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.
Dan Scripps
State Rep. Dan Scripps (D-Leland) has introduced a bill that would raise money for recycling programs by establishing a $7.50 per ton fee for solid waste disposal.
Michigan’s current 21 cents per ton fee on solid waste dumped in land fills or burned in incinerators, is among the lowest such fees in the region, making this state a destination for trash from Canada and elsewhere, and stunting the development of recycling programs, the Capitol News Service reports.
A new surcharge initially would generate about $145 million annually. The amount could decrease over time if the program succeeds in reducing the volume of waste.
In 2008, imports rose to 17.2 million cubic yards, of which 10.7 million came from Canada, the largest source. More than 30 percent of solid waste dumped in Michigan landfills is from out of state.
That figure is up by 50,000 cubic yards compared to 2007 and 11.5 millions compared to 1998.
The bill is being reviewed the Committee on Great Lakes and the Environment.
An analysis of the bill by House staff says that landfill and municipal incinerator owners could collect the new “recycling and waste diversion surcharge” from those who dump trash and send that money to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on a quarterly basis. The DEQ would send this revenue to the state treasurer for deposit into a new fund called the “Recycling and Waste Diversion Fund.”
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