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.
Obama addresses thousands in Detroit's Hart Plaza
Flanked by union heavyweights like Teamsters President James P. Hoffa and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama addressed a crowd of more than 10,000 at Detroit’s riverfront square, Hart Plaza, on Labor Day morning.
He surprised the gigantic crowd when he announced that he was going to put aside his political stump speech in deference to Hurricane Gustav. “I have to change my plans a little bit,” he told a cheering crowd. “Our neighbors are under siege from a terrible storm.”
In his brief speech he focused on the threat of Gustav and called for unity. “Today is not a day for political speeches,” he said. “Today is a day for all of us to come together as Americans.”
He acknowledged that the threat of the storm changed his goal for the address. “I hope you forgive me; I hope you don’t mind,” he told the crowd, some of whom had been waiting in line for more than four hours.
In an address that lasted less than 10 minutes, Obama talked about the need for unity and hailed labor unions as the “backbone of our economy.”
But he said his main focus Monday was prayer for those threatened by the approaching hurricane. “Instead of a speech, I what I would like to do is ask all of us to join in some silent prayer,” he said.
Numerous Michigan political leaders attended event, including state House Speaker Andy Dillon and U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin. Aretha Franklin was also in the crowd, and Obama acknowledged her by singing a bit of one of her famed songs “Chain of Fools” to a screaming audience.
But most people in the crowd weren’t disappointed. “I’m not upset or anything,” said 50-year-old Steve Jackson of Detroit, who waited in line for four hours. “This is too historical. When I was in elementary school, my teacher passed out a picture of George Washington to color in. I colored him brown and got kicked out of school. That just shows you how far we’ve come.”
“He was able to tie in the storm with people struggling all over,” said Jamie Harrison, 38, of Southfield. “It was worth the wait.”
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