6 - Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Petition drive aims to overturn state's "
emergency financial manager law
Measure could end
up on ballot this
November
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -
State-appointed emergency
managers such as Louis Schim-
mel, assigned to save the city of
Pontiac from financial peril,
are armed with superpowers
that enable them to leap city
councils and union contracts in
a single bound.
That soon could change. A
petition drive aimed at repeal-
ing a 2011 Michigan law that
gave state-appointed managers
their sweeping authority could
serve as kryptonite, nullify-
ing the enhanced powers they
claim are crucial. State elec-
tion officials likely will decide
within two months whether
opponents of the emergency
manager law have gathered
enough valid voter signatures
to temporarily suspend the
measure and put it before vot-
ers for a final verdict in the
November election.
If Public Act 4 is suspended,
emergency managers would no
longer have the ability to uni-
laterally strip locally elected
leaders of their power or toss
out union contracts. Barring
court decisions or further
action by the state Legislature,
it appears Michigan's emer-
gency manager law would at a
minimum revert to Public Act
72 of 1990 - leaving the state-
appointed officials on the job
but with fewer weapons to bat-
tle financial crises.
The result: It likely would
take emergency managers lon-
ger to fix the financial problems
facing the cities and schools
they're assigned to run.
"There were a lot of things
I could not do that were frus-
trating under Act 72," said
Schimmel, who served as
emergency financial manager
in the Detroit enclave of Ham-
tramck from 2000 to 2006
before becoming Pontiac's
emergency manager last year.
"The difference is you don't
have as many powers," Schim-
mel said. "The main one is you
can't deal with the labor con-
tracts under the old act like the
new one."
Schimmel, appointed by
Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to
take over as Pontiac's emergen-
cy manager in September, said
he was able to resolve issues
with labor contracts in his first
four months on the job. He also
shook up Pontiac's city hall in
November, firing the city clerk,
attorney and director of pub-
lic works as he moved to put
together his own team.
The Snyder administra-
tion expects that all previ-
ous decisions and agreements
crafted by Schimmel and
the state's other emergency
managers - also operating in
Benton Harbor, Ecorse, Flint
and school districts in Detroit
and Highland Park - would
remain in place if Public Act
4 is suspended. But they'd
have diminished powers mov-
ing forward, including within
areas that might need future
state intervention. Republi-
can lawmakers who control
the Legislature are looking at
possible contingency plans if
the emergency manager law
is suspended, but it's not clear
what measures, if any, might
be attempted.
The goal would be a tem-
porary measure to leave some
aspects within Public Act 4 in
force until voters cast the final
verdict in November, said Ari
Adler, a spokesman for House
Speaker Jase Bolger, a Republi-
can from Marshall.
"All the voters in Michigan
get to have their voices heard
in November," Adler said. "But
the concept behind a tempo-
rary law would be that we
don't want chaos to ensue in
the meantime."
W
I IM MARTIN/AP
Supporters of a campaign to repeal Michigan's emergency manager lam marchain
Lansing en Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. That day that nrganizers submitted mhat
they say are more than 226,000 signatures on petitions to place the issue on the
Michigan ballot.
Talks on future U.S. military
presence in Afghanistan slowed
Negotiations hinge
on several divisive
issues
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -
Negotiations over a long-term U.S.
military presence in Afghanistan
have bogged down over issues of
detainees, night raids and quar-
rels within the Afghan president's
inner circle, throwing the whole
deal into question.
The arrangement would for-
malize a U.S. role after NATO's
planned pullout in 2014. The dead-
lock reflects growing hostility on
the part of the Afghan leadership
and increasing exasperation in
Washington.
Trust has eroded in recent days
with anti-American protests over
Quran burnings at a U.S. base,
a rising number of U.S. troops
gunned down by Afghan security
forces and election-year demands
to bring the troops home.
Karzai met last night with
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker,
but a Karzai spokesman did not
return phone calls requesting
details about their talks. Karzai
has scheduled a news conference
today;it is unclear whether he will
discuss the negotiations.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Gavin
Sundwall would not disclose any
information about the meeting.
Earlier, Sundwall said that
despite the dragging negotia-
tions, the U.S. was committed to
a strategic partnership with the
Afghan people. However, he also
said it was more important to get
the right agreement than to get an
agreement.
The pact is expected to provide
for several thousand U.S. troops to
stay and train Afghan forces and
help with counterterrorism oper-
ations. It aims to outline the legal
status of those forces, their oper-
ating rules and where they will be
based. The agreement, which was
supposed to be completed before
the next NATO summit in May in
Chicago, also is seen as means of
assuring the Afghan people that
the U.S. does not plan to abandon
the country, even as it withdraws
its combat forces.
NATO's nighttime raids target-
ing insurgents are an especially
touchy matter.
As part of the agreement, Kar-
zai has said that Afghans should be
the only ones conducting the night
raids, because the invasion of pri-
vacy from troops entering a fam-
ily's home is compounded when
the soldiers are Westerners.
