Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers is expected to plead guilty this morning to federal corruption charges, according to a person familiar with details of the case.

Conyers, the wife of powerful Democratic congressman U.S. Rep. John Conyers, is due to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn at 10 a.m. to answer charges in connection with the wide-ranging probe of wrongdoing at Detroit city hall.

Did some planet switch houses or something? Are things starting to go Detroit's way? Could it be?

The state House and Senate are expected to announce shortly that they have agreed on a deal to keep the North American International Auto Show at Detroit's Cobo Center.

Dan Farough, spokesman for House Speaker Andy Dillon, told The Detroit News that a deal has been worked out, and the House and Senate will announce it in a joint statement this evening.

Fingers crossed.

General Electric Corp. plans to announce Friday that it will open a research and development center in metro Detroit with at least 1,200 new jobs to explore clean technology.

GE Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt is to address the Detroit Economic Club on Friday, and a spokesman for Immelt said the speech would contain "some news" and that there also would be an announcement that same day.

The Freep says the jobs will be in Wayne County, Crain's is reporting that they are wind turbine manufacturing related and will be in Oakland County. The DNews says "software and information technology and advanced manufacturing", complete with "no comment" from everyone involved.

Come back tomorrow for the answer...

A bill approved 80-28 Thursday would let people register to vote at any clerk's office instead of their local clerk. Another bill that passed 93-16 would let first-time voters prove their identity at any clerk's office without having to return to their hometown.

The bills now go to the Republican-led Senate, where similar bills died last year despite being supported by Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and local clerks.

This way, House Repubs that voted for it can get the credit, but overall, Republicans can still make it harder for what is becoming a Democratic demographic to vote! See how that works?
 

House Bill 5125 (Ban using abortion for gender selection )

Introduced by Rep. Paul Opsommer  (R) on June 18, 2009, to prohibit a physician from intentionally performing an abortion if he or she knows that the woman is seeking the abortion because of the sex of the fetus, or that she is being coerced as defined by House Bill 4525.

http://www.michiganvotes.org/Legislation.aspx?ID=99005

Gotta give the crazy base a reason to keep donating.

President Barack Obama will hold a town hall meeting in the Detroit area on July 14.

The White House released the information Tuesday. No additional details were given.

The Obama administration has sent a host of Cabinet officials to Michigan to announce recovery act dollars for the state and offer help to workers and communities suffering as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have gone through bankruptcy.

If possible, will attend for pics.

Well deserved, Stevie.  

The Legislature can't drag its feet until October to approve next year's spending plan because that would not allow school districts, local governments and others to map out their own budgets, Lt. Gov. John Cherry said today.

Cherry said in a teleconference with reporters that the Legislature should be looking at a July 1 deadline for putting budgets in position for passage rather than an Oct. 1 deadline. Oct. 1 is the start of the 2010 fiscal year.

And the Promise Scholarship:

The state's second in command called the news conference to slam a move by the Republican-controlled Senate to eliminate the Promise Grant program that gives $4,000 scholarships to high school graduates toward their first two years in college or trade school.

"To set higher education back by zeroing out that scholarship is probably not wise," Cherry said.

Talk of reduction is "on the table" - but quite frankly, it would be wrong to do that to the current class that is already counting on the money. Hope they find some tax loopholes to close instead.

Visit http://www.peopleforcherry.com/keepourpromises for more.  

Matt MARSDEN, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mike BISHOP said the Legislature is continuing to cut its own budget as it asks other state departments to do more with less.

"With all due respect to Mr. Snyder, we should allow the people well-versed on the state budget to make the decisions on this," he said.

Hard to see how Mr. Snyder could make any other decisions on the state budget, if that is the case. Just a little food for thought there. Tuck it away for future consideration.  

A 72-year-old female state senator has filed a complaint accusing a male senator of physically intimidating her as the two were riding an elevator at the Michigan Capitol.

Detroit Democrat Irma Clark-Coleman said Thursday that 64-year-old Saginaw Republican Roger Kahn showed "petulant and violent" behavior toward her after an Appropriations Committee hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Kahn denies the charges. The two were arguing over the DCH budget.  

Gov. Jennifer Granholm said today she will reject the Senate's plan to wipe out funding for college student merit scholarships.

"No, that will not stand," the governor said after addressing an urban revitalization summit at Michigan State University.

Elimination of the grants, which provide up to $4,000 for students who pass state high school tests, doesn't match up with the administration's goal to double the number of college graduates, Granholm said.

"Families have budgeted (for the grants) already," Granholm said.

Everyone knew this was coming. What will be interesting now is how the Senate will react. Will they insist on cutting a very popular and very important tool that was designed to increase our college graduation rate?  

Plans calls for two new buildings -- a 175,000-square-foot office building and a 100,000-square-foot print and distribution center -- to added to an existing Foremost building, 5600 Beech Tree Lane SE, via an atrium.

The company would have 12 years after completing the facilities to create 1,000 additional jobs at the campus in order to qualify for a 100 percent employment tax credit.

