Authorities reported a one vehicle rollover accident over the weekend. Shortly before 2pm Sunday afternoon, the driver told police he was driving his SUV on US-41 in Negaunee when he fell asleep and lost control of the vehicle and it rolled over. No one else was in the SUV. The driver was treated on the scene for minor injuries. The accident remains under investigation.
Home-builders in Michigan are expressing cautious optimism in regards to current and future building prospects. That’s according to the first quarter results of the Michigan Housing Index released by the Michigan Association of Home Builders. The index showed a 22% improvement in current home-building and projected future activity as compared to the same period in 2011. The latest Michigan Housing Index covers the time period of this past Janurary through March.
Waterfront property owners say they want to be able to take care of their beaches without needing a state permit. A state senate committee is considering legislation that would significantly ease restrictions on beachfront property owners’ ability to cut weeds and take care of other beach grooming. A law allowing beachfront property owners to groom their beaches with a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality expires in August. Senate Republican Tom Casperson of Escanaba, who favors changing the law, says property owners are concerned about screwing up the DEQ’s complicated permit and facing potential penalties. But Brad Wurfel of the DEQ says the administration is concerned about a provision in the bill that restricts the DEQ’s ability to regulate between the water’s edge and the high water mark. He says they agree and suport the goal of cleaning up beaches. Adding that while they are not coastal wetlands, there is a public trust issue.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, Democrat from Michigan and Sen. Jack Reed, Democrat from Rhode Island, and a senior member of the committee, are overseas, visiting Afganistan, Turkey, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Belgium this week to get a firsthand look at security and political developments in the region and their impact on America’s national security, according to announcement by the committee. The release says that during the trip, the senators will meet with high-ranking foreign leaders, diplomats, and American military commanders, civilian personnel, as well as soldiers from Michigan and Rhode Island who are currently serving overseas. The senators will return next week.
