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.
LANSING– Lansing City Council member Carol Wood Monday released a draft of a proposed ordinance which will serve as a guide to city employees in the release of public information under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act.
Under the proposed ordinance, city officials charged with responding to Freedom of Information Act requests and release private information, including medical information, could be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
The proposed ordinance would also mandate the release of police reports once charges have been filed in a case, unless the prosecutor, the state attorney general or in limited instances the city attorney receive a court order preventing the release of the information.
And the final part of the ordinance would provide those receiving FOIA responses from the city with detailed bills which outline the entire costs associated with fulfilling the request. It would also create a waiver of fees for “news gathering agencies.”
The city has been wrestling with FOIA issues all summer. In July, Brigham Smith, the city attorney, released the HIV status of a man arrested in a sex sting operation in May. That release of information resulted in an investigation by Mike Cox, the state attorney general, and eventually cleared Smith of any wrong doing. Shortly after that incident, Smith’s office released a police report which was incomplete in its redaction, and as a result, the names of people falsely accused of a crime, private medical information and the names of minors were released to the public.
Wood and other members of the City Council Public Safety Committee have been demanding a policy from Smith to prevent the release of private information in the future. While in a July 1 meeting Smith promised such a policy within a month, the Committee has not seen one. In Sept. Wood gave Smith two weeks to present a completed policy to the committee, and no such policy was presented. And last week during a committee meeting, while the requested policy was listed as an agenda item, no policy was presented.
If the ordinance is introduced, it will have to be sent to a committee of the council, before making its way back to the entire city council for final approval. Mayor Virgil Bernero could veto a measure, and an override would require six of the Council’s eight members to vote for the override.
Randy Hannan, spokesperson for Bernero, was not immediately available for comment on the proposed ordinance.
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