A state review team has concluded a financial emergency exists in Hamtramck, the Michigan Department of Treasury said Thursday.

The finding by the five-member team, appointed last month under the state's new emergency manager law, could lead to appointment of an emergency manager to fix the city's finances.

For the full article, see Candice Williams, "State panel declares Hamtramck in financial emergency; Hamtramck has had budget deficit for past 3 years", Detroit News, May 24, 2013.

Experts and advocates have been working for years to devise effective programs to keep released prisoners in Michigan on track and away from a life of crime. Prisoner Re-Entry provides housing and employment assistance, as well as other services, to inmates before and after they are released from prison. The goal is to reintegrate former prisoners as functioning and productive members of the community.

For the full editorial see Rep. Jeff Erwin, "Prisoner Re-Entry an investment in public safety", Detroit News, May 24, 2013

My most favorite session at LOEX 2013 was given by Jean Cook, Instructor Librarian. If you have have a chance to attend one of her sessions, please do. In her session "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go: using Unlikely Examples to Engage Students in Information Literacy", Jean identified some fantastic examples of applied information literacy... not the information literacy tied to a paper or project, but the information literacy tied to watching YouTube videos and watching television and reading tweets.

You can see some of her amazing examples and even how they are tied to the ACRL literacy standards.

My favorite on this list is Jean's homage to Twilight and the recursive research process.

On May 24, 2001, Sen. David Jaye (R-Washington Township) became the first person booted from the Senate.

The Macomb County maverick, ultra-conservative had been charged, but never convicted, of physically assaulting his fiancé on two separate occasions. He was also accused of inappropriate behavior for having sexually explicit photos on his Senate-owned computer and with verbal assault of Senate staff. Jaye had earlier been thrice convicted on drunken driving charges.

Just before he was expelled, a defiant Jaye said his only crime was his anti-establishment political views. Just two senators voted against the expulsion — Jaye and Sen. Don Koivisto, an Upper Peninsula Democrat.

Source : Charlie Cain, "Reporters Notes", Dome, July 16, 2009.

The Michigan legislature enacts the "Burns Act" prohibiting "public gatherings of masked men." The law is carefully drafted to apply almost exclusively to Ku Klux Klan activity.

Source : Detroit African American History Project