I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The wagons appear to be circling for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
On the heels of a scathing report from the independent attorney it hired to help with its investigation into the mayor’s text message scandal, the Detroit City Council this week is mulling the best way to rid the city of the burden the mayor has become.
The Detroit Free Press reported yesterday that Council President Ken Cockrel Jr., who would become mayor if Kilpatrick resigns or is forced out, said the council is weighing whether to ask Governor Jennifer M. Granholm to remove Kilpatrick or to censure him. The council holds the power to remove the mayor, but doing so likely would bring about a protracted legal battle the council wishes to avoid, Cockrel said.
Continued -His comments came after a three-hour closed council session Tuesday. Cockrel said a vote on how to proceed could come as early as next Tuesday. While several council members have been circumspect about which option they support, they voted 7-1 in March to ask Kilpatrick to resign.
But this vote will play out a bit differently, if only because Cockrel and President Pro Tem Monica Conyers, who would become president if Cockrel moves into the Manoogian Mansion, will likely have to abstain from a vote seeking to boot Kilpatrick due to a potential conflict of interest.
Granholm has given no indication of how she would respond to a request by the council to remove Kilpatrick from office. State law gives the governor the power to remove officials who are accused of misconduct.
The council is also expected to vote Thursday whether Bill Goodman, the independent attorney who submitted the report, should file court papers in the criminal case against Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, his former chief of staff, in the hopes of expediting the case. Kilpatrick is charged with eight felony counts, and Beatty with seven, including perjury and conspiracy.
Goodman’s 35-page report concludes that Kilpatrick’s conduct in a police whistle-blower lawsuit last year violated the city charter and that council should declare his violations as punishable by removal.
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