Former Lansing Fire Chief Tom Cochran and former East Lansing Mayor Sam Singh both received the endorsement of the UAW CAP Council on Monday, securing their spots as the frontrunners in their respective state House races.

1. The New Emergency Manager Repeal Law The public employee union, AFSCME, teamed up with Michigan Forward and others to repeal the state’s new emergency manager (EM) law, P.A. 4, which gives gubernatorial-appointed EMs the power to revoke a negotiated public employee union contract.

Commissioners Deb Nolan in the Okemos-based 12th, Brian McGrain in the East Lansing-based 10th and Carol Koenig in the East Lansing-based 9th all found themselves crossways with the Lansing Labor Council after at least three high-profile votes created a split within the commissioners’ otherwise congenial Democratic caucus.

Moments before the 4 p.m. May 15 candidate filing deadline, Kathy Rodgers filed instead to run against Mitchell for the Democratic nomination for supervisor. With nobody else filing to run for treasurer, Leo Rodgers put in for the spot.

Most of it ended up back in Mason at the drain commissioner’s office, where it was bagged and made available free through word of mouth to anyone who wanted it, Lindemann said. That’s how such waste has been handled for 40 years, he added.

Without Leeman — and presumably O’Dell — Schor had a clear path to the Democratic nomination with Robinson and Copedge chopping up that 3rd Ward and African-American support. With both cutting into Schor’s support in eastern Lansing and the westside neighborhood, the race becomes more muddled.

Last time we saw Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was hightailing out of Novi, having narrowly escaped what would have been an embarrassing primary election beating at the hands of Rick (who?) Santorum.

This year is no exception. Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield and East Lansing District Judge David Jordon are hanging up their robes for good, and a combined eight attorneys filed by the Tuesday deadline to seek their seats. The top two finishers for each race in the nonpartisan August primary will face off in the November primary.

Lindemann is the 20-year incumbent running for a sixth term managing the county’s numerous drains. It’s a deceivingly powerful position that comes with the ability to blow up million-dollar developments or tax entire communities without a public vote.

The Ingham County Circuit Court is making its presence known these days by raising legal questions about the laws coming out of the Capitol this session. At least six times in the last seven weeks, the court has temporarily put the breaks on a Snyder-signed law.