Fight continues over Tea Party on Michigan ballot
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Efforts continue to block a group calling itself The Tea Party from running a slate of candidates on Michigan's November ballot. Opponents say the group is a fraud trying to steal the Tea Party name in an attempt to draw votes away from candidates that tea party activists really support. A lawyer for tea party activists and some Republican candidates filed challenges Tuesday with state election officials. Opponents question the petitions used by The Tea Party and its process of nominating candidates. The Board of State Canvassers is expected to decide Aug. 23 whether The Tea Party can make the ballot. A message was left seeking comment Tuesday with Mark Steffek of Reese, who's listed as The Tea Party chairman.
STATE BUDGET
Granholm to lay out revised 2010-11 budget plan
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Gov. Jennifer Granholm plans to lay out a revised spending plan for lawmakers Wednesday. The nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency estimated in early July that Michigan had a $300 million deficit for the current fiscal year, although the amount may have dropped. The state also faces a deficit in the budget year that starts Oct. 1, even though the state is in line to get about $698 million more federal dollars for public schools and Medicaid. The Democratic governor said Tuesday she wants lawmakers to finish up next year's budget soon. She already has signed a school spending bill into law, but deep differences remain between the Republican-controlled Senate and Democrat-controlled House over what the rest of the budget should look like.
ATTORNEY GENERAL RACE
Schuette raises more than $850K for GOP AG race
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Former Court of Appeals Judge Bill Schuette (SHOO'-tee) raised more than $850,000 and has nearly $300,000 on hand in his bid to win the Republican nomination for attorney general. The figures were reported Tuesday for the period from January 2009 through last Thursday. A campaign finance report wasn't available for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, the other Republican running for attorney general. Bishop's report for 2009 showed he raised more than $100,000 and had over $75,000 on hand. Democratic attorney general candidate David Leyton files his campaign finance report Wednesday. The two parties formally nominate their attorney general choices at party conventions later this month. Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Michigan's political action committee gave Schuette the maximum $34,000.
SECRETARY OF STATE RACE
Republicans in secretary of state race raise cash
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - State Sen. Michelle McManus is the only one of five Republicans running for secretary of state who hasn't given money to her campaign. Campaign finance reports filed Tuesday show McManus raised $197,000 and has $58,000 on hand heading into the Aug. 28 nominating convention. Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson raised $174,000, including $151,000 she gave. She has $148,000 on hand. State Sen. Cameron Brown raised $228,000, including $160,000 he gave. He has $120,000 on hand. Calhoun County Clerk Anne Norlander raised $224,000, including $174,000 she gave. She has $110,000 on hand. Rep. Paul Scott raised $103,000, including $36,000 he gave. He has $43,000 on hand. Democratic candidate Jocelyn Benson must file her finance report Wednesday.
SUPREME COURT RACE
Justice Young raises $330K for re-election race
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert Young has raised just over $330,000 for his re-election bid. Young is expected to easily win re-nomination at the Aug. 28 Republican state convention. He has more than $250,000 on hand. The other justice up for re-election, Elizabeth Weaver, has decided not to seek the GOP nomination and is running as an independent. She was not required to file a report by Tuesday's deadline. Republicans are expected to nominate a second candidate to join Young on the ballot. It's unclear if Democrats will nominate one or two candidates for the high court. None of the Democratic incumbents are up for re-election. Although they are nominated at party conventions, Supreme Court candidates run on a nonpartisan ballot.
DETROIT CORRUPTION-CONYERS
US Rep. Conyers' wife to report to prison Sept. 10
DETROIT (AP) - The wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers has less than 30 days of freedom before beginning a 37-month federal sentence for taking a bribe as a Detroit City Council member. Judge Avern Cohn on Tuesday denied bond pending Monica Conyers' appeal of his refusal to allow her to withdraw a guilty plea on the day she was sentenced. Cohn's order says she "shall report to the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons" on Sept. 10. Conyers already won a delay until that date to help a relative with medical needs. She pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit bribery and admitted taking cash to support a sludge-hauling contract. It's unknown when a federal appeals court will hear her case. The Associated Press left a message for her lawyer.
SENATOR-PIE IN FACE
$250K set bond for woman in pie attack on senator
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - An anti-war protester accused of hitting Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin in the face with an apple pie during a constituent meeting in northern Michigan is jailed on a $250,000 bond. Twenty-two-year-old Ahlam M. Mohsen of Coldwater was arraigned Tuesday on a felony count of stalking and other charges. A Mecosta County district judge set her bond at $250,000, requiring a cash payment of $25,000 for her to get out of jail. The attack happened Monday at the Michigan Democrat's appearance at a restaurant in Big Rapids, 150 miles northwest of Detroit. Mohsen has said she opposes U.S. military policy and its support for Israel. She was arrested last year for sitting in at Levin's Lansing office.
FATAL SHOOTING-TAUNT
Hung jury for Detroit homeowner who killed burglar
DETROIT (AP) - A judge has declared a mistrial for a Detroit homeowner on trial for manslaughter in the shooting death of a man he caught breaking into his house. Tigh Croff went on trial for second-degree murder, but Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Hathaway last week reduced the charge to manslaughter. Hathaway ruled Tuesday that jurors were hopelessly deadlocked. A hearing on setting a new trial date is set for Aug. 30. Police say the 31-year-old Croff returned home Dec. 28 to find 53-year-old Herbert Silas and another man in his back yard. Authorities say Croff chased Silas to the next street, where they say the drunken burglar taunted Croff before Croff shot him.
LAKE MICHIGAN-DEATH
Boy, 10, dead, caught in Lake Michigan rip current
CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Authorities say a 10-year-old Chicago boy has died after getting caught in a rip current at a Lake Michigan beach in southwestern Michigan. Police tell WSBT-TV and the South Bend Tribune that Ethan Seitzer was at a private beach in Berrien County's Chikaming Township on Monday. A fire official says the boy was under water 20 to 25 minutes. The boy and his father were swimming and were pulled out by a strong rip current. The father searched but couldn't find the boy. The beach is about 90 miles southwest of Grand Rapids and about 15 miles northeast of Michigan City, Ind.
ENBRIDGE PIPELINE-FINES
US fines Enbridge for Minnesota pipeline deaths
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The company whose pipeline caused a massive oil spill last month in a Michigan river has been fined $2.4 million over an accident that killed two workers in Minnesota. The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the penalty Tuesday against Enbridge Energy Partners for pipeline safety violations. Two Enbridge workers died in 2007 when leaking oil from a pipeline in Clearbrook, Minn., ignited. An investigation found Enbridge failed to safely perform repairs. Enbridge says the fine is higher than expected but it has no plan to appeal. The Michigan accident involves about 820,000 to 1 million gallons of oil that spilled into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River on July 26. The pipeline runs from Griffith, Ind. to Sarnia, Ontario.
