State Roundup

Kalamazoo
After vote, recess bell won’t bust noise ordinance
KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — It’s safe for the recess bell to ring again at one southwestern Michigan school.
MLive.com reports trustees in Kalamazoo County’s Kalamazoo Township voted unanimously Monday to amend an ordinance to exempt noises sanctioned by or made by governmental units or schools. It includes exemptions for emergency vehicles and street repairs, for example.
Township Supervisor Ron Reid says police cited Reformed Heritage Christian School for a noise ordinance violation because the bell exceeded a decibel limit in the ordinance. The violation came despite efforts by the school to quiet the bell with a box around it and by adding muffling material.
The issue was brought to the board’s attention by an area resident. But the board determined that noises such as school bells should be expected by those living nearby.

Battle Creek
$7.3M United Way gift is announced by Kellogg fund
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — An annual fundraiser from the world’s biggest cereal maker and its employees is contributing $7.3 million to the United Way to benefit initiatives in education, income, health and other needs.
Battle Creek-based Kellogg Co. announced the funding Tuesday, which it says will offer help in more than 350 communities across the United States.
The gift exceeded the company’s goal by 14 percent and includes individual pledges, as well as Kellogg’s dollar-for-dollar match of all pledges and fundraisers.
The effort involved 34 Kellogg locations.

Saginaw
City gets testing on 4 stun guns used on man
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Saginaw is getting testing for four stun guns used during a confrontation involving police that ended with the death of a 38-year-old man in April.
Bobby Louis Merrill Jr. died after police tried to subdue him. The Saginaw News reports City Council on Monday approved a more than $6,500 bill to pay for testing.
Police have said officers found Merrill after a report of a man acting strangely, walking in the street and jumping onto cars. Authorities say he went into cardiac arrest and died, and prosecutors have said that Merrill’s death was caused by alcohol and high levels of cocaine in his system at the time.
Following the finding from prosecutors, the city wanted an additional evaluation of the guns.

Lansing
State employees experiment with ways of working
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Thousands of state employees in Michigan are experimenting with new ways of working, such as using a home office for part of the week or entering records from the field.
Departments such as the Michigan State Police, Human Services and Management & Budget have been testing ways over the past several months to increase worker productivity and cut costs, the Lansing State Journal reported. It’s part of Gov. Rick Snyder’s push for improved efficiency.
The arrangement doesn’t make sense for every department or employee, officials said. But for certain jobs, they said it can be an effective way to improve government operations.
“It’s an approach that a business would do to be client-friendly,” said Human Services spokesman Dave Akerly. “It helps the bottom line, yes, but that’s only one part of it. Improving outcomes is more important.”
The department’s case workers always had to be out in the field, but the new approach gives them the tools they need to be “mobile with a purpose,” Akerly said. In July, for example, the department’s Delta County office in the Upper Peninsula was the first site to become completely mobile.
“When they have this ability, they can do real social work. It’s not just pushing paperwork at a computer,” Akerly said.
If state employees that usually work from the road need office space, communal workstations are available in some places including a secure connection to the state’s computer system. The state generally saves money by using less physical space, but detailed numbers weren’t available.
The mobile workforce concept has the backing of union leaders who represent state workers, but they are keeping an eye on changes.
“We’re really supportive of being creative and empowering the state workers to do their jobs ... but we want to make sure our workers aren’t shortchanged,” said Ray Holman, spokesman for United Auto Workers Local 6000, which is the largest state employees’ union with 15,000 members.
“We’re transforming into a modern era here,” Holman said. “These caseworkers need to be in the field; they need to be empowered, not tied to a desk, so we’re happy about that.”
Holman said the union wants to ensure workers that have the technical support and basic resources they need to do their jobs outside the office.
About 3,000 to 4,000 DHS workers, roughly 30 percent, operate in a mobile environment, the state said. Meanwhile, about 20 technology support workers in the Department of Technology, Management & Budget also generally work outside the office and have  workstations in Lansing.
These employees work from home four days a week, providing remote tech support to DHS caseworkers. At least one day a week, the workers meet in the office.

Grand Rapids
Last of 7 pleads guilty in $2.5M mortgage scam
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Federal prosecutors in western Michigan say the last of seven people accused of participating in a $2.5 million mortgage scam has pleaded guilty.
The government says 43-year-old Mario Giannandrea made the plea Monday before U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids.
Sentencing on the fraud conviction is March 27, 2013.
The seven people were indicted July 26, 2012, on accusations of engaging in a scheme to commit mortgage fraud.
The Justice Department says the seven operated under the name of Lansing-based CDC Investments. The government says they inflated the value of pieces of real estate and then staged sales of the properties so that unsuspecting banks would supply mortgages.
The government says the scheme resulted in about 35 mortgages and $2.5 million in losses.