From the Detroit Free Press:

The Oakland County Election Commission unanimously approved language Thursday for a recall petition challenging Troy Mayor Janice Daniels’ vote against millions of dollars in federal funding to build a transit center near the Troy-Birmingham border.

But the commission denied approval of petition language challenging her views on homosexuality, her behavior during her swearing-in and a possible breach of City Council meeting rules.

Both petitions had been submitted by a group called Recall Janice Daniels, a grassroots organization that describes itself as dedicated to restoring competent leadership to Troy.

“We’re extremely excited that we were able to get one petition approved, which means that we can continue to press forward with our campaign,” said Matt Binkowski, one of the members of the group in attendance at the meeting. “On the other hand, we’re slightly disappointed about the outcome of the other petition. But we still feel supremely confident we can move forward and get the necessary signatures to reach our goal. We’ve had an incredible amount of support.”

Once a petition is approved, its supporters have 180 days to submit 7,985 signatures, which need to be gathered within any 90-day period within the 180 days to get the measure before city voters.

Attempts to reach Daniels by phone and e-mail were unsuccessful.

The meeting with the election commission took place in the Oakland County Courthouse in the packed courtroom of Chief Probate Judge Linda Hallmark and included commission members Bill Bullard, Oakland County clerk and register of deeds, and Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner.

The second petition was denied by a 2-1 margin by both Bullard and Hallmark. In commenting on his decision, Bullard said, “It’s not our role to debate the merits of the allegations of the petition, just to decide on its clarity.”

When she was sworn into office in November, Daniels changed the oath, eschewing a part that pledges allegiance to the city’s charter. She called the charter a “whimsical” document, changed at the will of the council.

About a month later, reports surfaced that before she decided to run for office, she posted a Facebook status update ridiculing gays.

Daniels twice voted against accepting federal funding for a transit center in the city. A measure to accept $8.5 million in funding failed Dec. 19. A $6.3-million measure passed Jan. 17.

At a council meeting in February, Daniels read a five-page document outlining her concerns about the transit center, surpassing council meeting rules that prohibit members from addressing a topic for more than five minutes.

Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120302/NEWS03/203020401/Troy-mayor-recall-effort-goes-on

From The National Post (Toronto):

Shock, anger and political jockeying greeted a revelation Thursday that VIA Rail Train 92 was travelling at more than four times the authorized speed when it jumped the tracks and slammed into a building on the weekend, killing three employees and injuring dozens of passengers.

The Toronto-bound train, which derailed in Burlington on Sunday, left the station and never slowed down, said Transportation Safety Board lead investigator Tom Griffith. The train’s brakes and signals were working, but black box data revealed the brakes were not applied, he said.

While trains switching tracks along that stretch in Burlington are required to slow to 24 kilometres per hour from 129 km/h, Mr. Griffith noted, VIA Rail Train 92 was travelling at 108 km/hr as it switched tracks.

“In normal circumstances, if anybody on our roads here in Toronto was [exceeding the speed limit by that degree], they would be in a very significant amount of trouble with the law,” said lawyer Ted Charney, who is organizing a class-action lawsuit for passengers injured in the derailment. The board’s finding “reinforces the justification” for the action, he said.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Derailed+train+going+four+times+authorized+speed/6238501/story.html

From Michigan Radio:

A lawmaker from the Upper Peninsula says every region in the state could benefit from a strong and vibrant Detroit.

Republican state Senator Tom Casperson has become an unlikely advocate for a regional transit system in southeast Michigan that would connect Wayne, Macomb, Oakland and Washtenaw counties.

Casperson’s district in the U.P. would not benefit directly from the transit system. But the U.P. could benefit long term from newfound political ties to Detroit.

As last year’s legislative session drew to a close, a handful of senators stood to make their remarks about the year that was 2011.

But only one floor speech drew reverent silence.

“Being a Michigander, there is a special place in my heart, for Detroit.”

That’s when state Senator Tom Casperson – a Republican from Escanaba said ““Being a Michigander, there is a special place in my heart, for Detroit.”

Casperson told his colleagues about a trip he took to Detroit to see how effective the city’s bus system is, and what needs to be improved.

Escanaba is 435 miles from Detroit.

He said the trip opened his eyes to the beauty and plight of Detroit, and taught him something about his own district as well.

“The Upper Peninsula has struggled, and I would hate to think that my downstate colleagues would turn their back on us, give us the cold shoulder and make us face those difficulties alone. I am not going to turn my back on those below the bridge,” said Casperson.

Democratic state Senator Bert Johnson from Detroit was impressed.

“Tom’s speech was so good that he made me sit down because I just didn’t want to be—I didn’t want to end on a negative note,” said Johnson.

Johnson had planned to make a speech the same day as Casperson, to denounce the Republican policies of 2011.

But he decided to stay quiet.

