8 - Tuesday, October 30, 2007 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Progress on budget slows THE CANDYWOMAN 4 Nearing deadline, lawmakers divided over privatizing adoption, juvenile detention LANSING (AP) - With little time left, lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm were still divided yesterday over wheth- er more private providers should handle adoption, foster care and juvenile justice services - the big sticking point in resolv- ing the state budget. But other signs of progress emerged as the Senate passed spending plans for the state police and other state departments. The House also began passing some department budgets, yesterday night, and more voting was expected tomorrow in the Legislature. Final action could depend on reaching an agreement over whether more func- tions in the Department of Human Servic- es should be handed to private agencies. The Legislature has until tomorrow to pass the budget bills to avoid another par- tial government shutdown such as the one that occurred in the early hours of Oct. 1. Sen. Bill Hardiman, (R-Kentwood), is among those pushing to put more DHS services into private hands. He said it costs the state $550 a day to house each youthful offender at the W.J. Maxey Boys Training School in Whitmore Lake, but it would cost only $225 to $250 a day if the youths were dealt with through private companies. "We need to move forward in this area. The money we save, we can spend in other needed areas," Hardiman said. "To ignore this, I think, is absolutely wrong." Granholm, a Democrat, opposes giv- ing more DHS services to private provid- ers. So do labor unions representing state workers who would lose their jobs if their work is taken over by private agencies. Democrats have argued that handing more responsibility for adoptions, foster care and juvenile justice over to private agencies is risky and would not necessar- ily save money. They have said it could endanger children at a time the state is under scrutiny for the deaths of some fos- ter children. But Hardiman points out that private agencies already provide 40 percent of such services to Michigan children. He wants to partially close Maxey and send some offenders to less expensive facilities. Negotiators from the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-controlled House have mostly agreed on handing more ser- vices over to private agencies, despite Gra- nholm's objections, Hardiman said. But because the governor could veto the bill if she doesn't like it, negotiations continue. Lawmakers avoided disagreements over whether to increase hunting and fishing fees and environmental permit fees by delaying the decisions until later. Budget bills for the departments of Envi- ronmental Quality and Natural Resources assume that fees would rise but give the Legislature until Jan.15 to vote on specific increases. Republicans and some Democrats have been reluctant to embrace higher fees, even though both departments have said staff and services will have to be reduced if the fees aren't raised. DEQ officials have warned that they might have to lay off 200 to 300 work- ers and turn some permitting functions over to the federal government, while the DNR - which has not raised hunting and fishing fees since 1996 - could lay off 79 workers. Other cutbacks include closing two state forest campgrounds, two fish hatcheries and some DNR field offices. Rep. Doug Bennet (D-Muskegon) said some of the environmental fees have not been raised in 10 or 15 years and cited concerns within the business community about permitting delays if funding is not increased. "It's-a serious, significant problem," he said, arguing that the delays could hurt economic development. Others say the fee hikes would hurt businesses. Sen. Michelle McManus (R-Lake Lee- lanau) said legislative leaders have told her they intend to fully fund the DNR, wheth- er through fee increases or other options. She said she personally hasn't take a position on higher fees proposed by Gra- nholm. "It certainly is a problem that requires a legislative solution, rather than a depart- ment solution," McManus said. Counting other forms of funding, including compensation to help cover unfunded payments in a tuition waiver program for American Indians, some of the state's 12 smaller universities will get a bit more than a 1 percent increase. Lake Superior State University would get a 2.4- percent boost. The Legislature's bill retains about $56 million in tuition grants for students at private schools. The House also passed a bill that would provide an average 1 percent funding increase for community college opera- tions. The House also adopted a Department of Community Health budget that doesn't kick any groups off of Medicaid coverage. The chamber also passed a spending bill for the state's prison system that would reflect some previously agreed to hous- ing unit reductions and include more use of GlobalPositioning System units to track parolees. 