Current State

The documentary “The Waiting Room” takes viewers inside a public hospital in Oakland, California. The powerful film captures the struggles of both health care workers and patients in a system that is broken and stretched to its limits. It also shows how public hospitals can become more than just places to receive medical care.

MLive's Lansing beat reporter Angela Wittrock joins us every Monday for a rundown of the latest news about the local economy, business and development. Today, she and Current State’s host Mark Bashore talk about published claims that the Michigan Department of Treasury is failing in its efforts to collect billions of dollars in delinquent tax revenue.

Today on Current State: Michigan property values; collegiate fencing championships;  a review of the new book “The Detroit Electric Scheme”; MSU student-parents; and Islam and the West.

A new analysis of state data by Bridge Magazine shows Michigan property values fell a total of $36 billion between 2011 and 2012.  Believe it or not, observers find that number encouraging in some ways.

Bridge reporter Ted Roelofs and City of Lansing Assessor Antonia Kraus break down the numbers.

Adjusting to the demands of college life can be difficult for any student. For many student-mothers, however, balancing the responsibilities of school, a job and being a parent can be overwhelming.

Sara Embaye graduated last year while raising her daughter. She shares her story, and is joined by Lori Strom, coordinator of MSU's Family Resource Center, which provides support to student-parents. This Saturday, the Center is hosting a carnival and resource fair for families at the Breslin Center.

It’s understatement to say that Islam is misunderstood in the West. While we see images of people in the Muslim world that often depict the religion as violent and backward -- images that fuel Islamophobia. But of course there’s more to Islam than stereotypes, as there are millions of Muslims we don’t see who are working to feed their families and to give themselves better lives.

Michigan State University men's basketball didn’t quite make it to the Final Four this year.  But the school is competing in a somewhat lower profile contest this weekend.

MSU is hosting the 2013 United States Association of Collegiate Fencing Clubs’ national championships.  Current State’s Kevin Lavery reports on this centuries-old sport.

Today on Current State: MSU's Fossil Free campaign; remembering Dr. Martin Luther King 45 years after his assassination; Izzo discusses the future of  Adreian Payne and the MSU Opera Theater presents the Stephen Sondheim classic "A Little Night Music."

Environmentalists trying to get Michigan State University to curtail coal-generated power are announcing a new tactic today. The MSU Sierra Student Coalition is launching the MSU Fossil Free campaign. The effort is an attempt to get the university to divest millions of endowment dollars the coalition says are invested in the fossil fuel industry. Callie Bruley, an MSU student and a coordinator of MSU Beyond Coal, and Brad Van Guilder, who represents the Michigan Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal effort, discuss the MSU Fossil Free campaign. 

   The R.E. Olds transportation museum houses a diverse collection of Oldsmobiles dating from 1897 to 2004.

It also includes a wide array of auto and industrial history covering about  a century, including a nearly complete collection of Michigan license plates, early traffic signs and a working 1950s-era traffic signal.

Bill Adcock is the Executive Director of the RE Olds Transportation Museum.  He recently joined WKAR’s Peter Whorf for a tour of the museum.

Tom Izzo held his season wrap-up press conference this week, and the question on many Spartan fans minds as they look forward to next season is who on the MSU roster will stay and who will enter the NBA draft, particularly Adreian Payne.

  MSU Opera Theater presents the Stephen Sondheim classic "A Little Night Music," Friday-Sunday April 5-7.  MSU Opera Theater director and Associate Professor of voice Melanie Helston speaks with WKAR’s Peter Whorf.

Today on Current State:  MSU economist Charlie Ballard unveils the annual "State of the State Survey"; jazz singer Carolyn Leonhart; Neighbors in Action features LAP Respite Center; and survivors of American H-bomb attacks on Japan during WWII. 

  Jazz singer Carolyn Leonhart  will turn Wharton Center’s Jackson Lounge into a jazz club next Wednesday. She’ll be putting on two performances that night to benefit East Lansing’s Summer Solstice Jazz Festival. WKAR’S Melissa Benmark caught up with her this week to ask what kinds of material she’ll be performing at her Wharton gig.

For this week’s Neighbors in Action segment we feature LAP Respite Center, a non-profit organization that offers different respite programs for families living in tri-county area of Clinton, Eaton and Ingham Counties. These programs provides caring services for parents of children with disabilities.

John Stauffer, executive director of the LAP Respite Center, and Nancy Guettler, who has been taking her son to the LAP for 20 years, discuss their experience with the program.

MSU’s G. Robert Vincent Voice Library is now home to the largest collection of of interviews with people in the Americas who survived the bombings in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The interviews provide insight into the global network of survivors and the issues which they continue to face.  Dr. Naoko Wake has a joint appointment in MSU’s Lyman Briggs College and the Department of History. Naoko, who helped bring the collection to the library, discusses  the interviews and what she’s learned from listening.

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Every year, MSU Professor Charlie Ballard leads a team that asks Michigan citizens how they feel about the economy, government and issues like Right to Work. After more than 1,000 such sessions to start 2013, Ballard reveals the results of his annual “State of the State” survey on Current State.

Today on Current State: policy operative Richard McClellan; the Great Lakes Energy-Water Nexus; and Michigan's steps toward autism benefits. 

From education and the judiciary to telecommunications and energy, Lansing’s Richard McLellan has played a huge role in Michigan’s policy landscape since the 1970s, as well as being active nationally and internationally.  The longtime GOP operative speaks to Current State about his long tenure in the policy arena, current debates, the future of his party, and his modest beginnings.