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 demand for food aid in Metro Detroit is outstripping supply. Soup kitchens are rationing portions and food banks are learning to stock peanut butter, crackers and juice as emergency nutrition for people who show up too weak to wait in line for groceries.
Yesterday we noted a Michigan State University study that found that Detroit could meet a substantial portion of its fruit and vegetable needs by increasing farming in the city.
The Detroit Free Press reports that would-be urban farmers say their projects are being hindered by a city government that is slow to issue necessary approvals.
The RecoveryPark project is waiting on approval to farm on 20 acres of empty land owned by the Detroit Public Schools.
“There’s always another layer of the onion we have to peel, and quite honestly I don’t understand it,” said Gary Wozniak, director of the proposed RecoveryPark project, which would initially farm about 20 acres on Detroit’s east side. “Every time they overcome another hurdle, there’s another hurdle.”
Dan Lijana, a spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing, said urban agriculture is just one of many ideas the city is weighing as part of Bing’s Detroit Works plan to reinvent the city.
“Mayor Bing continues to be receptive to all ideas for economic development, including commercial urban farming,” Lijana said. “While no announcement is imminent, conversations and progress continue.”
A plan by Detroit businessman John Hantz to farm 2,000 acres of vacant city-owned land is also stalled pending city approval.
In another project, New York City activist Majora Carter had sought a Kresge Foundation grant to establish a farmers cooperative in Detroit that would produce jobs and revenue for the city. But Kresge turned down her application pending some decision from the Bing administration on commercial farming.
The Free Press reports that zoning questions and noise and pollution worries are among the issues that are holding up city approval.
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