Food Assistance Dollars Spent at Supermarkets on Nutritious Foods
News Briefs - Original 05-22-2013 Hits:143 
Amber Bogins
A majority of people on government food programs get their food from large grocery stores according to a new report, which means they have a wide variety of foods available. More than 82 percent of SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) are redeemed at supermarkets and superstores according to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Retailer Policy and Management Division 2012 Annual Report. $74 billion in client benefits were redeemed in the more than 246,000 participating stores, farmers’ markets, direct marketing farmers, homeless meal providers, treatment centers, group homes, and others authorized to accept SNAP. Supermarkets and superstores made up about 15 percent of the firms allowed to redeem SNAP benefits but continue to redeem the majority of them. In 2012, Michigan had 10,060 authorized firms to redeem SNAP benefits, those firms redeemed nearly $3 billion dollars worth of benefits. But despite recent criticisms by people saying the SNAP recipients waste their food stamps on high-sugar foods and drinks, The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that most food expenditures by people on SNAP are of the healthy variety. A 2005 study found that 35 percent of SNAP benefits went toward meats and meat alternatives, 20 percent went to grains, another 20 percent to fruits and vegetables, 12 percent to dairy, while only 13 percent went toward other foods. Not unlike the foods purchased by people not on the SNAP program. Click here to read the full report
Read moreOrr: ‘Detroit has no choice’
News Briefs - Original 05-22-2013 Hits:576 
AJ Williams, Chronicle Web Editor
Emergency manager takes on critics in candid interview about city’s future KEVYN ORR, Detroit’s emergency financial manager, discusses the challenges facing Detroit while admonishing his critics to look at the facts on the city’s books. — Andre Smith photos Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency financial manager, unfazed by criticisms and mounting opposition, opens up to Michigan Chronicle editor Bankole Thompson in this exclusive sit-down interview about the difficult choices ahead for the city while sharing some of the city’s debt numbers. Orr said he is not an elected official bound to public opinion and that it is time to change course if the city is expected to make any progress. The future of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s comments about Orr are two of the hot button issues discussed in the interview. Orr applauded Detroit’s private sector for what he calls their commitment to the city. MICHIGAN CHRONICLE: When you came on board you talked about the fact that you have faith that good parties can come together. Do you still believe that? KEVYN ORR: I still do. I really do and this is why I mentioned the financial operating plan. I’m going to be fully open with everything. That includes labor, debt holders, citizens, elected officials, the press. Let’s just get it all out there the best we can. Nobody really can debate the numbers. They are what they are. The math is the math. So now the next step becomes what we are going to do about it. I’m assuming rational behavior, that everybody wants to get the city to a position that is both on a sustainable path. a path for growth and a healthier going forward financial practice. MC: Do you get a sense of a rational behavior within the various apparatus that make up city...
Read moreCollaboration is key: 2013 Mackinac Policy
News Briefs - Original 05-22-2013 Hits:314 AJ Williams, Chronicle Web Editor
2013 Mackinac Policy Conference will align diverse groups in statewide conversation Emerging from its troubled state, Michigan is poised for a seismic economic turnaround that may be right around the corner. While some critics and pundits predicted that it would take decades to turn Detroit around and years to address Michigan’s languishing economy, there is growing optimism that the biggest issues blocking the city’s financial recovery will be addressed soon — perhaps within the next 365 days. Timing is everything, and in a city like Detroit, time is money. “Detroit’s biggest problems will not all be resolved overnight, but the process to get the city on the right track is on the horizon,” according to Sandy K. Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. With Baruah at the helm, the Chamber, which sits squarely in the center of economic recovery efforts in Detroit, is gaining recognition for its role in helping spur an increase in regional collaboration in economic development. There may be no better opportunity to measure the relative success of this effort than the Detroit Regional Chamber’s 2013 Mackinac Policy Conference, which draws on a diverse audience of more than 1,500 of the state’s leading political, business and community leaders annually. This year’s conference will address cultural change, education and the 21st century global market, amidst a very diverse group of panelists and participants. Baruah and ITC Holdings Corp. CEO and conference chair Joseph Welch plan to use the Mackinac Policy Conference as a platform to accelerate collaborative efforts statewide. “Once isolated, our stakeholders no longer clearly identify themselves by geographic, racial or economic boundaries,” said Baruah, who has introduced innovative programs to bridge divides between Michigan leaders over the last several years. Together, the two aim to further advance global thinking among conference participants, who they hope will emerge with a better understanding of Michigan’s...
