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.
Three Republican candidates for governor – U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and state Sen. Tom George – have so far said they will use public financing money out of the Michigan State Campaign Fund in their race. The problem, as the Detroit Free Press reports, is that this fund is seriously depleted.
The State Campaign Fund has only $4.6 million to spread among a large field of would-be governors. Of that, $2.1 million is available for campaigning leading up to Democratic and Republican primaries on Aug. 3 — about a third of what was available in 2006, when it went unused.
Primary candidates likely will have to settle for much less than the maximum $990,000 they are allowed.
Why? In 2007, the Legislature took $7.2 million from the campaign fund to balance the state budget. Meanwhile, fewer taxpayers are donating $3 on their state income tax forms.
And given the slow economy, campaign contributions in general are also way down, meaning the 2010 campaign will probably be much cheaper — by necessity — than the combined $56 million spent by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Republican challenger Dick DeVos in 2006. Neither Granholm nor DeVos accepted public financing during the campaign.
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