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 Public Schools emergency financial manager Robert Bobb’s contract expires at the end of June and Mayor Dave Bing is asking the Snyder administration not to appoint one of Bing’s own top aides to replace him because it would send the wrong message to the school board.
The Detroit Free Press reports:
Mayor Dave Bing made a last-minute plea to Gov. Rick Snyder on Saturday to change his choice for the next emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, saying the appointment could create unrest among Detroiters.
During an hour-long meeting with Snyder, Bing and other community leaders urged the governor to reconsider appointing Kirk Lewis, who abruptly resigned from a top position in the mayor’s office Friday, to avoid the appearance of a mayoral takeover of the struggling school system.
“This is not an intent to compromise his qualifications, but we realize that while Detroit Public Schools is an integral part of the city’s success, it is also a very sensitive subject,” mayoral spokeswoman Karen Dumas said. “We don’t want to give any appearance of impropriety. We have worked hard to gain the trust of the citizens and feel this will compromise that.”
Lewis had not been announced as the replacement pick, but sources inside the Snyder camp had indicated that he would be the choice. Relations between Bobb and the DPS school board have been a disaster, resulting in multiple lawsuits by both sides.
One of the changes Bobb recommended was that the Detroit mayor be put in charge of the school system instead of the school board. Bing believes, almost certainly correctly, that the board would view the appointment of one of his aides to the position as a de facto takeover of the schools by his office, something they have vehemently opposed.
And all of this is happening as the state legislature debates a new law that would give state-appointed emergency financial managers unprecedented new powers, including the power to void union contracts and dismiss elected officials.
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