Morning eNews

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing told City Council that state revenue sharing likely will be withheld unless a lawsuit challenging Gov. Rick Snyder's consent agreement with the city is dropped.

Barely a week ago, California voters approved changes to the state’s term limits law. California will now allow state lawmakers to serve up to a dozen years in one chamber before they are forced out of office. A Republican legislator in Michigan hopes this state will follow California’s example.

California’s old term limits law was similar to the one in Michigan that allows lawmakers no more than six years in the House and eight years in the Senate.

A special seven-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals will decide whether a referendum challenging Michigan’s emergency manager law will appear on the November ballot.

Sparrow Health System in Lansing is joining forces with one of the nation’s most renowned names in health care. 

Sparrow Health System is the first in Michigan to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network.  The alliance will give Sparrow caregivers and patients direct access to Mayo’s research and expertise.  Sparrow joins four other U.S. health providers in the Mayo network. 

Sparrow CEO Dennis Swan says his organization and the Mayo Clinic share core values.

A Michigan State University scientist is the lead author of a paper that outlines MSU's work in manufacturing a protein that's showing promise as an effective agent against serious flu viruses.  MSU performed the study in partnership with the Baker Laboratory at the University of Washington and the Wilson Lab at the Scripps Research Institute. 

Tim Whitehead is an assistant professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science as well as Biosystems Engineering at MSU.  He spoke with WKAR's Melissa Benmark about the research.

The group trying to recall Governor Rick Snyder says it’s giving up.

A state House committee has approved a sweeping new set of restrictions and requirements on abortion providers and women who want to end their pregnancies.

Michigan's budget director says he doesn't want lawmakers to pass legislation next week putting new teachers into a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

The long-shuttered Meridian Mall Theatres in Okemos are being renovated, and will become a Celebration! Cinema operation.
   
When Studio C! opens by the end of the year, the movie-going experience will include reserved seating and chef-prepared food options.

Marketing Vice President Steve Van Wagoner says the building will undergo extensive renovations.

Until recently, Border Collies were bred specifically to work livestock.  Now, they’re getting more popular as pets, but sometimes people who have a Border Collie find themselves accommodating the dogs’ natural instinct to herd. 

Keeping a Border Collie busy can become a new way of life for some dog owners.

The state House has approved an election year tax reduction. The measures now head to the state Senate.

A bill that has passed the Michigan Senate would allow the lowest-performing 5% of schools to leave their districts and become so-called "conversion" schools.

Republican Congressman Thad McCotter has been officially removed from the August primary ballot by a state elections board.

Penn Jillette is half of the famous magic act Penn and Teller. Other magicians have criticized their act because they often show the audience the reality of how a trick is performed. That’s an act of sacrilege in the magic community, but audiences love it.

Jillette has become prominent with another act of sacrilege. He’s an outspoken atheist.

A budget for schools, universities, and community colleges is on its way to Governor Rick Snyder.

A Michigan House committee has approved legislation that would bar employers and universities from asking prospective employees or students for access to their social media and personal email accounts.

The St. Anne Luxury Lofts development in East Lansing has hit a snag.
    

WKAR's Scott Pohl reports that work has begun on a fifth story, when the city council had only approved four.
 

East Lansing Planning and Community Development Director Tim Dempsey describes the situation as a miscommunication between the city and developer Kris Elliott. When the city learned that work had begun on a fifth floor, it was made clear that the change required council's OK.
    

Michael Brown has spent decades in public service putting out fires.  Nine years ago, he restored order at the Capital Area United Way after a $900,000 embezzlement scandal.  He’s also served as interim mayor of the city he grew up in, Flint.Today, Brown is battling his biggest firestorm yet.  For the last six months, he has served as Flint’s Emergency Manager.  WKAR’s Mark Bashore has this profile of a Lansing resident in the eye of a political storm.

Take a seat in Michael Brown’s downtown Flint office and it’s impossible not to see the man who inspired his career.

A published report says Governor Rick Snyder is ready to bypass a reluctant Legislature and move ahead with a new international border crossing in Detroit.

The future of mass transit in Detroit will be the topic of a meeting that brings U. S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to Michigan. City, state, and federal officials are hoping to get some financial support for a light rail project down Detroit’s main thoroughfare.