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.
Detroit’s former mayor, already serving prison time, his father, and two of his top aides were indicted on federal racketeering charges Wednesday in one of the largest public corruption cases in city history.
Kwame Kilpatrick, his father Bernard Kilpatrick, former top aide Derrick Miller, former water department chief Victor Mercado and city contractor Bobby Ferguson are accused of turning the mayor’s office into a criminal enterprise designed to enrich themselves and their families and friends.
The Detroit Free Press reports that the indictment outlines four general areas of misconduct:
It said the defendants extorted money from municipal contractors, state and non-profit donors and engaged in bribery and extortion involving other public contracts and investments.
The indictment said that Ferguson kicked back at least $424,000 in cash and other items of value to the mayor and that Kilpatrick used more than $590,000 in cash derived from the conspiracy to pay his credit card bills, purchase cashier’s checks and clothing and repay loans.
Bernard Kilpatrick, the indictment said, deposited more than $600,000 in cash into his personal bank accounts. He was charged with three counts of filing false tax returns for calendar years 2004, 21005 and 2007.
Kwame Kilpatrick was elected mayor in November 2001 and resigned in Sept. 2008. He is currently in a state prison for violating terms of his probation in an earlier criminal case.
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