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.
Democrats opened a new front in the recall battle that was launched late last year against the primarily Democratic legislators who voted in October to increase the state income tax and place a sales tax on some services — a move that helped balance the state budget and erased a $1.8 billion budget deficit — by launching a recall of their own.
Democrats filed recall petition language on Monday against House Minority Leader Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, which cites his vote against repealing the state’s pharmaceutical company immunity law that allows consumers to sue drug companies who cause death and injury through negligence. But Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said in a statement that DeRoche was targeted for his complicity in the recall efforts against other House members for their votes on the recent tax increases.
The recall is being spearheaded by the Michigan Taxpayer Alliance (MTA), led by Republican Macomb County Commissioner Leon Drolet, and an Oakland County group calling itself “Stop Hurting Michigan’s Kids,” led by conservative activist Tom McMillin. However, the Michigan Republican Party has been towing an electronic check around to the districts of Democratic members targeted for recall. The prop lists the payee as “Democrat big spenders” and the dollar amount as “more than Michigan can afford.”
Continued -Brewer has charged that the Republicans’ recall effort is being financed by out-of-state money and special interest groups to try to undermine the will of the voters, and that may have been born out last week when the group Taxpayers to Recall State Representative Robert Dean filed a lawsuit in Kent County Circuit Court claiming its First Amendment right to freedom of speech are being violated because of the requirement that petition gatherers live in the district.
Under Michigan election law, the petition gathers must be registered voters in the district the person being recalled represents. The recall effort has been seeking people to work for $9 an hour and $2 for each signature over 50.
Recall language has already been approved for House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township; Rep. Marc Corriveau, D-Northville; Rep. Ed Gaffney, R-Grosse Pointe Farms, Rep. Steve Bieda, D-Warren; Rep. Robert Dean, D-Grand Rapids; and Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Royal Oak. Those rejected because of unclear language intended for the recall petitions include Sen. Jerry Van Woerkom, R-Norton Shores; Rep. Mary Valentine, D-Muskegon; and Rep. Joel Sheltrown, D-West Branch.
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