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.
If Congress does end up doubling the funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, as they are likely to do, the Detroit News reports that there are five primary areas where the money would go: invasive species containment; restoring wetlands; cleaning up contaminated rivers and streams; fertilizer and pesticide runoff from agricultural and residential lands; and upgrading the system for monitoring the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
The invasive species problem is extremely serious. Non-native species reach the Great Lakes through the ballast tanks of ships that travel in and out of the lakes, often wreaking havoc on native species. Quagga mussels are believed to be killing off diporeia, a tiny shrimplike creature that is at the base of the food chain for a great many species of fish, threatening a mass extinction. They may also be responsible for the growing problem of dead zones in the lakes. It is estimated that the Great Lakes states spend $200 million a year due to the damage of invasive species.
The additional money for the restoration of wetlands is sorely needed at a time when the cash-strapped state government prepares to turn over control of wetlands to the federal government and lay off its wetland protection staff. Republican State Senator Patty Birkholz of Saugatuck Township has submitted a bill to reverse that decision, but even if it stays a state responsibility more funding will be needed.
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