Radio Made in Michigan

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.

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.