Source: Lee Fang, Republic Report, May 14th 2012

On Saturday, Republic Report's Zaid Jilani reported that the National Association of Charter School Authorizers was one of the many covert members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the controversial front group that helps lobbyists ghostwrite state law. As Jilani noted, NACSA is funded in large part by taxpayer dollars...NACSA worked closely with ALEC to promote charter schools. As we've reported, ALEC legislation allows for-profit charter school companies to siphon tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. In many cases, the ALEC-authored legislation provides for unproven online school companies to administer the charter schools.

Source: Kathy Barks Hoffman, Associated Press, May 12, 2012

Related:
- Guest commentary: Don't buy the push to privatize Michigan's prisons
Source: Sen Bert Johnson, Detroit Free Press, May 14, 2012
- Michigan Senate approves prison privatization plan
Source: Associated Press, March 07, 2012
- Forum: Private prisons a risky gamble
Source: Kevin McDaniel, Record Eagle, March 9, 2012

Michigan lawmakers considering use of private prison contractors to save money
Source: Melissa Anders, mlive.com, February 22, 2012

Lawmakers are considering bills that could potentially allow a shuttered youth prison near Lake County's Baldwin to reopen and house Michigan inmates of any age.

The legislation doesn't necessarily mean that would happen. But it opens up the opportunity for facility operator The GEO Group Inc. -- or any other private corrections company -- to competitively bid on contracts for housing Michigan inmates as long as it saves the state a certain amount of money.

Source: Editorial, Sentinel, May 11, 2012

Related:
N.H. officials mull private prison bids / Some have doubts over cost savings
Source: Annmarie Timmins, Concord Monitor, April 8, 2012

With four companies interested in the job, state officials are again deciding whether putting the state's prisons in private hands is a way to cut corrections costs. The idea may have more political support now than it did last time, in 2004, but serious doubts about cost savings and inmate security are as strong as ever....Three of the four companies that recently submitted bids to take over the state's prisons have two or more lobbyists in the state. And their 2011 profit margins - one bidder saw a $167 million profit, the other a $77 million profit - illustrates Lacey's main concern about privatization.

Source: Donna Rolando, NorthJersey.com, May 14, 2012

Not one, but two accidents - involving a total of five vehicles - snarled Friday morning's commute along Route 23 South, resulting in numerous summonses. The first crash involved a garbage truck that, according to police, rear-ended a Ford F350 pickup truck in Riverdale...Through his investigation at the scene, Sgt. MacIntosh charged the driver of the trash truck, Charles Patterson, 46, of Paterson, with careless driving and allowing both his driver's license and commercial driver's license to expire. The owner of the truck, Omni Waste Services Inc. of Paterson, received summonses for having an unsafe motor vehicle, improper brake equipment, no fire extinguisher, failure to exhibit registration and insurance cards, and allowing an unlicensed driver to drive. A June Municipal Court date is expected.

Source: Mike Mendenhall, Newton Daily News, May 2, 2012

A garbage collection employee was critically injured early Wednesday morning after he was backed over by a truck owned by Dodd's Trash Hauling and Recycling, according to a report issued Wednesday afternoon by the Jasper County Sheriff's Office....

Source: WKRN, May 03, 2012

A PDQ garbage truck driver was injured Thursday when he lost control of his truck and crashed into a home in Bellevue....Police said it appears the truck's brakes failed and the driver lost control while traveling down a hill in front of the house. PDQ General Manager John McIntosh told Nashville's New 2 "there could be a thousand things that caused the accident." The truck also hit a car parked on the street at the foot of the hill before it struck the house.

Source: Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2012

Cadiz Inc. could realize $1 billion to $2 billion in revenue over the plan's 50-year life. Opponents say public resources are being used for private profit.