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.
With several veteran legislators stepping down, others facing tough reelection fights and the state likely to lose one seat due to declining population, the influence of Michigan’s congressional delegation may be far lower in the next Congress than in the current one. The Detroit Free Press reports:
Three of the state’s 15 House seats are open this year because of retirements. Others could be up for grabs. The state is almost certain to lose one seat in 2012, reflecting the U.S. census. Meanwhile, with one of the grayest congressional delegations — five of the oldest 20 members of the U.S. House are from Michigan — more turnover with far-reaching consequences is on the way.
“Every state has that. … They’re only going to be there for a certain amount of time,” said Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the Washington, D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute. While the state’s representatives remain well-positioned now, he said, “The pendulum will swing.”
Those changes could hurt in terms of federal money that makes its way to the state, and in terms of regulations, standards, trade rules and taxes.
Longtime Reps. Vern Ehlers, Pete Hoekstra and Bart Stupak are stepping down, meaning they will be replaced by first-term legislators with little influence who will start at the bottom of the seniority chart on committee assignments. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick’s seat is very much at risk. And either way, the whole delegation is likely to go from 15 to 14 seats after the 2010 census.
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