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.
By a slim margin, Democratic leaders voted today to remove Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., from his long-held post atop the House Energy and Commerce Committee and replace him with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., according to reports. The vote in the the House Steering Committee was 25 to 22.
Tomorrow, the entire House Democratic caucus will vote to decide the ultimate winner.
A great deal hinges on the outcome. Dingell, the longest-serving member of Congress, has close ties to Detroit’s automakers. For decades he’s led efforts to thwart the plans of some other Democrats to limit tailpipe emissions and raise fuel-efficiency standards. Waxman, just elected to his 18th term, has long advocated for these changes. With an Obama administration set to take the White House in January, environmentalists are drooling at the thought that the liberal Californian could be the gatekeeper to many of Obama’s ambitious green-energy plans — which would have to pass through the Energy and Commerce Committee.
There are no forgone conclusions. Dingell is monolith with enormous sway over his colleagues. But Waxman, as today’s vote proves, is no slacker when it comes to whipping support. Indeed, he’s won contests against seniority before.
Mike Lillis follows Congress for Michigan Messenger’s sister site, The Washington Independent.
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