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.
Attorney General Bill Schuette will appeal an Ottawa County court ruling that state regulators wrongly denied an air permit for a coal plant planned by the Holland Board of Public Works, the Grand Rapids Press reports.
In 2009 Governor Granholm issued an executive order that required prospective coal plant developers to demonstrate that they had considered whether coal is the most feasible and prudent way to the state’s power needs.
In August Holland BPW was denied a permit for a 78 megawatt unit at its James DeYoung plant after analysis by the Michigan Public Service Commission convinced state regulators that Holland’s customer power demand did not justify the construction of a new plant.
Holland BPW sued the state, claiming that state law does not allow regulators to consider need as part of the permitting process.
In a Dec. 15 decision Ottawa County Circuit Judge Jon Van Allsburg said that Granholm’s executive order that required regulators to consider a needs analysis was unconstitutional and he ordered the state to reconsider the Holland’s air permit application.
Van Allburg’s ruling echoed arguments made by Attorney General Mike Cox who issued a formal opinion stating that Granholm’s order was an illegal attempt to change state law and filed a brief with the court in support of Holland’s claim against the state.
Cox also formally intervened on behalf of the Wolverine Power Cooperative which has asked the Missaukee Circuit court to overturn the state’s needs-based denial of a permit for a coal plant planned for Rogers City.
Last month a dozen state environmental and energy groups urged Snyder to maintain the Granholm administration’s policy on permits for coal plants. They argued that coal plant construction would harm the state by raising utility bills and discouraging investment in renewable energy.
The Michigan League of Conservation Voters said the latest development in the Holland case is a “strong, positive signal on coal” by the Snyder administration.
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