For 24 years, John Schneider's column was a "destination read" in the Lansing State Journal. Schneider retired from the paper just over a year ago to free up more time for fishing and meandering in the woods...but it's been a thoroughly modern retirement. It's continued to include a blog, a regular column with Bridge magazine and -- Current State has learned -- a periodic return to the Lansing State Journal.
The summer movie season is upon us. In a few weeks, we will be inspired by the feats of cinematic superheroes, clutching our popcorn in fear as we watch the world's demise. Current State's Emanuele Berry joined MLive.com and Grand Rapids Press entertainment reporter and film critic John Serba to sort out the many films of summer.
With springtime finally arriving in mid-Michigan, the sounds of the season have also emerged again. The song of the northern cardinal is one of hundreds recorded by Dr. Pamela Rasmussen. She's an assistant professor of zoology at Michigan State University and assistant curator at the MSU Museum.
Today on Current State: The debate over Medicaid expansion continues; gun safety; the value of art and physical education in school; a Public Poetry Announcement featuring John Balaban, and NPR's Don Gonyea comes home to MSU this weekend.
Michigan legislators and numerous stakeholders around the state continue to spar over whether to fund an expansion of Medicaid in Michigan.
Supporters of expansion--which would happen as part of the federal Affordable Care Act--claim it’s fair to extend coverage to more low income residents and that it would be good for the economy. Opponents say they fear the future costs of the move, and some resist anything connected with ‘Obamacare.’
The senseless tragedies that took place last year at a Colorado movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school brought renewed focus to the national debate over gun control. It’s a thorny issue that impacts everything from constitutional rights to mental health care.
Recently, the Lansing school district announced that it will cut as many as 87 teachers in an effort to address the district’s budget deficit. Many of the teachers expected to be laid off are certified to teach art, music and physical education to elementary school students. The district says it's not eliminating its arts and physical education programs, but “redesigning” them, using existing teachers and outside programming as a substitute.
