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.
As the state prepares for its first real blast of winter over the Thanksgiving holiday, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law a series of bills that provides increased protection for Michigan residents against having their gas or electric shut off during the coldest months. A press release from the governor’s office explains what the bills do:
Under the legislation, municipal utilities are now required to notify the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) of any shutoff of service that resulted in death or serious injury, and they must provide the MPSC with the procedures followed during the shutoff. In addition, the MPSC is now authorized to investigate any shutoff by a municipal utility that resulted in death or serious injury. Following the investigation, the MPSC could refer the matter to the attorney general for possible civil action.
In addition, municipal utilities are now required to postpone a shutoff of service for up to 21 days if the customer or a member of the household is a critical-care customer or has a certified medical emergency. The utility would have to extend the postponement of shutoff under certain conditions.
Further, the Michigan Low Income Heating Assistance and Shut-off Protection Act is amended to require the Department of Human Services (DHS) to operate an electronic payment process with participating utilities to provide for the payment of low-income customer energy bills subject to shutoff. The DHS is permitted to enter into agreements with energy providers to make direct payments to them on behalf of eligible recipients.
Last winter, several people died in the state after having their power shut off, revealing a gap in the state’s regulatory structure that applied to privately owned utility companies but not to municipal utility companies. Gov. Granholm said that the new legislation “is a great first step toward making sure customers of municipal electric and natural gas utilities have the same protection that customers of regulated utilities have.”
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