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.
The Michigan Senate has approved a bill that dedicates $9.5 million from the general fund to the Pure Michigan advertising campaign intended to boost state tourism.
The Traverse City Record Eagle reports that the measure now moves to the House where Democrats prefer a plan that would pay for the ad campaign by enacting a new car rental fee.
Lawmakers, especially those from the tourism-dependent North, insist that money spent on tourism promotion is a good investment.
“For every dollar we spent on promotion we generated $40 dollars in economic activity,“ Rep. Dan Scripps told Michigan Messenger, “and $2.68 cents went back into state coffers in one way or another.”
Others are skeptical about the ad campaign.
Woodward’s Friend writes on the blog Dyspathy:
Lansing found $10,000,000 to promote the state’s natural beauty and wonder through the Pure Michigan campaign. Why do taxpayers fund the tourism industry’s advertising? The state doesn’t buy airtime touting Michigan’s fine cereal, automotive, or office furniture industries. Here’s something that creepy voice of God guy won’t tell you about Pure Michigan: we are a toxic wasteland and no one has any money to clean it up. Maybe we can dump that heavy metal waste into the Great Lakes. They’ll not only be great, but also homeopathic! That’s Pure Michigan.
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