Pubdate: Sat, 28 Jan 2012 Source: Detroit News (MI) Copyright: 2012 The Detroit News Contact: http://www.detroitnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/126 QUICK HITS: DUMP PARKING BILL Even opposition from House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, couldn't stop the House from passing legislation that would block any motorist with three or more parking tickets from renewing their driver's license. Under current law, drivers with six parking tickets can be prevented from renewing their licenses. Vehicle owners would have to pay what they owe for the three or more parking tickets, plus a $45 penalty, to get back their driving privileges. Assuming this proposed law scared more drivers into settling up and paying the penalty, it would create revenue for municipalities. Detroit says it has $30 million worth of unpaid parking tickets. But the more likely prospect is that it would add to the number of motorists who will drive without licenses because they can't afford the penalties but need their vehicles to get to work each day. This example of proposed government overreach also violates the principle of having the punishment fit the crime. The Sen! ate, where it goes next, should kick it to the curb. Poor economy hurts kids The annual Kids Count in Michigan report released this week shed some light on the challenges facing the state's children. The report is a joint effort of the Michigan League for Human Services and Michigan's Children. Child abuse and neglect rose by 34 percent in the past decade, an alarming trend the report pegs on prolonged high unemployment and insufficient social programs. Nearly half of the public school children in Michigan qualify for free and reduced price lunches. In Detroit, that number spikes to more than 80 percent. Abuse and neglect rose partly because more children battle chronic conditions like obesity and feel the stress of financial difficulty at home. The report's authors point to the state's new, stricter limits on welfare and reduced unemployment assistance as harmful to the neediest. The report illustrates the need to improve the economy and help create jobs. Cox pot admission should spark reform So Mike Cox smoked pot when he was in college? That gives the former attorney general, who made the admission during a forum on legalizing marijuana at Wayne State University on Friday, something in common with most men his age who attended college. The widespread recreational use of marijuana at one time or another by people across the demographic spectrum should provide an opening for a serious discussion of a petition drive to legalize pot. It would be a fine time for leaving entrenched positions and examining the cost/benefit ratio of continuing the futile war on marijuana. At the very least it should move the needle on revising this state's confusing legislation on medical marijuana. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom