Kerry returns to Michigan to attend rallies
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry plans to deliver a
major speech on job retention in Detroit on Friday before heading
to Warren for an evening labor rally at a United Auto Workers hall.
It will be the first visit to the state for Kerry since Feb. 6,
when he held rallies in Warren and Flint.
Kerry plans to fly into Detroit Friday morning and will stop
first at downtown Wayne State University, where he will deliver his
midday speech.
He’s expected to meet with UAW officials before heading to
the rally at the union’s Region 1 office. Gov. Jennifer
Granholm, who endorsed Kerry before the state’s Democratic
caucuses, is expected to accompany Kerry on some of his stops.
After emphasizing the jobs issue in campaign appearances and
campaign ads, Kerry hopes to capitalize on that trust during his
visit to Michigan, where a 6.6 percent unemployment rate and news
of layoffs and plant closings have made jobs and the economy top
concerns of Michigan voters.
House fails to override veto on abortion bill
The Michigan House failed a second time yesterday to get the
two-thirds vote needed to override Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s
veto of a bill that she and other opponents have said would make it
too difficult for young girls to get an abortion without the
consent of their parents.
The House voted 68 to 35 to override the veto yesterday, five
votes short of the 73 needed. That’s less support than the
Feb. 24 vote to override the veto, which was three votes short.
Matt Resch, spokesman for Republican House Speaker Rick Johnson
of LeRoy, said the veto override was put up a second time yesterday
after some representatives who voted for the bill and then against
the override said they would vote differently if given another
chance. “There had been some news that some people who voted
no the first time had changed their minds,” Resch said after
the vote.
Postal rates may increase 4 cents in 2006 for letters
Postmaster General John Potter warned that a postal rate
increase planned for 2006 could be 4 cents or more for first class
letters unless restrictions on how the agency operates are
eased.
Potter also asked a joint House-Senate hearing on the future of
the post office yesterday to free $3 billion in postal funds from
an escrow account and to remove a $27 billion obligation for the
agency to cover military retirement benefits for its workers who
previously served in the armed forces.
Cities may be able to keep current living wage laws
Local governments would be able to keep their living wage
ordinances as long as they applied only to their own employees or
to vendors with local government contracts, under a bill approved
yesterday by a state Senate committee.
The bill, sharply different from a version that passed the House
more than a year ago, now goes to the full Senate.
It resurrects a debate over how much power local governments
should have to establish pay scales in their communities.
TV industry to offer equipment to blocks channels
The cable television industry said yesterday it will provide
free equipment to allow subscribers to block unwanted channels, a
reaction to efforts on Capitol Hill to curb indecent
programming.
The offer is directed to about half the nation’s 70.5
million cable subscribers who don’t have cable boxes that can
be programmed to block certain channels or programs.
Bill would punish people taking invasive photos
People who take pictures of naked or barely clothed men and
women without their knowledge would face a felony charge under
legislation introduced yesterday.
Rep. Fran Amos (R-Waterford) said she began working on the
legislation after hearing from a number of female constituents who
said they unknowingly had their picture taken by someone while
changing in a health club locker room.
— Compiled from Daily wire reports