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.
Half of Detroit’s schools would be shut down and high school class size would rise to 62 students under a deficit reduction plan proposed by Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Robert Bobb this week.
The Detroit News reports that Bobb says these changes will be needed if the legislature does not act to restructure DPS finances. The school system has a $327 million deficit.
The proposal calls for closing 40 schools in fiscal 2012 and 30 schools in fiscal 2013. That would leave DPS with 72 schools for a projected 58,570 students, down from about 74,000 now. The district closed 30 schools this fiscal year, which is expected to save $23 million. The planned closings in fiscal 2012-14 would save more than $33 million.
Bobb said the district could save another $12.4 million from the school closures if it “simply abandons” the closed buildings. Past policy has been to keep the closed schools clean and secure, officials said, but the district could cut costs by eliminating storage, board-up and security.
Possible financial restructuring plans include splitting the district in two to create a new district that could receive new funding from the state, legislation that would allow tobacco settlement money to be used for schools, and broader use of charter schools.
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