Posts by Eartha Jane Melzer

A seven member financial review team appointed by the governor to investigate Benton Harbor’s financial situation has found that a local government financial emergency exists in Benton Harbor and is recommending that the governor appoint an emergency financial manager.
The panel said that state intervention is necessary in Benton Harbor, “because no satisfactory plan exists to [...]

As the state government and energy companies push for using state forest land for wood burning power plants, some experts question the sustainability of such a practice and urge a broad public conversation about the possible alternatives.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision against an injunction to close the locks that connect the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes as a way to protect the Great Lakes from invasive Asian carp.
Cox claims that he has new information that shows closing the locks would [...]

Campaign spending in the statewide races this year is two and a half times the level of spending at this time in 2002 — the last time all three offices had open seats — but candidates have not raised as much as in 2006 when incumbents had a strong fundraising advantage. This information comes from [...]

The Michigan Farm Bureau said today that it agrees with Governor Granholm that the old Michigan economy is gone and budget cuts are necessary but it chastised the governor for ignoring the state’s agriculture industry in her State of the State address last night.
The farm advocacy group said that the governor failed to acknowledge that [...]

BP Alternative Energy has notified the Huron – Manistee National Forest that it is planning to withdraw its application to build up to 28 turbines, each one 420 feet tall, on federal land north of Ludington.
Forest spokesman Ken Arbogast said today that the permitting process for the proposed wind park has been suspended pending further [...]

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, a Democrat, announced today that she is joining the race for Secretary of State.
“Michigan doesn’t need a politician without election administrative experience, we need someone who does the job, know the job and has made significant accomplishments while performing the job,” Winfrey said on her campaign website. “Our citizens deserve [...]

Great Lakes cleanup efforts are slated to receive $300 million in the proposed budget unveiled yesterday by President Obama. This represents a steep decline from this year’s $475 million appropriation, but environmental groups still see this funding as a step forward.
“This is not the amount of funding we had hoped for, but coupled with this [...]

The Board of CMS Energy has agreed to include a resolution about coal ash in its proxy statement and present it to the shareholders for a vote at its annual shareholders meeting in May, company spokesman Jeff Holyfield said today.
The resolution, introduced by the California based environmental advocacy group As You Sow asks the Board [...]

A California-based environmental advocacy organization that owns stock in CMS/Consumers Energy is asking the company to explain how it is protecting itself and the public from the risks posed by 700,000 tons of coal ash that it produces each year.