Tagged: WKAR

Dick Estell is the longtime host of The Radio Reader on WKAR AM 870.  His program can be heard not just in mid-Michigan, but on dozens of public radio stations across the country.  

Next year, Dick Estell celebrates 50 years on the program. But his radio roots go back even farther.  He joined WKAR in 1955 as a student announcer, and by 1964, he was the station manager.

WKAR is welcoming a key new member to its management staff.  Peter Whorf joined our organization last week as manager of WKAR Radio--a total of six programming streams spread across FM, AM and the web.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI –

State House Democrats say it's time to beef up Michigan's campaign finance and political ethics laws. But as Michigan Public Radio's Laura Weber reports, critics say the Democratic proposals single out corporations and protect labor unions.

By AP

EMPIRE, MI –

A piece of a shipwreck that experts believe is from a schooner that sank 140 years ago has washed up along Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

The Grand Rapids Press reports (http://bit.ly/ynmAuE) the hull piece was found Sunday by photographer Mark Lindsay of Kingsley, who was taking a walk through the dunes north of Empire along Michigan's northwestern Lower Peninsula.

By AP

DETROIT –

Wayne State University's board has approved a tougher new admissions policy aimed at boosting the school's graduation rate.

The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press report the proposal was approved Wednesday.

Under the plan, incoming freshmen would be evaluated differently. Applicants will either be accepted by the school, told they need to complete an eight-week summer program first or be encouraged to do something else like community college.

By AP

BATTLE CREEK, MI –

Authorities say a suspected diesel fuel spill has been found in the Kalamazoo River at Battle Creek.

The Battle Creek Enquirer reports (http://bcene.ws/yarExx) the spill was found Wednesday in a drainage ditch that's fed by storm sewers. Officials in the southern Michigan city searched Thursday for the source.

Brian Kelly, an on-scene coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency, estimated that several hundred gallons of suspected diesel fuel was in the system that empties into the river.

By AP

WASHINGTON –

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is questioning the approach of his fellow Republican governors in the upper Midwest.

He said in an interview with The Associated Press that their efforts to push through divisive legislation may make governing more difficult in the long run.

Snyder says he sees large protests in Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana about anti-union laws as unfortunate. He says pushing the contentious legislation means those states will have to overcome divisiveness and hard feelings in the future.

By AP

LANSING, MI –

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, whose job includes enforcing Michigan's campaign finance laws, paid $1,325 in fines last year for failing to file her campaign's own information in a timely manner.

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/zs3DFu) the fines were revealed Tuesday in campaign finance reports filed with her office.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

WASHINGTON –

A law signed Wednesday makes Indiana the first right-to-work state in the industrial Midwest. That has stirred discussions in Michigan on the topic. And - as we hear from Michigan Public Radio Network's Rick Pluta -- Governor Rick Snyder was asked for his thoughts on right to work as he testified in Washington D.C. before a congressional committee.

By AP

DETROIT –

Wayne State University officials are proposing a tougher new admissions policy that could reduce the student population by about 5 percent.

The Detroit News reports (http://bit.ly/Agxnuq) the proposal was to be presented Wednesday to the school's Board of Governors.

Under the plan, incoming freshmen in 2013 would be evaluated on their entire academic record, along with an essay, instead of the current policy of using a student's grade point average and ACT score for determining admissions.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI –

Community college students may soon be able to get a bachelor's degree without transferring to a four-year college or university. As Michigan Public Radio's Laura Weber reports, a bill before a state Senate panel would allow community colleges to offer the degrees in a few fields.

The measure would allow community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees in culinary arts, maritime studies, concrete technology, energy production, and nursing.

By Anna Schroen, WKAR News

East Lansing, MI – One year ago, researchers at Michigan State University began a sweeping 21-year national study of childhood health. The MSU team is leading a statewide an effort to document environmental health effects among children in Wayne County. The study will ultimately involve up to 100,000 families in 30 sites across the country. Four thousand families are in Michigan alone.

By Gretchen Millich, WKAR News

East Lansing, MI – Suzy Bogguss is best known as a country music singer. She's had top ten hits on country music radio, and she's won Grammys and CMA awards, but Bogguss always loved folk music. Last summer, she put out a CD of traditional folk songs called American Folk Songbook.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI –

An end-of-the-year campaign finance statement shows Governor Rick Snyder accepted more than $800,000 from his campaign account last year. He used the money to partially re-pay himself for cash he lent the campaign when he was running for office. We have more from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta.

By Mark Bashore, WKAR

LANSING, MI –

An Ingham county official says a proposed multi-billion dollar settlement between the states and banks guilty of foreclosure fraud should not offer immunity. WKAR's Mark Bashore reports.

The tentative deal follows an investigation into some banks' use of bogus documents to seize homes.

By Mark Bashore, WKAR

DELTA TWP, MI –

Officials in three Lansing area townships have announced they'll begin sharing fire services soon.

The agreement calls for Delta Township to provide services to Eagle and Watertown townships beginning March 1. Administrators say the plan will save the three municipalities more than $150,000 dollars a year.

Lansing and East Lansing officials recently agreed to share a fire chief.

An ongoing regional study is expected to recommend further service consolidations around the Lansing area.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI –

Pickup truck owners in Michigan should lock their vehicles and take the most care to prevent auto theft. A new report from the Auto Theft Prevention Authority shows the top ten stolen vehicles in the state are 10-15 year old trucks.

Dan Vartanian is with the prevention authority. He says it makes sense that thieves single-out older trucks.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI –

A Republican-led state House panel approved a package of bills Tuesday that includes tougher penalties for public employees who go on strike or threaten to strike -- and would make it easier for business owners to get an injunction against picketers. As we hear from Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta, it would also make it harder for unions to automatically collect dues from their members.