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.
Gardening is becoming more popular in Detroit, but many are unaware that the city’s soils are widely contaminated with lead, and the MSU Extension service for home gardeners does not provide lead testing, Wayne State University law professor John Mogk writes in the Detroit Free Press.
Estimates have been made that one in ten children in Detroit has lead levels high enough to cause irreparable health problems, accompanied by reduced IQ, limited attention span and hyperactivity. This has led to a concern that academic achievement in Detroit schools is lowered due in part to the exposure of the city’s children to lead contamination in their homes and neighborhoods.
Lead in soils is caused by lead paint chips, fallout from industrial emissions and dust from the combustion of lead-based gasoline.
Mogk notes that people can be exposed to lead when contaminated soil clings to vegetables, but that the risk can be contained if gardeners create raised beds of lead-free soil.
An estimated 4,000 gardens will be planted in the city this summer, and every one could be tested for less than $75,000, a health investment well worth making for Detroit’s children. Free testing programs exist in other urban areas that offer models for the city to follow.
A Detroit lead risk information and assessment program is the type of clearly defined, highly beneficial project that appeals to the city’s civic organizations and funders. Who will have the foresight and generosity to step up to the need to protect the children of Detroit against further lead contamination this summer? Few projects are more important!
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