cuts

MLive columnist and capitol reporter Peter Luke provided an insightful, albeit depressing, column Sunday about the stark budget realities the state of Michigan will face in 2010.
Luke outlines the crisis as it brewed this past decade, thusly:

DETROIT — Having secured another four years in office with an election victory Tuesday night, Mayor Dave Bing is continuing with business.
One of the mayor’s pressing concerns is getting municipal unions to concede to major cuts to pay and benefits, something that has challenged the mayor since he was first elected in May and something [...]

A citizens advocacy group, Progress Michigan, is calling on Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) to raise taxes in order to keep school bus inspections part of the state budget, according to a press release put out by the non-profit group on Friday.
According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan State Police has already [...]

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing met with city council challengers Thursday to start early in establishing a relationship between himself and the new incoming council candidates.
Since Bing is largely expected to win in November after getting more than 70 percent of the vote in the August primary, he has the advantage of getting to know [...]

DETROIT — Mayor Dave Bing on Friday told reporters that the city may run out of cash this fall if massive cuts aren’t made before October. In order to avoid payless paydays and state receivership, Bing said that he and his administration are looking to eliminate entire departments and impose layoffs.
“The city has a cash [...]

While officials from the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News were sharing their “good news” this morning about better-than-expected increases in single-copy sales and Web traffic, the Free Press, owned by Gannett, was also finalizing lay offs of about 10 percent of its work force.
Late Thursday morning, Free Press Editor Paul Anger sent [...]