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 president of the Howell Education Association has been reprimanded for an in class exchange about LGBT people with one of his students, reports the Livingston Daily.
Teacher Jay McDowell was suspended for one day without pay after school officials determined he had violated the First Amendment rights of the student and school policies.
“The student was speaking out on being offended by the gay and lesbian lifestyle because it’s against his religion. The teacher said that wasn’t appropriate,” [Howell Schools Superintendent Ron] Wilson said.
That student is identified as 16-year-old junior Daniel Glowacki. Glowacki, and another student, were kicked out of McDowell’s Economic class after debating with the teacher about a third student’s Confederate flag belt buckle. The student questioned why it was OK for students to wear clothing to support LGBT issues, but not for a student to wear a Confederate flag.
Spirit Day was a program promoted by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in the wake of a series of teen suicides made national headlines. Those students were gay, or perceived to be gay, and had been bullied because of that. The suicides are believed to be tied to the bullying.
The high profile of the suicides in national media led the U.S. Department of Education to send a “Dear colleague” letter to 15,000 school districts and 5,000 colleges and universities with guidance related to U.S. civil rights laws and applications to bullying.
Nationally, participants in the Oct. 20 event wore purple, and in Howell students participating wore purple shirts with the message “Tyler’s Army.” The reference to Rutgers’ student Tyler Clementi. Clementi, who was gay, was secretly video taped while in his room with another guy. The video incident was seen by Clementi as a violation of his privacy, and after posting a message on his Facebook page, the student jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge.
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