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 Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, turned down another plea deal earlier this week that would cut down her jail time to 60 days. Now, she’s got everything riding on acquittal on all of the various and sundry charges related to the text message scandal.
It was the second plea deal Beatty has turned down. The first, offered on Sept. 4, was for 150 days in jail, which is not much of a deal considering Kilpatrick got less than that. But the one she turned down Monday for 60 days doesn’t seem that bad considering she could face up to 15 years if the judge sees fit.
She seems to think the judge will see her as a victim of all this. In many ways, she HAS been a victim, and I have been the first to defend her when she was being treated unfairly.
But as someone who likes to play it safe, I say she should have taken the deal. If she gets a tougher sentence than the deal offered, I won’t feel too much sympathy. Two months in jail is no picnic. But it’s a good deal considering she’s facing seven felony counts, including perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in public office with penalties that could land her in prison for 15 years.
I wish her luck.
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