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.
Gov. Rick Snyder surprised political insiders during his State of the State address when he announced he was supporting the Detroit International River Crossing.
Now, he’s surprising Lansing insiders by harnessing the power of former governors of Michigan. His office put out a release with quotes supporting the DRIC project from Govs. William Milliken, John Engler, James Blanchard and Jennifer Granholm. For those keeping score, that’s two Republicans and two Democrats.
The Republican majority in the Senate refused to take up the bridge project in the 2010 lame duck session, and it appeared that an offer from the Canadians to foot $550 million in costs would be left on the table. But last week, Snyder told the state that he had reached an agreement with the federal government which will allow Michigan to count the Canadian cash as part of the money the state puts forward to get infrastructure cash — in short, the money would garner federal money to fix Michigan’s crumbling roads.
So here is what each of the governors had to say about the project:
“This new bridge means not only immediate jobs and long-term economic growth for southeast Michigan, but for the entire state,” Gov. William G. Milliken said. “Michigan’s long-time partnership with Canada is one of our state’s most important economic assets, and this crossing builds and strengthens it.”
“This project secures our economic future and, in the short-term, will employ thousands of people who need work and can stimulate our economy,” Gov. James J. Blanchard said. “It’s manufacturing, it’s agriculture, it’s food processing, it’s high-tech, it’s tourism, it’s rebuilding the neighborhoods and the community of southwest Detroit, it’s Michigan’s future, and it’s now!
“We need a new international trade crossing,” Gov. John Engler said. “It will open trade and open markets, which is exactly what Michigan needs right now. We have to access these global markets.”
“Michigan job providers say they need the crossing, Michigan workers want the jobs it will create, and building the bridge will solidify good relations with our neighbors in Canada,” said Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. “Universal support for the bridge should make final approval of this project a no-brainer for state lawmakers.”
The project is expected to create 10,000 jobs and once completed the new bridge would support an additional 25,000 jobs. Snyder’s press release says that trade with Canada was worth $44 billion dollars in 2009. Snyder’s release claims further that more than 237,000 Michigan jobs are directly connected to trade with Canada. One out of every eight jobs in Detroit is in the export industry and in Grand Rapids it is one out of every seven.
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