Communities get partial win in court fight over tax dollars
LANSING (AP) — Local governments have won a partial victory in the state Court of Appeals in a dispute over how state government gives tax dollars to communities.
The constitution requires that local governments get 48.9 percent of all state spending. But when the state makes that calculation, the appeals court says it can’t count money that pays for state-mandated activities.
Attorney John Philo says it likely adds up to hundreds of millions of dollars. He says local governments have been squeezed for years by “accounting tricks” in the capital.
But in the same opinion, the appeals court last week said the state can count aid to school districts and charter schools as payments to local governments.
The court also ordered state government to publish information about the cost of state mandates. The court says the state has undermined the “role of taxpayer oversight.”
There was no immediate comment from the attorney general’s office. A Supreme Court appeal by either side is possible.
Civil Rights director reprimanded for inappropriate comments
LANSING (AP) — Michigan’s Civil Rights Commission is reprimanding Civil Rights Director Agustin Arbulu for inappropriate comments that he has said objectified women.
Chair Alma Wheeler Smith says Arbulu should complete a training program and can’t conduct internal or external training on his own during that time.
Arbulu has been director since 2015. He said in a statement that he made “comments objectifying women” and that were “unacceptable and regrettable.”
The Civil Rights department investigates discrimination complaints including those involving race and gender.
Commission spokeswoman Vicki Levengood told the Detroit Free Press Friday that the remark was to a male staffer in May about a woman attending a meeting.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office calls the decision to keep Arbulu as director but take away some of his responsibilities “difficult to comprehend.”
Pennsylvania cat dives in to summer with love of swimming
BRADYS BEND, Pa. (AP) — A cat in western Pennsylvania is bucking stereotypes with its love of swimming.
Tissy is an orange Maine Coon who regularly cools off in the family pool in Bradys Bend Township, about 55 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Sonny Herr tells the Tribune Review she rescued Tissy as a homeless kitten about five years ago from a parking lot near the county fair.
She says Tissy got curious about water when the kitty was about a year old and started to swim. Tissy’s favorite thing is to swim with Herr’s 9-year-old daughter Taylee.
Tissy even wears a floatie around the waist and likes to be snuggled in the pool. The cat also loves bubble baths.
According to the Cat Fancier’s Association, many cat breeds enjoy water, including Turkish Angora, American Shorthair, Norwegian Forest Cat and the American Bobtail.
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