U.S. Rep. Candice Miller
to Retire
United States Congresswoman Candice Miller (R-Harrison
Township) announced late Thursday that she will not be seeking re-election in
2016. The immediate response was bipartisan praise for her years of service –
and immediate speculation over who will run to replace her. PAAdvisory will look
into this in more depth, but initial names most mentioned were former State
Representative Pete Lund, Senator Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair), and Senator Jack
Brandenburg (R-Harrison Township) on the Republican-side and Macomb County
Executive Mark Hackel and Senator Steve Bieda (D-Warren) on the Democratic
ticket.
State Superintendent
Finalists
The State Board of Education has narrowed down their 54
candidates for Michigan’s new state superintendent of public instruction to
just 6 finalists. These finalists include: Randy Davis, Superintendent of the
Marshall Public Schools; Alan Ingram, Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; Randy Liepa, Superintendent
of Livonia Public Schools; Scott Menzel, Superintendent of the Washtenaw
Intermediate School District; Vickie Markavitch, Superintendent of the Oakland
Intermediate School District; and Brian Whiston, Superintendent of the Dearborn
Public Schools. The interviews are scheduled for March 10-11.
Cochran Introduces Bill
to Increase Reward Money
Representative Tom Cochran (D-Mason) introduced HB 4292, a bill to increase the reward money
local communities can offer for information leading to an arrest or conviction
of a wanted felon. Currently the amount is set at $2,000, but this legislation
would increase the maximum to $20,000.
According to the Representative, this bill has not been changed since
1927 and this increase will provide another tool to enable local leaders and
assist law enforcement officials. This bill has been referred to the House
Local Government Committee.