Read moreMAYOR BING, WAYNE COUNTY EXECUTIVE FICANO ANNOUNCE $600,000 EPA GRANT FOR B…
News Briefs - Original 05-21-2013 Hits:247 Amber Bogins
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano announced today that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the Wayne County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority a 2013 Brownfields Assessment Grant of $600,000. The grant will pay for approximately 32 brownfield environmental site assessments (ESA) in the city of Detroit. These brownfield sites have been impacted by contaminants from commercial or industrial uses, but have redevelopment potential after cleanup. The EPA’s Brownfield Assessment Grant was awarded in response to a joint proposal submitted by the City of Detroit’s Building, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED); Wayne County; and the Detroit / Wayne County Port Authority. “This grant is the first step toward reclaiming land that has been overused and neglected,” Mayor Bing said. “Once brownfields are properly assessed, they can be cleaned up and redeveloped as part of a neighborhood’s revival.” “I’m very happy the EPA has recognized the outstanding work of the Wayne County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority,” said Wayne County Executive Ficano. “The grant will assist in the cleanup and revitalization of Southwest Detroit brownfield sites as well as the revitalization of the local economy, turning properties into potentially usable, profitable assets.” Wayne County was awarded a similar $400,000 assessments grant in 2007. “This grant award is the perfect example of what intergovernmental collaboration can produce for the City of Detroit and the surrounding region,” said John Jamian, Executive Director of the Detroit / Wayne County Port Authority. “The DWCPA has enjoyed a great relationship with the EPA since 2004 and we are excited that this latest grant will allow us to work with our partners at the City and County to help promote the kind of growth and new investment our communities need.” All of the brownfield sites identified for assessment are in Southwest Detroit, the site of significant industrial development in past decades. The grant makes $450,000 available for 19 hazardous substance-related...
Read moreThe new retirement: No retirement
News Briefs - Original 05-21-2013 Hits:228 Amber Bogins
For growing numbers of Americans, the new retirement may really mean no retirement. That's the conclusion of an article in the current issue of the ISR Sampler, the annual magazine of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. "For most of the 20th century we saw retirement ages fall while life expectancy rose," said David Weir, an ISR research professor and director of the ISR Health and Retirement Study. "About 20 years ago, the trend in retirement age reversed and it has been inching up slowly ever since." People are retiring later for a lot of reasons, but a key one is economic. Employer health insurance benefits for retirees are eroding, spurring many employees to hold out until they qualify for Medicare at age 65. Changes to Social Security, such as the increase in the age at which people can receive full benefits from 65 to 67, also may be playing a role. And people are living longer, requiring additional savings to support those extra years. Some 40 percent of older Americans delayed retirement in the years after the Great Recession, according to an analysis of data from ISR's Health and Retirement Study and its Cognitive Economics Study. "The typical household lost about 5 percent of its total wealth between the summers of 2008 and 2009," said ISR economist Brooke Helppie McFall. People don't intend to work long enough to recoup all the money they lost, but on average, those who postponed retirement expect to work about 1.6 years longer than planned, she said. And even as the economy has begun to turn around, many households still find themselves facing a more precarious future. "While the stock market has recovered most of its pre-recession value, housing prices have not, and for most people their house is their biggest asset," Weir said. Economics are just part of...
Read more2 Mile Wide Tornado Hits: Death Toll Rising; 30 Children Feared Dead In Ele…
News Briefs 05-21-2013 Hits:121 
Princess Hayes
According to The New York Times, A tornado described by the National Weather Service as “large and deadly” touched down south of Oklahoma City Monday afternoon in the suburb of Moore, causing widespread destruction officials said.President Obama has been in touch with Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and alerted her that he’s directed the government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide any assistance she needs. FEMA has sent a special team to Oklahoma’s emergency operations center to help out and dispatch resources.Obama also let Fallin know that she was to contact him directly if the federal government can provide additional help. The White House says Obama’s homeland security team is keeping him updated on the situation.Two elementary schools were badly damaged, Plaza Towers Elementary School and Briarwood Elementary School, according to reports from KFOR-TV. (Who is streaming live coverage online from Moore.) Lance West, a reporter and anchor for KFOR-TV, was tasked with giving the gut wrenching news to the audience that the search at Plaza Towers Elementary School, had changed from a “Search And Rescue” to a “Recovery Search” as word officially came down that they believed they had located the 24 children Kindergarden through 3rd graders, and that they feared all had perished. Lance West was understandably overcome with the news and had a hard time trying to deliver it live on air.Helicopter pilots from KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City flew over and filmed the horrific destruction. MSNBC is reporting that the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner is now saying there are 24 confirmed deaths thus far, but they are expecting that number to rise drastically as the severity of the storm simply made it impossible for some to survive. MSNBC is also calling this the worst Tornado in United States history. Meteorologist in Oklahoma City, knew that most people in the...
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