bill Poovey in Chatanooga, Tenn., Todd Richmond in Madison, Wis., Erik Schelzig in Nashville, Tenn., and Ken Thomas in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. Kathy Barks Hoffman reported from Lansing, Mich.
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TRAVERSE CITY RECORD-EAGLE
June 26, 2009 07:05 am
Tourism could take big hit
in state budget
By BILL O’BRIEN and ART BUKOWSKI
Record-Eagle staff writers
TRAVERSE CITY — A bipartisan proposal to create a fund of up to $40 million to bolster state tourism and business development efforts nears a vote in the state House, but could face tougher sledding in the Republican-controlled Senate.
A series of bills to create the Michigan Promotion Fund and divert a portion of sales tax revenues from tourism-related businesses like hotels, golf courses and ski resorts to pay for it are circulating in the state Legislature. Lawmakers are looking for a long-term method to fund Michigan’s tourism and business promotion efforts, since time’s running out on a succession of stop-gap measures.
“We’re clearly trying to make the pitch that tourism is a statewide industry,” said Norm Saari, a spokesman for state Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City. “Our goal is to get permanent funding.”
State lawmakers significantly boosted Michigan’s tourism and business promotion budget in recent years, and spent a record $30 million this year. But those increases have been paid for with a series of one-time budget maneuvers that included an infusion of cash from the state’s 21st Century Job Fund, and more recently funds from an early payout of the state’s tobacco lawsuit settlement.
Without additional steps, the state’s yearly tourism funding would fall to less than $8 million in the 2009-10 fiscal year, officials said. That’s not enough to continue the state’s promotional effort that included an inaugural national advertising buy this spring, and the state’s first winter promotion effort in more than 15 years.
“We’ve had four years of momentum-building activity,” said Brad Van Dommelen, president of the Traverse City Convention & Visitors Bureau. “To suddenly think this could all, in a heartbeat, go away, would be a devastating action for our state that could devastate our tourism economy.”
Allen sponsored a pair of Senate bills to create and establish a revenue stream for the Promotion Fund, while Democratic state Rep. Dan Scripps, of Leland, and other Democrat lawmakers introduced similar House bills. The House bills could come up for a vote soon after legislators return next month from a two-week break that starts today, said Dan Farough, a spokesman for House Democrats.
The state’s “Pure Michigan” campaign may not have persuaded them to visit northern Michigan, several Traverse City visitors agreed Thursday, but they consider it a good idea to promote both in and out of Michigan.
“I think it’s good to advertise. This is a tourist spot, and it helps, especially in today’s economy,” said Amy Case, 45, of Grand Rapids, who comes to the area once a week on business, and visits in her own time.
“I’d say it’s just a reminder of the beautiful things to do and an area to see that’s close to home,” Case said.
Pam Promack, of the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township, has visited the area for about 30 years. She believes tourism advertising is beneficial, especially ads that tout new or improved attractions.
“To me, it’s the ads for the things that have changed here; the newer things,” she said Thursday as she shopped around The Village at Grand Traverse Commons. “When you’re familiar with an area, you look for the new things.”
Many of the state’s ads focus on individual towns, and Promack believes such marketing helps convince Michigan residents to explore nearby vacation options.
“Obviously, it’s cheaper to drive here than it is to go to the east coast or to Florida,” Promack said.
Another House bill from Democrats would create a temporary $2.50 per-day assessment on some rental cars, though Allen has not introduced similar legislation in the Senate.
Saari said the other proposals have some Republican support in the GOP-controlled Senate, but it’s too early to tell how many Republican senators will sign on.
“We believe we have support in the (Republican) caucus,” Saari said. “But until the votes are counted, it’s still a work in progress.”
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