TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalFund hikes Michigan auto insurance fee by double digits, Whitmer orders audit
LANSING – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested an audit of the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association Fund on Wednesday, after it announced its latest annual increase — one of 14.6 percent — in a fee tacked onto what are already the nation's highest auto insurance premiums.
The MCCA, which is controlled by insurance companies, announced a fee increase of $28, effective July 1, to cover unlimited benefits for injured drivers under Michigan's no-fault auto insurance system.
The fee, which covers medical claims that exceed $580,000, is set annually and added to drivers' insurance premiums. The latest increase brings the total fee to $220 per vehicle.
The fee has been controversial because state courts have ruled that although the MCCA was created by an act of the Legislature, it is not subject to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. Critics complain it is not transparent in how it calculates the fee. Though the catastrophic fund contains more than $20 billion, the MCCA says it needs higher fees to cover a $3.9-billion deficit related to existing and pending claims.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/03/27/auto-insurance-michigan-catastrophic-claims-fund/3292060002/
Tlaib submits measure calling for impeachment probe into President Trump
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, followed through on promises Wednesday to introduce a resolution asking Congress to investigate whether President Donald Trump has committed any impeachable offenses.
Trump, who has maintained he has done nothing wrong and has been the victim of a Democratic-led "witch hunt," is set to appear at a re-election rally in Grand Rapids on Thursday night. He has rejected any notion that he could be impeached.
The resolution now goes to the House Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., will decide whether it should be considered and voted on. If approved in committee, the resolution — which only calls for an investigation into potential "high crimes and misdemeanors" which could lead to impeachment — would then go to the full House for consideration.
The resolution faces many hurdles, however, and is unlikely at this point to move forward.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/03/27/rashida-tlaib-trump-impeachment/3295268002/
Twitter Woos Black Engineers In Detroit, But Stumbles With 2 All-White Local Staff Photos
"Optics matter" is overused, but it's born from truth -- just like most clichés.
Whatever we see can be taken as reality, fairly or not -- a lesson Twitter's team in Detroit relearns the hard way by posting a photo of CEO Jack Dorsey with some local staff members at their Woodward Avenue branch office. All eight people shown are white. (The race of two others at bottom right can't be determined.)
Lots of call-outs flow, prompting a Friday afternoon response:
https://twitter.com/TwitterDetroit/status/1111259996954787841
The reference is to a four-day event at Cobo Center through Saturday -- the 45th annual convention of the National Society of Black Engineers, nearly 16,000 college students studying computer engineering, information technology, electrical engineering and other disciplines.
Twitter recruiters are at Booth 215, staffed partly by members of an employee group known as Blackbirds. They hosted a two-and-a-half-hour food and music mixer Thursday night at State Savings Bank on West Fort Street.
Read more: http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/21988/twitter_woos_black_engineers_in_detroit_but_stumbles_with_2_all-white_local_staff_photos
Trump promises $300M for Great Lakes, otherwise mostly rambles
President Donald Trump, his son, Donald Trump Jr., and prominent Michigan Republicans took a victory lap on Thursday after what they view as a “pretty good week.”
In a rambling, 80-minute speech before a capacity crowd of more than 10,000 at the Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, the president voiced his satisfaction about the end of the two-year investigation into Russian election interference. He again falsely claimed that he was totally vindicated and exonerated.
“The single greatest political hoax in our country is over, and guess what? We won,” Trump said to loud cheers. “They tried to take something great away from people.”
Trump’s son, Don Jr., introduced the president and shared a similar sentiment.
Read more: https://www.michiganadvance.com/2019/03/28/trump-promises-300m-for-great-lakes-otherwise-mostly-rambles/
Ojeda is looking for 'Real Democrats' in Michigan -- and across the country
Richard Ojeda is angry. Actually, he’s “pissed off,” and he thinks you should be, too.
The retired Army major and former West Virginia state senator — as well as, for a fleeting moment, Democratic presidential candidate — is in Grand Rapids this week to headline the Democratic counter-programming to President Donald Trump’s rally Thursday.
And he’s hoping to fire up the state’s voters who, like him, may have voted for Trump at one point, but have soured on his pro-business economic policies.
If they haven’t done so yet, the former Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) instructor and teacher’s strike leader is willing to educate them on why they should.
Read more: https://www.michiganadvance.com/2019/03/29/ojeda-is-looking-for-real-democrats-in-michigan-and-across-the-country/
Lawsuit seeks $3 million in 'bogus fees' from Ohio BMV
A lawsuit seeking the recovery of more than $3 million in “bogus fees” paid by Ohioans has been filed against the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in the Ohio Court of Claims.
