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.
Earlier today, the Michigan Department of Transportation sent out its official feelers — a.k.a. its Request for Proposal of Interest — to gauge the level of private sector interest in partnering with the Detroit River International Crossing project that aims to build a public-private bridge connecting the United States to Canada.
Currently, billions of dollars in trade depend on just one Detroit-Windsor international crossing — the 80-year-old Ambassador Bridge, privately owned and operated by billionaire Matty Moroun, a vocal opponent of DRIC.
MDOT will collect responses until a March 17 deadline, and then summarize them as part of a report that will then be delivered to the state legislature no later than May 1.
According to MDOT Director of Communications Bill Shreck, there’s good reason to believe that a wide range of private businesses will line up. That’s what he told the Detroit News:
“We have been told by a number of investment firms, lending institutions and major companies that they were very interested in an investment in the border crossing project. They would be investing in the entire construction project; this is not about plaza operations… This is all part of the goal to make the DRIC project efficient as possible and to bring as many jobs as we can to southeastern Michigan.”
Today’s Windsor Star offers a little more commentary from MDOT Director Kirk T. Steudle:
“At this point, we are considering a model that would incorporate some participation by the private sector in financing, design, construction, engineering and maintenance… Although we have not yet finalized what that model will eventually look like, we know there are a number of teams out there eagerly anticipating the start of work on this historic project.”
On the Moroun front, it’s well-known that his Detroit International Bridge Company has launched several lawsuits aimed at halting the progress of DRIC. One of his main arguments is that DRIC would siphon away as much as three-quarters of the cross border truck traffic that currently use his bridge to connect Michigan and Ontario.
Even if that estimate is correct, is it really the state of Michigan’s responsibility to safeguard one business owner’s current monopoly on such a vital trade link?
I’m just asking.
Last month in another bit of forward progress for the massive infrastructure project that could create as many as 25,000 jobs, the government of Canada gave DRIC its environmental thumbs up.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter