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.
ClickonDetroit reports that several of Monica Conyers’ colleagues on the Detroit City Council are calling on her to resign after pleading guilty to taking bribes from Synagro to cast the deciding vote giving the company a huge contract with the city to dispose of sewage sludge.
Councilmember Kwame Kenyatta called the event “another somber day in the political chapter of the city of Detroit’s history,” and that “it serves as an important lesson to all prospective elected officials on what not to do when representing the people’s trust.”
Conyers remains a council member for now. A memo from David Whitaker, the director of the council’s Research and Analysis Division, said the conviction would not be official until sentencing, noting that Conyers has the ability to withdraw her plea up until her sentencing and said the city charter contains nothing forcing immediate removal if a city elected official is convicted of a felony.
The Detroit City Council Research and Law Department is looking into whether the window between Conyers’ guilty plea and sentencing date allows her to remain at the council table.
Kenyatta said Conyers’ guilty plea is the same as a conviction and that he hopes she resigns immediately from office.
He is not alone in calling for Conyers’ immediate resignation.
Council President Ken Cockrel and Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel also called for her resignation.
“Frankly, yes. I think she ought to go. If I was her, that would be my first act at this point,” said Ken Cockrel. “I would leave the courthouse, come to the office, clean it out, get walking papers to all my staff and be done with it. That’s a clean way to do it and I think that would be in the best interest of the city.”
The article also quotes Conyers’ pastor, Spencer Ellis, saying that he thinks she will likely resign soon.
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