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 Great Lakes Compact, a bill intended to maintain regional control over Great Lakes water, passed the Senate unanimously on Aug. 1, and Congress is expected to take the matter up when it reconvenes after the summer break.
So far, Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak from Menominee is the only representative who has expressed concern that the compact, by allowing the export of water in containers smaller than 5.7 gallons, may set the stage for Great Lakes water being treated as a commodity.
Stupak has asked the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Trade Representative and the International Joint Commission to respond to concerns about the commercialization of Great Lakes water and the applicability of international trade law. Stupak spokesman, Nick Choate, said that so far there’s been no word back from these agencies.
Meanwhile, Stupak’s concerns are helping shape discussion about the compact, as in this story in The Washington Post and this one in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Environmental groups support the compact and some insist that the bottled water loophole can be closed by legislation enacted in the member states.
Great Lakes Blogger’s Dave Dempsey suggests the formation of a state water protection board that would ensure that water be treated as a public trust. Dempsey’s draft bill is available here.
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