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.
Who would have predicted that spiraling oil prices plus cash-strapped organizations would equal a three-day weekend?
Tuesday Chrysler announced it has asked the United Auto Workers to agree to four-day work weeks at many of its manufacturing plants in a bid to cut costs, with workers clocking in 10 hours each day. The automaker joins Ford, which has instituted four-day weeks at several of its plants over the last couple of years. It also joins numerous Michigan city and county governments, like that in Oakland County.
Last week Utah became the first state to switch to a four-day week. According to a story in USA Today, about one-sixth of U.S. cities with populations of more than 25,000 offer employees a four-day week. Even schools are getting in on the act: Brevard Community College in Cocoa, Fla., made the switch to four days in 2007.
Proponents of the four-day week say it cuts energy costs, boosts morale, saves employees money on gas and allows facilities to be repaired during the week, when worker overtime isn’t mandated.
Not everyone is happy: Parents, especially, can struggle with longer work days, which often complicate child care arrangements and which can mean missing out on evening activities like kids’ sports games. And for people who already have a hard time fitting things like exercise, personal time and family time into their day, working a couple of extra hours probably won’t help.
But the more workplaces that make the shift, the more we can expect the nonwork world to adjust. And perhaps companies looking to keep their employees productive for longer stretches will better see the value of on-site child care and workout rooms — and even the productivity-enhancing value of naps.
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