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 University of Michigan, along with other state universities, will continue to face strained budgets after federal stimulus money runs out. (Photo courtesy khaz/flickr)
State universities in Michigan might be breathing a sigh of relief after the state House on Thursday passed legislation that would plug a proposed 3-percent cut in state funding to higher education with federal stimulus funds, but the budget pains will return once the injection of federal funding runs out.
The House passed the higher education budget on an 89-21 vote, according to The Associated Press. It now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate which is expected to take-up budget when lawmakers return from a two-week break on April 21.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm had proposed the funding cuts as a way to deal with an estimated state budget deficit of $1.5 billion, a figure that grows weekly as tax revenues continue decline.
Still, higher education funding challenges will not go away, as stimulus money is expected to be fully tapped within the next few years.
Katie John, assistant vice president for legislative affairs at Western Michigan University, told Michigan Messenger on Friday that the Kalamazoo school, as well as other state universities in Michigan, are happy that the proposed cuts won’t take place in the short term, but added: “These are one-time monies. It spares you some pain, but it doesn’t so toward the base. Come 2011, 2012, there is still going to be a significant problem. We wouldn’t build a budget around it.”
There are also strings attached to the money, John said. It can only be spent on mitigating tuition increases and upgrades to existing buildings, such as making them more energy efficient.
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