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.
Department of Natural Resources director Rebecca Humphries has been picked to lead the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment — the new department slated to form next week when the DNR and Department of Environmental Quality merge.
The combination of the departments, described as a streamlining measure, was ordered last October in an executive order from Gov. Granholm.
The appointment of Humphries drew praise from environmental groups.
In a statement released before the governor’s formal announcement Chris Kolb, president of the Michigan Environmental Council called Humphries “… a proven leader with a strong commitment to the protection and sound management of the state’s natural resources,” but added, “… the real challenge is to find stable, secure funding sources to ensure that these ‘Pure Michigan’ resources continue to be the foundation of a strong economy and high quality of life.”
In a special report to the Kalamazoo Gazette earlier this week Chris Killian reported that some of the 3,700 workers in these departments are uneasy about the transition which may involve cuts to programs and jobs.
Former Consumers Energy executive Bruce Rasher, appointed by the governor to lead the restructuring of the state departments, told Killian:
“We will have to ask ourselves if some (programs) are still necessary or worthwhile,” Rasher said. “So some services could be cut given the state’s (financial) situation or if they are not necessary for the protection of human and environmental health.”
Rasher could not give an estimate of the potential cost savings of the merger or an example of a program that might be axed, but he did say that certain programs would be evaluated to see if the state should have the duty of providing the service or if a federal, county or local governmental agency could perform it more efficiently.
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