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 recent boom in leases of mineral rights on state land means at least one area of the budget is looking pretty good. The Natural Resources Trust Fund, which pays for purchases of public lands, will receive more than $100 million from these leases.
This influx of money means that the Trust Fund will soon reach its constitutional cap writes Dave Dempsey, environmental adviser to former Gov. James Blanchard. When this happens the excess will go into a fund for state park capital improvement and the parks will have the first steady source of new investment since the 1970s.
That means the new governor will have a chance to modernize the park system — not just with new toilets, which is what recent funding infusions have paid for, but with parks that meet today’s needs. The parks fall back on a 1950s premise that the parks were for weekend visits by Michiganians seeking an affordable getaway with their RVs and barbecue grills.
Today’s park users tend to be active, seeking hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and other pursuits. Rather than RVs, they tend to pitch tents. Rustic cabins in state parks are hugely popular.
But fun in green spaces isn’t enough for a state whose largest cities are withering. Some of the new parks money can support urban recreation and even more state parks like the named after former Gov. and First Lady William and Helen Milliken on the Detroit riverfront. Lansing’s Riverfront Trail could be extended west and east and become part of the state trails system.
Conservation groups are eagerly waiting to see if Snyder will walk his talk about supporting economic growth by protecting the state’s natural resources.
Though natural gas production and hydrofracking may end up placing a heavy burden on the state’s public lands, the funds that come from this may make it easier for the Snyder administration to ensure that some natural areas are available for people to enjoy.
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