4 i Ann Arbor resident Amy Tartaglia makes caramel apple at Kilwin's Chocolate factc erty Street yesterday. Tartaglia has been working at the candy shop for two years. a 3 in Simpson case agree to guilty plea LAS VEGAS (AP) - Cutting deals with co-defendants to testify against O.J. Simpson could under- cut prosecutors if they ever need to convince a jury the former football. starisguiltyofserious crimes, legal experts said yesterday. But that could happen only if the case makes it past a prelimi- nary hearing next week before a judge whose main concern will be what the evidence is rather than where it came from. Of the five men charged with Simpson in a hotel-room confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers, three have agreed to plead guilty and testify against him. "This is a basic prosecution tac- tic that is very effective," said Jody Armour, acriminal lawprofessor at the University of Southern Califor- nia. "Its greatest weakness is that the jury is going to hear from the defense that the only reason they're testifying is because they cuta deal that can benefit them." Simpson co-defendant Michael McClinton told a judge yesterday that he will plead guilty Nov. 13 to robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. The 49-year-old Las Vegas man could end up being the star witness. McClinton's lawyer said he can testify that Simpson asked him to bring guns to a room at a Las Vegas casino hotel to get items that Simpson said was his. That would contradict Simpson's claim that no guns were involved. McClinton wielded a gun and, acted like a police officer Sept. 13 when Simpson and the others alleg- edly robbed collectibles dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beard- sley, according to police reports. McClinton's lawyer said his client worked as a security guard and had a concealed weapons permit. Authorities say memorabilia taken included football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider, pho- tos of Simpson with the Heisman Trophy, and framed awards and plaques, together valued at as much as $100,000, according to police reports. Jersey squirrels safe to eat 0 * StudentUniverse.comI EPA says original warning about lead contamination was a mistake u RSON WELLES' WAR of *uE WORLD! 09yu AMMIMMARr PARTYI The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center present a lecture by Visiting Professor Marilyn Halter American Kaleidoscope: Immigration and Adaptation in a Multiethnic Society 10 a.m., Tuesday, November 6 at the Best Western Conference Center, 2900 Jackson Road, Ann Arbor University of Michigan students, faculty, staff, and retirees will be admitted free to this event upon presentation of U-M identification. This is a featured presentation in a six-lecture, paid series, Is Our Melting Pot Boiling Over? U.S. Immigration in the 21st Century For information on these lectures, fees, and membership, contact the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at (734) 998-9351 or www.olliumich.org>. Oher lecture titles in the series: - Who are the New Americans?, Nov. 1 " Current Isues in Immigration Law, Non. 15 " Immigrants, Exiles, Refugees: Two Centuries of Jewish Immigration, Nov. 29 Ialir de Nuestra TierrauEs Sufir (To Leae Our Land Is to Suffer), Dec. 6 " Is Immigration Good Bussiness for America?, Dec. 13 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - In January, the state warned hunt- ers and residents near a toxic waste dump in northern New Jersey to limit their consump- tion of squirrel after federal monitors tested a dead squirrel and found it contaminated by lead. Yesterday, officials said it was a false alarm. The U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency said a blender used to process the squirrel's tissue samples was defective and that the lead believed to be in the squirrel actually came from a part of the blender. "Resampling indicated signif- icantly lower lead levels in the squirrel tissue," the agency said insa statement. State officials will decide what action they need to take regarding the squirrel advisory based onthe EPA's new findings,. said Tom Slater, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Senior Services. The dead squirrel was sent to the EPA lab as part of tests the agency was conducting on plants and animals near a Superfund site where Ford Motor Co. used to dump toxic -waste. Furd spokesman Jon Holt said the Dearborn-based automaker was pleased that the issue had been clarified. He said the EPA's findings demonstratetthe need to per- form accurate testing. "Our position has been that the paint sludge has been iso- lated, and that it doesn't really leach into the soil or the water, so it hasn't been any real threat to the environment or animals in the area," Holt said. I 4 Marilyn Halter. Ph.D., is Professor of History and Director of the American and New England Studies Program at Boston University; and she is a Research Associate at BU's Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs. She also serves as senior consultant and project historian for the OASIS Institute's "The Immigrant Experience," a national education project for older adults, and co-chairs the "Boston Immigration and Urban Hi0tory Seminar,' an ongoing series in conjunction with the Massachu- setts Historical Society. Her Bot. recent hook is Shopping forldentty. the Marketing of Ethnicity. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS IIRAR 7Thf FlTOR /GHATCER GRATE £IIMRY TUE$DAX O'CTODER 30Th'IO 4 TONIGHT! A In conjunction with Prof. Halter's Osher appearance, the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies and the American Culture Program are sponsoring Prof. Halter in a seminar, "Young, Gifted and West African: TransnationaiMigrants Growing Up in America." Guests are welcome: Noon, Monday, November 5, CAAS Conference Room, 4701 (fourth floor) Haven Hall, which is behind Angell Hall, at 505 South State Street on the University of Michigan campus. For info e-mail or call (734) 764-5517. I