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.
Thousands of volunteers fanned out across the state over the weekend to collect signatures to put Michigan’s Emergency Manager law on the ballot for a vote.
Public Act 4 — The Emergency Manager law — gives appointed managers the power to fire local officials, cancel contracts, privatize municipal services, and even dissolve whole towns.
Sponsors of the law say that it’s necessary to protect against a tide of municipal bankruptcies, while opponents call it a threat to democracy and a corporate power grab.
Pontiac, Benton Harbor, Ecorse and the Detroit Public School system are now run by Emergency Managers.
A statewide coalition that includes Michigan Forward, The Rainbow-PUSH Coalition, Highland Park NAACP and Reject Emergency Managers has launched a petition drive for a referendum on the law.
If this group can gather 161,000 valid signatures, the law will be suspended until the next election when voters will have a chance to vote on it.
About 300 volunteers picked up petitions Saturday at the ASFCME offices in Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reports.
In Traverse City volunteers collected about 1200 signatures within a few hours Saturday afternoon.
“People saw the signs at our table and on our many petitioner’s clipboards and eagerly offered their support,“ said Amy Hardin of Reject Emergency Managers. “We blasted through our first box of petitions in no time at all. In fact, we met 1/3 of our regional 120 day projection by mid-day!”
“It is heartening to see that so many people understand that our democratic principles must not be compromised in the name of economy,” she said.
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