Surprise al- Qaida attack kills 107
Yemeni soldiers on military base
Militants stole accounted for the death of continue until we are ridof
many soldiers who suffered the last terrorist, whether in
weapons used serious wounds but could have Abyan or elsewhere," local
survived had they been given Yemeni media quoted him as
to attack other better medical care. saying.
The death toll among the The military officials said
troops troops is believed to be the the militants' surprise attack
highest on record in battles outside Abyan's provincial
SANAA, Yemen (AP) - fought by the army against capital Zinjibar also led to the
Sneaking across the desert al-Qaida militants, who have capture of 55 soldiers. The
behind army lines, al-Qaida been emboldened by the polit- captives were paraded on the
militants launched a surprise ical turmoil roiling the impov- streets of Jaar, a nearby town
attack against military bases erished Arab nation for more that, like Zinjibar, has been
in south Yemen, killing 107 than a year. under al-Qaida's control for
soldiers and capturing heavy The militants' attack about a year.
weapons they later used to kill appeared to be al-Qaida's The officials spoke on Mon-
more troops, officials said yes- response to a pledge by day on condition of anonymity
terday. Yemen's newly inaugurated because they were not autho-
The military officials said President Abed Rabbo Man- rized to speak to reporters.
at least 32 of the militants sour Hadi to fight the Yemeni The battle in Abyan prov-
were killed in Sunday's fight- branch of the terror network, ince shows how militants have
ing in Abyan province, and believed to be the world's most taken advantage of theturmoil
scores were wounded on both active. created by the yearlorg dpris-
sides. Medical officials in the Hadi repeated that pledge ing against then-President
area confirmed the death toll on Monday during talks with a Ali Abdullah Saleh, who last
figures. They said the poor visiting British diplomat. month handed over power to
services in local hospitals "The confrontation will Hadi.
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com *,
RELEASE DATE-Tuesday, March 6,2012
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS
1 Picket lineocrosser
5 Arrange, as a
vacation
9 Washington
neighbor
14 "Splendor nthe
Brass' director
Kazan
15 Gutter site
16 La Scala's city
17 Tap banana
19 Mayancorn crop
20 Observation after
too many wrong
turna
21 "Dry Harry"
composer Schifrin
23 "Don't _
stranger"
24 Like a dog'shind
leg
25 A low-flow
showerhead will
help lower it
27 Enzyme ending
29 Online auction
site
30 50 cents, in slang
35 After "get," gain
an advantage
39 Attending a
Lakersgame, say
40 Ski resort named
for a tree
42 Longest river
entirelp in
Switzerland
43 Inning half
45 Baker'scontainer
47 Dedicated works
49 Taylor of fashion
50 Hitgenerating
four 71-Across
54 Horizontal
punctuator
58 Hold up, as a bank
59 Yogi, for one
60 Wheel cover
62 HI hello
64 "The Iron Horse,"
baseball's all-time
H0-Across
recordholder
66Jeopardy
67 Hops kiln
68 Took loan
69 ft has E
reservations E
70 G.1. fare
71 Oneofthem is
hidden in 17-, 25
30- and 45-
Across
DOWN
1 Event before
finals
2 Ascend
3 Path between
rows
4 Conductor's
wand
5 Cheeky
6 Research site
7 St. Teresa's city
SCancelout
9Wicked
10 Lunes o martes
11 Perp's story
12 lye color
13 "Shag Diesel"
rapper
18 Founded: Abbr.
22 Beirut's country
25 Licks, as a
stamp
26 One way to play
28 Cat breed
30 White lie
31 Dedicatee of
Lennon's
"Woman"
32 Final: Abbr.
33 nform againt
34 Sunblock letters
36 Gift of the
garrulous?
37 Ocean State sch.
38 Pilot product
41 Jason with a 53 Like acheering
record 63-yard crowd
field goal to his 55 Can't stand
credit 56 Use elbow
44 Weirdo grease on
46 Like inappropriate 57 Partof Hispaniola
influence 60 52", 13", etc.:
48 Picabo Street Abbr.
race 61 Some majorgolf
50 It's plotted in tournaments,
math class informally
51 Loggers' game 63 Move it
52 Scrub the launch 65 Employ
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ANNOUNCEMENT
US - EPA will provide the owner of a
non-hybrid vehicle having a
manufacturer's PZEV sticker or badge
an ineentive of $50 per day to leave
their vehicle at EPA's Ann Arbor test
facility while techs measure tailpipe
emissions. The testing may last up to
six weeks (test period could extend to
eight weeks). The vehicle will be
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roads and in an indoor emission test
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Contact URS Federal Services (EPA
contractor) at 734-214-4915 between 9
AM and 5 PM M-F for more
information or to participate in the
program. Please be ready to provide
your vehicle's VIN #/registration so
that URS may verify eligibility. The
offer is not open to employees of the
US-EPA, 2500 Plymouth Rd or its
contractor, URS Federal Services.
HLU
By Don Gagliardo and lC. urnikel
{c)2012 Tribune MediaServices,tInc.
03/06/12
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