Farm Bill Feed Back: LSJ: Legislature unwise to back farm bills built on distrust of DEQ (Freep), Farm Favoritism: Legislation would mainly benefit largest operations (Freep), Better for farms and for Michigan (GR Press)

Using Wikipedia to Explore the Michigan Walk of Fame
Absolute Michigan and the Michigan Walk of Fame would like to encourage anyone with an interest in one or more of the inductees to visit the popular Wikipedia online encyclopedia to read about the inductees and possibly add to their entries with unique facts and historical accounts of their lives. It is our hope that Michigan's pride in these twelve individuals will show through and make their online entries an example of what is possible when we work together on the internet.
Read Explore the Michigan Walk of Fame on Absolute Michigan

1% Tax for Transit Floated

The Detroit News reports that State Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, said she'll ask lawmakers this month to authorize a referendum to change the state Constitution so counties would have the option of raising the state's 6% sales tax to 7% to pay for regional transportation and roads. In Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, the extra 1-cent tax per $1 would raise $503 million a year, according to the Citizens Research Council of Livonia. Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has declared the measure DOA and says Oakland won't raise taxes for transit.
Read Plan would let counties raise sales tax for transit in the Detroit News
Also see Draining Michigan's Rapid Transit Swamp from the Michigan Land Use Insitute
Michigan Blog Watch: Everyone takes their turn (tagline: Everyone takes their turn being an idiot.. some people cut in line)

Granholm, DeVos to Appear at Detroit Town Hall Meeting

The Freep reports that Gov. Jennifer Granholm and her Republican rival, Grand Rapids businessman Dick DeVos, will be on the same stage Friday for the first time at a National Town Hall meeting in Detroit. The meeting is not a debated and billed as an opportunity to see where each candidate stands on the important issues. Regardless of what it is, it may be a rare occurence as Granholm and challenger Dick Posthumus appeared together only twice in the 2002 campaign, and the campaigns haven't even started talks regarding debates in the 2006 cycle.

The meeting is part of the 2006 Freedom Weekend at Cobo Hall and is sponsored by the Freedom Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan organization designed to be an urban think tank to address issues of public policy that affect the quality of life. The weekend's events include a Young Filmmakers Festival.
Read Granholm, DeVos to be on one stage in the Detroit Free Press
More weekend events at the Freedom Institute

Michigan Recycling Numbers Abysmal

The AP (via the TC Record-Eagle) reports that the Michigan Recycling Partnership says that 20% of Michigan's trash is recycled, compared with 27% nationwide. Minnesota recycles 45% of household waste and Indiana 35%. Michigan's budgetary woes Tare apparently having an impact as just 27% of Michigan residents have curbside recycling, compared with 37% five years ago, according to the study released last week.
Read 20 percent of refuse recycled in Michigan in the AP
Michigan Blog Watch: Media Mouse

Searching for Bigfoot
Michigan Radio's Dustin Dwyer has a (mostly) tongue in cheek look at the search for Bigfoot in Michigan that's well worth a listen. He refers to the Monroe Monster sightings of 1965, so we added a link to that as well.
Listen to Searching for Bigfoot from Michigan Radio
Michigan Bigfoot Information Center
Also see Monroe Monster from the Michigan Anomalous Information Network