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.
It’s often touted as the best hope to resurrect manufacturing in Michigan — large-scale production and assembly of lithium ion battery packs for the hybrid or pure electric vehicles of the future.
According to news from the state Capitol, lawmakers in Lansing want to dangle the carrot of tax credits in front of a several large corporations — like Ford Motor Co., Dow Chemical Co. and the German-based firm Fortu PowerCell — in an effort to get them to hire hundreds or maybe even thousands of employees.
On Thursday, a majority of legislators approved $220 million in electric battery tax credits, including $100 million for manufacturers and $120 million for pack assembly. A story in today’s Detroit News quotes state Sen. Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) claiming that the package of credits would create more than 2,000 jobs. According to the story, the tax credits would be doled out to the companies based on production and jobs created.
And as the following quote indicates, some state officials aren’t exactly downplaying the potential of the battery manufacturing and assembly incentives:
“This is huge,” said James McBride, vice president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. “This is the rebirth of the auto industry in this state.”
According to Mlive.com’s coverage of the issue, this latest round of advanced battery tax credits break down like this: $100 million for Fortu PowerCell’s possible manufacturing facility in Muskegon Township, $42 million for pack assembly, and $78 million for Ford Motor Co.
About Ford, mlive.com reports:
Officials said the Detroit automaker intends to consolidate in Michigan the assembly of its battery systems and the next generation of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles they will power.
The company already has received tax incentives to build the new all-electric Ford Focus in Dearborn.
Apparently, Ford also plans to move the production of battery packs for the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan from Mexico to Michigan.
The comments string on the mlive.com story is also worth reading — comments (mostly skeptical of the value of said tax credits) wonder about possible contamination of water supplies as well as the likelihood/unlikelihood that pricey advanced battery technology will really take off with consumers.
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