The action, which seeks class-action status to represent more than 2 million people, follows an investigation by The Dispatch that found BMV deputy registrars had charged and collected a $1.50 fee for laminating driver licenses since mid-2018 while not providing the service.
With the switch to federally compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards, a BMV vendor — not local registrars — has produced and mailed driver licenses and ID cards since July 2.
In the pending transportation budget before the legislature, the $1.50 fee will be retained and renamed the “document authentication fee” to reflect additional duties registrars now perform to handle federally compliant licenses.
Read more: https://www.cantonrep.com/news/20190328/lawsuit-seeks-3-million-in-bogus-fees-from-ohio-bmv
Ohio child welfare system in crisis, advocates say
Overwhelmed by the surge of children who have parents consumed by drug addiction, Ohio’s system of protecting abused and neglected kids is facing a crisis of its own.
A spike in the number of children in foster care — many with more complex needs — along with inadequate funding and overburdened caseworkers, underscores the need for increased spending and reforms, according to a report released Friday by the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.
“We don’t have enough services to prevent kids from coming into care. Families are struggling to access mental-health services, crisis services, autism services at the local level — especially in their own home so kids don’t have to come into care,” said Angela Sausser, the association’s executive director.
“We have so many kids in care — with so many complex needs — that there’s not enough services and providers to address the needs.”
Read more: https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190329/ohio-child-welfare-system-in-crisis-advocates-say
Bill would allow Ohioans to carry guns without permit, training, background checks
Almost half of Ohio House Republicans are pushing for passage of a bill that would allow all law-abiding Ohioans to carry a concealed weapon without obtaining a permit — a measure that GOP Gov. Mike DeWine supports.
The so-called constitutional carry bill would permit anyone age 21 or over, who is not disqualified by federal law due to a felony conviction or other offense from obtaining a weapon, to carry a hidden gun — without obtaining a concealed-carry permit.
Meanwhile, about 70 gun advocates, largely from Ohio militia groups, milled about the plaza west of the Statehouse on Thursday carrying rifles and handguns in a “thank you” to Ohio lawmakers for passing legislation, which was signed by DeWine, to correct a flaw in a bill that could have classified many long guns as prohibited “dangerous ordnance.” The previously scheduled event was not connected to the bill introduced Wednesday.
A group of about a dozen gun opponents stood on the other side of a barricade and taunted the pro-gun group with chants amid a heavy presence of State Highway Patrol troopers.
Read more: https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190328/bill-would-allow-ohioans-to-carry-guns-without-permit-training-background-checks
Ohio House approves bills aimed at veterans, mental health providers
Ohio would exempt disability severance pay for honorably discharged veterans from the state income tax, and would shield certain mental health workers from public records law, under a pair of bills sponsored by Franklin County lawmakers that passed the House this week.
“This is a great example of how the legislature can work together to deliver real results that have a minimal fiscal impact on the state and keep Ohio’s promise to our veterans by eliminating hardships,” said Rep. Erica Crawley, D-Columbus, a Navy veteran and lead sponsor of House Bill 18.
The bill, which passed the House 98-0 Wednesday and now goes to the Senate, would allow veterans to get a refundable tax credit on income taxes paid on disability severance going back to January 1991, which mirrors federal law.
Disability severance pay is a one-time lump sum paid to a veteran who sustains a service-connected disability that is significant enough to prevent them from performing their duties, but does not qualify the veteran for disability retirement. The amount is calculated by multiplying the veteran’s years of serve by two months of base pay.
Read more: https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190328/ohio-house-approves-bills-aimed-at-veterans-mental-health-providers
The cost of destroying evidence? Nothing for councilman. Cincinnati taxpayers lose
From his perch on Cincinnati City Council, Wendell Young has acted above the law and regularly thumbed his nose at the very taxpayers who pay his salary.
This has to stop.
Young is no longer fit to serve in public office after his attorney this week admitted that the Democrat destroyed evidence in an open meetings court case. Young blatantly destroyed the public's trust, and the only way he can truly be held accountable is to be removed from office.
But can true accountability be achieved?
Short of Young himself deciding to resign, I see no clearcut way to get him out of office before he's term-limited in December 2021. There is no recall provision in the city's charter.
Read more: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/columnists/politics-extra/2019/03/05/cincinnati-politics-wendell-young-resign-city-council/3066080002/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,167
