| No police investigation in the Kaaaahn!/Clark-Coleman incident. Lansing -- The Michigan State Police will not investigate a heated altercation between two state senators inside a Capitol elevator.
Very good. Now we can put this silliness behind us and get back to doing the kind of business the Senate is supposed to be doing -- balancing the budget. Oh wait ... from MIRS a couple of days ago. The alleged altercation this week between Sens. Roger KAHN (R-Saginaw) and Irma CLARK-COLEMAN (D-Detroit) is going to the next level, as Secretary of the Senate is being asked to get involved. A Senate Majority Leader Mike BISHOP spokesman said his boss will ask Secretary of the Senate Carol VIVENTI next week to take testimony from witnesses to the incident between the two senators on Wednesday. New Assistant Secretary of the Senate Adam REAMES, a lawyer and former Senate Democratic policy analyst who started today, will also take testimony. They will collect information and sit down with both Bishop and Minority Leader Mike PRUSI (D-Ishpeming).
...punchline... "There will be repercussions if the allegations are found to be untrue," said Bishop spokesman Matt MARSDEN, though he added that nothing specific had been discussed.
If Mike Bishop had even a whiff of leadership skills, he'd have pulled them both into an empty room the day after the incident and -- with a Democrat present -- told both of them to shake hands, make up, and get back to work on behalf of the rest of the state. Nobody outside of Lansing cares what actually happened. They want the Senate to fix the roads, and balance the budget. Instead, we get further investigations and threats of repercussions, which may help to explain this from another MIRS story: As the state of Michigan faces unprecedented fiscal and economic challenges, a new survey of state government observers shows they hold little hope that Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM, Speaker Andy DILLON (D-Redford Twp.) and Senate Majority Leader Mike BISHOP (R-Rochester) can help resolve the crisis.
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