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 Grand Traverse County village of Fife Lake and a local church have reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit against the town for treating religious groups differently from other community organizations in allowing such groups to use a government-owned municipal building. A consent decree (PDF) has been issued by the court.
The Forest Area Bible Church had filed the suit because Fife Lake had a policy that allowed most non-profit community groups to use the municipal building free of charge but required the church to pay a rental fee to use the same facility. This is something that the courts have long forbidden. In a series of rulings beginning with Lamb’s Chapel v Center Moriches School District in 1993, the Supreme Court has said that if a government entity allows community groups to use public facilities they must treat religious and non-religious groups in an equal manner.
Under the consent decree agreed to by both sides, the church will be reimbursed for 18 months of rental fees and all non-profit groups will now be charged $20 to rent the facility. The village will also pay $1,765 in court costs incurred by the church.
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