The new state Legislature has been sworn in alongside a new governor, and lawmakers are just getting down to the big issues facing Michigan as they settle into their committee assignments. State Rep. Hugh Crawford (R-Walled Lake, Wixom) has been named the chairman of the House Regulatory Reform Committee. He was lauded by new Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) as being honest, fair and committed to the state of Michigan. “I am honored [...]

The Wixom Community Foundation will roll out its new Teaching, Educating, Assisting, and Mentoring (TEAM) youth-oriented program this month to local elementary schools’ fifth-graders. The TEAM program is similar in focus to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, and will be handled through the Wixom Police Department. However, the parameters will be expanded so it’s not as rigidly structured. “The program relates more community specific to Wixom, unlike DARE that was started and tailored [...]

The Oakland County Board of Road Commissioners has voted to implement the federal E-Verify Program that allows employers to verify that employees are eligible to work in the United States. The board approved the measure at its Dec. 16 meeting, in keeping with the Oakland County general government’s procurement policy. “The E-Verify Program is not mandatory,” said Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) Spokesperson Craig Bryson. “However, it came to the attention of RCOC board [...]

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) released a pair of reports last week week showing it’s making great strides toward freeing itself from the shackles of fossil fuels. The first report indicates that the state’s electric utilities are moving toward the goal of meeting a standard of 10 percent renewable energy use by 2015. “The state’s utilities are taking steps to build wind farms, promote solar energy and net metering and purchase renewable energy credits,” [...]

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) has a new operating board for the coming year, but not everyone is happy about how the county’s newest road commissioner was appointed. At its Wednesday, Jan. 5 meeting, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners appointed Ronald Fowkes as the newest member of the Oakland County Board of Road Commissioners. Eric Wilson is serve as chairman of the road board, and Greg Jamian will serve as vice-chairman. Wilson [...]

Lakes area residents will have the opportunity later this month to lend a hand in monitoring sites in three area river watersheds for the presence of stoneflies. Considered a good indicator species, checking west Oakland river sites for stoneflies will help advocacy groups track water quality trends along the Huron, Clinton and Rouge rivers. Because each of those rivers flows through multiple area lakes, the upcoming stonefly searches can indirectly benefit those lakes by pinpointing [...]

As the managing director of the largest county road system in Michigan for the last 17 years, Brent Bair continues to steer the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) despite being faced with flat revenues since 1998 and declining revenues for the past five years. Bair heads up the second largest system of adaptive traffic signals in the nation, is widely respected as a leading expert on road funding in Michigan, and has been an [...]

Most bugs are usually seen during the spring and summer months, not at the end of January. However, three local watershed advocacy groups — the Clinton River Watershed Council (CRWC), the Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC), and the Friends of the Rouge (FOTR) — will be searching their respective river watersheds for a particular insect this month. According to Michele Arquette-Palermo, education and stewardship director at the CRWC, the winter stonefly has “very stringent water [...]

A recent ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court has restored the public’s right to file suit against the state over permits that could result in actions that contaminate the environment. During the last few days of 2010, the Michigan State Supreme Court reached a 4-3 decision in the Anglers of the AuSable, Inc. vs. Merit Energy and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) case, essentially reversing the court’s 2004 ruling in the Preserve the [...]