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 website set up by the state of Michigan to let citizens know how federal stimulus funds are being used falls short in several key areas, according to a recent analysis of state websites conducted by the D.C.-based policy resource center, Good Jobs First.
Michigan’s site does not describe specific projects funded, provide a map of them, give information about their status, or state how many jobs they are expected to create. It also fails to give information about what contracts have been issued using funds from the state’s portion of the $787 billion dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or who got those contracts.
The report also states that the Michigan site fails to show how allocations relate to need by providing information about unemployment and foreclosures in counties receiving funds.
Most states are failing to make full use of the Internet in communicating how stimulus funds are being used, the group found. The study gave Michigan’s recovery website 35 out of a 100 possible points — the median score among states is 25.
The report states:
It is not an unreasonable burden for states to use the websites to provide deeper
descriptions of stimulus activities. They are already collecting a great deal of information about ARRA projects, especially those involving infrastructure, to satisfy federal reporting requirements established by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
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