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.
Voters in Detroit have approved a set of city charter revisions aimed at protecting against the cronyism and corruption that have long plagued that city.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Proposal C, the ballot proposal to revise the city’s 1997 charter, passed by a nearly 20 point margin.
The revisions approved Tuesday include creating a Board of Ethics and Office of Inspector General to investigate alleged ethical or criminal violations. Also, the council now will be able to remove elected and appointed officials on the recommendation of the Board of Ethics.
The revised charter also requires lobbyists and contractors to reveal financial connections with elected officials.
It also includes council elections by district, which already had been approved by voters last year. The revised charter, however, requires candidates to live in their district for a year.
The revisions were drafted by a charter commission that was elected in 2009.
Mlive Detroit blogger Jeff Wattrick writes that the charter approval is the culmination of ongoing reform efforts that include the election of Mayor Dave Bing and the 2009 transformation of City Council.
… now Detroit has a new governing document that allows for an elected police commission, an independent Inspector General to investigate ethics issues, district elections for Council, and affords Council some advise-and-consent powers for key mayoral appointees.
All of which is the result of smart decisions by voters. Continued attempts to paint Detroiters as stupid, buffoonish, or incapable of handling their own affairs can only be the result of ignorance and bigotry.
More often than not, Detroit voters are getting it right.
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