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.
Patrick Daniel, president and CEO of Enbridge Energy Partners, announced Tuesday that they will purchase any home at pre-oil spill appraisal within a 200 foot area on either side of the Kalamazoo River, and the entire evacuation zone.
Daniel said the offer includes 200 homes. He also said homes outside the impact zone would be considered for purchase based on a case by case basis.
Daniel said residents have been regularly expressing concerns the oil spill will negatively impact the value of their homes. He also said the offer was made for two reasons. First, he said, homes have not lost value after previous spills. Secondly, Daniel said he wanted to protect home owners from speculators who might come in and offer less for the properties then they are worth.
“That’s not right and we won’t let it happen,” Daniel said of speculators.
To counter that, Daniel said Enbridge will purchase homes in the purchase area that were placed for sale prior to the accident at the list price, and will pay the assessed value of homes prior to the spill on residences that had not been put on the market prior to the incident.
Daniels said he had no idea how much the offer to purchase homes would cost the company, but he did say he did not expect many home owners to take the offer.
He also said the offer was reflective of the Enbridge “culture” and not informed in any way by the lessons of the BP Gulf disaster.
Daniel said the company would hold onto the properties and sell them either at their cost or for a profit at a future date.
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