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.
Similar to previous years when the Michigan State basketball team has been in the NCAA Final Four, there is a standoff developing on and around campus in East Lansing between rowdy students and the police. Around the Cedar Village/Water’s Edge area, the police have turned out in riot gear and are keeping a crowd estimated at around 2,000 people out of the streets as best they can.
Michigan Messenger’s Todd Heywood is on the scene. He reports that some in the crowd have been throwing beer bottles and that the police have brought in tear gas launchers but have not yet used them. We’ll keep you posted as things develop.
10:25 update:
Police have made several arrests so far. The police are concerned that after the end of the second Final Four game the size of the crows may swell with drunk revelers and escalate the situation.
There are now two lines of officers in riot gear — one at the edge of the streets to keep the crowd out of the streets and one between the crowds and the buildings, containing them in the yards of the apartment complex. This is a new tactic in recent riots and seems to be keeping the situation relatively under control.
11:04 update:
The ACLU is on the scene and says they have witnessed at least 10 arrests but have seen nothing but professional conduct from the police. In a new use of technology, the police are taking digital images from their rooftop control post of people in the crowd breaking the law and texting those pictures down to officers on the ground so they can identify the person.
The size of the crowd is starting to swell as the second game is ending soon. Conditions on the ground are described by our reporter as “tense.”
12:18 am update:
The crowd has now turned hostile — throwing bottles at police officers going into the crowd to make arrests — and the police have formed a riot line in the middle of the street. The Michigan State Police have a tear gas launcher ready to go and also have industrial canisters of pepper spray at the ready. Sounds like things could turn ugly fast. The crowds are chanting obscenities at the police.
12:52 am update:
The police have moved in and begun dispersing the crowd, which seems to be following instructions and dispersing without any need for tear gas or pepper spray. There are small pockets of resistance at this point, but the crowd has dwindled down to around 1,000 people and shrinking.
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