Farmers would need to create 1,400 jobs by the end of the 17th year in order to qualify for the final year of tax credits.

As it should be - tax credits should come after the promise of job creation is fulfilled.

Construction will begin this fall, read the entire press release here.

More on Koenigsegg Automotive:

The company behind the consortium, Koenigsegg Automotive, was founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg, a Swedish sports car fanatic and entrepreneur, who remains the chief executive. It makes luxury sports cars at its headquarters, a former air force base near Angelholm, in southern Sweden.

With a full-time staff of 45, Koenigsegg makes around a dozen cars a year, customized for every buyer. The company doesn't advertise prices for its models, but they are believed to range between 8 million and 18 million kronor ($1 million-$2.3 million) each.

Saab, on the other hand, has more than 4,000 staff worldwide, is represented in some 50 countries, and typically produces more than 100,000 cars a year.

Best of luck to them. Sounds like they know quality, and if they can handle the volume they might be able to produce a very nice niche brand.  

The Democratic governor said it became clear in meetings with GM officials this week that the bankrupt automaker wants a large cash payment from Tennessee to pick Spring Hill over Orion, Mich., or Janesville, Wis.

Tennessee's incentive packages are usually heavy on long-term tax credits, training and infrastructure improvements. Bredesen said the state doesn't have "a lot of spare money available to make large upfront payments."

The governor wouldn't specify how much money GM was asking for, but said that hundreds of millions of dollars would be "the low end of the range."

Tennessee has a $1B deficit, but GM won't have much luck with Michigan or Wisconsin when it comes to cash. With Michigan at $1.6B and Wisconsin at a whopping $3.2B in the red, I doubt that we can whip out the checkbook either.

A top credit rating agency gave Michigan officials high marks today for managing the budget crisis and says the state is "weathering the downturn" caused by the collapse of the domestic automakers.

Standard & Poor's rates Michigan general obligation bonds AA-, which is a low risk investment rating.

"Michigan's fairly conservative revenue estimates and continued strong budget management will allow the state to continue to manage budget gaps," according to the report.

They warn that further downturn in the auto industry could be a problem though. Reasons why we received our rating:

• A diversifying economic base.

• "Good budget management that has allowed the state to effectively operate on thin margins with low liquidity."

• Considerable help from the federal stimulus package.

• A low debt and pension burden with "manageable carrying charges."

No one tell them about our Senate, OK?  

Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Congressman Mark Schauer (D-MI). Under the 'Cash for Clunkers' legislation, consumers may trade in their old, gas-guzzling vehicles and receive vouchers worth up to $4,500 to help pay for new, more fuel efficient cars and trucks. The program will be authorized for up to one year and provide for approximately one million new car or truck purchases.

298-119 was the final score. Read more about the plan at the WSJ, and we'll see how the Senate handles this next.

Two veteran publishers say they plan to launch a newspaper in Detroit to fill a void left when the city's two major dailies reduced home delivery earlier this year.

Sixty-three-year-old Mark and 67-year-old Gary Stern said Tuesday they hope to publish within 60 days the first issue of a newspaper serving the Detroit area.

The Detroit Daily Press is expected to sell for 50 cents daily and $1 on Sundays.

Wishing them the best of luck. Need more real reporters in this state!

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard is entering the race to become Michigan's next governor.

He joins a crowded field of Republican candidates as he makes stops in Clawson, East Lansing and Grand Rapids Wednesday.

Skubick doesn't sound impressed. Word has it Bouchard will simply cross out Stabenow and insert Granholm Cherry in all his speeches. Why write new ones?  

The board said the nonprofit Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy is "is unable to complete the renovation of Tiger Stadium as it agreed last fall," according to a press statement released today. Tuesday.

The decision is final and demolition could begin in a matter of weeks, said Waymon Guillebeaux, executive vice president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the quasi-public agency overseeing the project. Guillebeaux said the nonprofit was far short of reaching its $33 million goal, raising only about $4 million. The group was past the March 1 deadline given by the City Council, he said. Guillebeaux said when the City Council gave the nonprofit the March 1 deadline, it also gave the development agency final say on the project.

Bye-bye Tiger Stadium. Thanks for the memories.  

The Capitol Press Corps lost one of its most veteran members Friday, with Detroit News Lansing Bureau Chief Charlie Cain among those whose jobs were eliminated in the latest round of cutbacks by the Detroit newspapers. Mr. Cain, who with colleague Gary Heinlein won this year's Wade McCree Award from the State Bar of Michigan for a series of stories about Michigan's burgeoning prison system, had been with the Detroit News for 34 years, the last 18 years as bureau chief. He said he would like to remain in the Lansing area but added he understands that it is likely time for a career change due to the changing nature of the newspaper business.

Lansing coverage is sparse as it is, with back-biting gossip columnists and blatantly partisan editorialists ruling what little information comes out of the state capitol.

A loss of a Charlie Cain is tragic to those of us who crave real reporting. Shame on the Detroit News for letting this veteran go.