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 Democratically-controlled Michigan House of Representatives may want to use the anticipated $292 million surplus in the School Aid Fund to restore some of the cuts made to state funding for K-12 education this year, but one of the Senate leaders on the subject would rather use that money to fill gaps in other state budgets. The Grand Rapids Press reports:
A key leader in the state Senate says he understands why educators are upset, but lawmakers might have no choice but to use some school aid fund money to plug budget holes in other areas.
State Sen. Mark Jansen, R-Gaines Township, said Thursday that he’s looking at shortfalls in other areas of the budget that could be “catastrophic” for state residents.
Using some of the projected $300 million surplus for community colleges would allow other general fund money for other state needs, he said.
The only reason there’s “no other choice,” of course, is because the Republican-led Senate refuses raising any new revenue to fill those shortfalls. If they were truly interested in avoiding catastrophic cuts, they wouldn’t have forced billions of dollars in cuts over the last few years — many of which have already been catastrophic for Michigan’s most needy residents and for local communities as well.
Public school administrators around the state are lobbying hard to prevent that surplus in the School Aid Fund from being used elsewhere in the budget.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter