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.
Citing concerns about the potential for water contamination and associated economic problems for Michigan communities, the Detroit City Council on Friday unanimously passed a resolution calling for a ban on hydraulic fracturing.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of natural gas production that uses water, chemicals and sand to force gas out of shale formations.
Most of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula sits atop the Collingwood-Utica shale formation which is being explored by gas companies.
A coalition of Michigan environmental groups has warned that state regulations do not provide adequate protection against water contamination and depletion.
“… [P]rotection of Detroit’s water supplies and resources is better accomplished by prevention of contamination and environmental degradation, rather than (by) attempting to cleaning up contamination and restoring degraded environments after the fact,” the council said in its resolution.
The resolution also asked Michigan’s Congressional delegation to support the FRAC Act — a bill to require fracking companies to disclose the chemicals that they use.
“Detroit sent a strong message indicating that a ban on fracking is necessary to protect public health and preserve Michigan’s natural resources,” said Lynna Kaucheck of Food & Water Watch. “Michigan sits in the middle of 20 percent of the world’s available fresh water, that means we have a distinct responsibility to protect this vital natural resource. The time to ban fracking in Michigan is now.”
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