Johnson was Casperson’s host on his trip to Detroit and they rode the bus system together.

Johnson says his working relationship with Casperson began with a simple conversation about transportation.      “He said, ‘Well what’s it like to be on a bus in Detroit?’ and I said ‘Why don’t you come down and try out?’ and he did.”

“I could not believe how beautiful the buildings were and the history and everything that’s there,” said Casperson. “And I walked away that day just convinced that we’re not doing ourselves any favors if we just keep talking about the bad things.”

But the connection between lawmakers from Detroit and the U.P. goes back far before Casperson and Johnson’s bus ride that day.

Bill Rustem, a key advisor to Governor Rick Snyder, and a former advisor to Governor Bill Milliken in the 1970s, said it’s been a longstanding tradition in Michigan.

Rustem says the alliance between lawmakers from the U.P. and Detroit faded away because of term limits.

But he says forty years ago lawmakers from the two regions bonded over shared hardships, declining population, withering coal and automotive industries, and increased urban and rural poverty.

“The fact that these two geographic areas of Michigan were in a position of economic decline, and how to figure out how to make them both work and working together, they were able to accomplish some things that were very important to either Detroit or the Upper Peninsula,” said Rustem.

Rustem says cooperation between the two regions centered around the then-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Dominic Jacobetti from the U.P., and another member of the committee, Morris Hood, Jr. from Detroit.

Hood’s son is Morris Hood III.

“When Mr. Jacobetti passed away, my dad was crying… And he told me the U.P. was just like Detroit,” said Hood III.

Morris Hood III followed in his dad’s political footsteps and is now a state Senator. He says his father and Jacobetti worked closely together for so long that they had an understanding with each other and about the needs of each other’s communities.

“Those are the types of things that we don’t have any more because of term limits. You don’t really have a chance to get to know someone,” said Hood III.

Coincidentally, Morris Hood III’s office at the state Capitol is next door to that of Senator Tom Casperson from the U.P.

They both say having offices next to each other has made their working relationship stronger and built up trust between them.

In Casperson’s office, the U.P. lawmaker sits at a wooden meeting table with a boldly stained inlay of the Upper Peninsula.

He says after the day he spent in Detroit with Senator Bert Johnson, he invited Johnson to swap districts with him for one week.

Casperson says now that he has begun to see the unique beauty and needs of Detroit, he hopes Johnson will see the unique beauty and needs up north.

“The hope is is that some of those walls will start dropping, and who knows, we might start agreeing on more things than we thought we could,” said Casperson.

Senator Bert Johnson said since Casperson is a Republican, and he’s a Democrat, they don’t agree on everything politically. “But for some reason he was able to sort of put aside political ideology, and say, ‘Look, I’d like to do something substantial to help Detroit, and maybe this regional transit conversation is the way to start,’” said Johnson.

Senator Casperson is the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, and his bill to create a regional transit authority in southeast Michigan has Johnson’s full endorsement and support.

Both lawmakers say they hope to collaborate on more legislation in the future.

Source: http://michiganradio.org/post/michigans-detroit-political-allies-unlikeliest-places

From WLNS:

Amtrack ridership has been going up… even hitting “record highs” here in Michigan.

Now some managers at the Jackson Station are asking, why isn’t Amtrak bringing in more workers?  They say it’s currently running with a skeleton staff.

Passengers at the Jackson Amtrak Station have lots of reasons for taking the train. Whether its easier, relaxing or even cheaper.  Beth Myers is an Amtrak passenger and says, “All around I’ll probably save $100. Just because of the parking, and what it’ll cost in gas to get to chicago from where I live in Adrian and back.”

Regardless of the reason, ridership is up.  Back in 2002 just under 300,000 passengers rode the Wolverine Line.  In the last fiscal year, there was a record 500,000 or more passengers.

Tyler Chateau, another Amtrak passenger says, “The train ride is just as packed as a Greyhound Bus to get from point A to point B.  The staffing in the stations is a lot less than it used to be.”

That’s what has workers here in Jackson puzzled. Back in March 2002 when those numbers got so low, Amtrak cut the late night shift at this station.

Brian Karohoff from Jackson Amtrak says, “There’s three trains that come through while we’re closed.  There’s no way to get in to the station. People have to wait outside when waiting for the train… and when they get off the train there’s no facilities they can get into, or get out of the weather.”

Brian Karohoff has been handing out flyers to passengers, asking them to reach out to Amtrak and request to have that second shift added back.

“This is something that’s missed. With the increase in ridership here, I’m hearing a lot more passengers saying, boy, I wish we were open here,” says Karohoff.

For now, things have to keep rolling as is.  All other Amtrak Lines in the state have also had more riders. All together the routes collected close to $28-million in ticket sales last year.

See the video at: http://www.wlns.com/story/17050280/2012/02/29/some-want-amtrak-to-increase-staffing