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.
Under a new policy adopted by the Lansing City Attorney’s Office, medical information is required to be redacted from public documents. In addition, employees who handle requests for public documents will be required to undergo an annual training regarding the law and the policy.
The new policy arose after City Attorney Brigham Smith released the HIV-positive status of a man arrested in a May sex-sting operation in Lansing’s Fenner Park. The status was in a police report detailing the arrest which Michigan Messenger, along with Triangle Foundation, Lansing Association for Human Rights and City Pulse newspaper requested.
The new policy is available on the City Attorney’s website, reports the Lansing State Journal.
Activists at the time said the release of the HIV-positive status violated a stringent, but untested, state law. In August, Lansing Mayor Virgil Bernero asked Mike Cox, Michigan’s attorney general, to review the release to make sure no laws had been violated. The AG’s office determined that no violations had occurred.
That ruling was called “scary” by State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing), and other leaders in the state expressed concern about the privacy of medical information.
Smith created an advisory board to help him craft the new policy. But even that group was controversial when it met behind closed doors to develop the draft.
Following Smith’s exoneration by the Attorney General’s office, he declared the city would no longer release medical information. However, his office turned around and released more medical information in documents related to a false report of a gay bashing.
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