News

Voters will decide the fate of a state law that allows wildlife officials to set wolf hunting seasons in the Upper Peninsula.

Abortion foes in Michigan have been given the go-ahead to launch a petition drive.

A state House panel has approved a plan to tie teachers’ pay to student performance.

Our series on boxing continues with local and former Lansing Community College softball coach and boxing guru Bob Every. Bob shares his thoughts on the current state of boxing and boxing in the Lansing area. Sergio Garcia made a comment about "friend chicken", referring to Tiger Woods. Do you feel this was racist? Listeners and Al share their thoughts. 

Elected officials in Lansing are nearing the end of their annual give and take over the city’s next budget.  

By a 5-3 vote Monday night, the city council approved a roughly $115 million spending plan that eliminated a number of items supported by Mayor Virg Bernero.  The mayor has promised a veto.  

Mayor Bernero talks with Current State's Mark Bashore about what he can and can’t accept, and about several developments have unfolded just in the 24 hours.

Today on Current State: Lansing mayor Virg Bernero on the city budget process; the new "bible of psychiatry" is published and "Neighbors in Action" features The Gift of Life.

Today, the new Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, or D.S.M. -5 as it’s more commonly known, comes out.  Often called the “Bible of Psychiatry,” the new 947-page manual outlines diagnoses for hundreds of mental disorders.  Published by the American Psychiatric Association, the manual is broadly influential, affecting mental health professionals, insurance companies, the court system, and pharmaceutical and mental health research. 

Each Wednesday, Current State presents “Neighbors in Action,” which features people and organizations working to make our community a better place.  This week we feature Gift of Life, which facilitates organ donorship in Michigan.

Mark Bashore talks with communications specialist Betsy Miner-Swartz and Patty Jo Herndon, president of the Michigan Donor Family Council and a sister of an organ donor.

We continue our boxing segment with none other than the great boxing referee and judge, Frank Garza. Frank talks about his time as a judge and a referee and also give his thoughts on the state of boxing. Matt, Alex and Al also give their top 5 boxing exchanges. 

On today's Current State: Medicaid expansion hinges on an unlikely waiver; a Public Poetry Announcement by poet Jane Kenyon; farmers fear a migrant labor shortage for the harvest; the International Joint Commission issues a report card on the health of the Great Lakes and Lansing business news with MLive's Angela Wittrock.

Both chambers of the Michigan legislature have passed budgets for fiscal 2014.  But neither includes funding to expand Medicaid to more of the roughly 400,000 state residents without health insurance.  The decision is important because Medicaid expansion is a key component of the federal Affordable Care Act.

Advocates of Medicaid expansion who have faced cancer will be in downtown Lansing today hoping to change some legislators’ minds.   They’re part of a group associated with one of our next guests.   

Jane Kenyon’s “Afternoon At MacDowell” is this week’s Public Poetry Announcement.

Current State's Public Poetry Announcements are brought to you by the Center for Poetry at MSU's Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.

It’s harvest time in parts of Michigan, and farmers along Lake Michigan are starting to bring in their asparagus crop.  The cherry harvest will follow by early July.  Growers are confident this season will be better than 2012, when an early warm-up followed by a quick killing frost destroyed much of the fruit crop.  Last year’s scenario also created another problem: many of the migrant laborers who traditionally arrive here for seasonal work did not come to Michigan.  Now, though the weather may be better, farmers fear a similar labor shortage could happen again this year.  

Over the past 25 years, environmental protection measures have greatly improved the health of the Great Lakes.  However, the region’s waterways are facing new issues.  According to the International Joint Commission's latest progress report, warmer temperatures are having a dramatic effect on the ecological health of the Great Lakes.

Lana Pollack chairs the commission’s U.S. delegation.  She joins us today to discuss the past, present and future of cleaning up the Great Lakes. 

MLive.com's Angela Wittrock joins Current State's Mark Bashore and Lansing city councilman Brian Jeffries to talk about the Lansing budget.  Angela also talks about the East Lansing city budget.

We continue our boxing and mixed martial arts series with the lead trainer of East Lansing Underground Martial Arts, Matt Torres. Al gets Matt's thoughts about MMA and how it compares to boxing.  Al breaks down the latest in the sports world. We also get some predictions from Matt, Alex and Al on games this week.

Ali Easley, head boxing trainer of Crown Boxing Club in Lansing and founder of the Help a Willing Kid Foundation, joins Al to discuss his commitment to the youth through boxing.  

Al also gives the dish on the latest in the sports world.

Originally aired on April 19, 2013.

The state of Michigan saw an increase in tourism spending in 2012, most of which can be attributed to travelers from other states.

At the annual Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism which started on April 14, MSU professor and tourism expert Sarah Nicholls predicted another year of industry growth. Nicholls speaks with Current State's Emanuele Berry to unveil more tourism trends and plans for Michigan.

Originally aired on March 20, 2013.

The United States is the premier nuclear power in the world. But the geopolitical landscape has radically transformed since the height of the Cold War. Meanwhile, our stockpile of ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and large bombers is aging and in need of expensive upgrades and replacements.

 Originally aired on March 14, 2013. 

 Two years ago, a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Japan. The quake triggered a tsunami which damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, causing the world’s worst radiation leak since the Chernobyl accident in 1986.