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.
Documents confirm that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick signed a confidential agreement to prevent the public from having access to text messages between himself and his then chief of staff, Christine Beatty. The Detroit Free Press today reported details of a secret agreement dated Nov. 1:
“The text messages were to be placed in a safety deposit box with two sets of keys — one held by Michael Stefani, the lawyer for the former police officers, and one held by the mayor’s attorney, William Mitchell III. Once the $8.4 million settlement was paid, the mayor’s representative would get the text messages, the agreement said. Also as part of the deal, Stefani agreed turn over information on Kilpatrick’s role in financing the purchase of Beatty’s home.”
These revealing text messages have left Kilpatrick vulnerable to allegations that he perjured himself in a whistle-blower lawsuit by lying about firing former Deputy Chief Gary Brown and Harold Nelthrope, as well as his illicit affair with Beatty. The city lost the lawsuit, which ended up costing taxpayers $9 million.
On Tuesday the Free Press reported that Wayne County Judge Colombo ordered the release of secret documents that are believed to confirm the mayor’s effort to prevent the release of text messages as part of a settlement of the lawsuit.
At 4:50 p.m. yesterday, the city of Detroit filed an appeal of Colombo’s decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals, but has agreed to make parts of the appeal public. For months city officials claimed there was no secret deal to keep the text messages private, but as the Free Press reports:
“The key record that came to light Thursday, when attorneys for the city said they would no longer oppose its concealment, is a Nov. 1 document marked ‘Confidential Agreement.’ It is signed by Kilpatrick and Beatty — as private citizens, not as mayor and chief of staff — along with the ex-cops’ lawyer, Mike Stefani. It outlines how the damaging text messages were to be kept secret. In return for the settlement money, the agreement specifically requires Stefani ‘to surrender’ to Kilpatrick’s representatives ‘all original records and all copies of such records made by them of records obtained by SkyTel,’ the city’s communications provider, according to notes taken by an attorney for the Free Press.”
Though not all of the documents have been released, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Court of Appeals, Martia Scott, told the Michigan Messenger that she will make as many pages available to the public as possible. Stay tuned to Michigan Messenger for more updates.
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