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.
A rare post lame duck session of the state legislature has prompted Kevin Epling, co-director of Bully Police USA and a leading advocate for anti-bullying legislation in the state, to call on the state Senate to use the opportunity to pass the law.
The considerable and historic gains by Michigan Republicans in Tuesday’s election is giving new voice to outgoing GOP members who say legislation to address bullying that has languished in the legislature for years is not going to be taken up in the lame duck session.
A group of Royal Oak High School teens will be featured in an MTV program which airs at 1:30 Thursday. The program, called “If You Really Knew Me,” drew together students from various social groups in the school allowing them to interact and discover their commonalities.
After a series of hastily-passed major education reforms were pushed through the state legislature and signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and two rounds of applications signed off on by the state’s school districts, state officials and the teachers unions, Michigan still lost out on the possibility of receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in federal [...]
Gov. Jennifer Granholm is using her weekly radio address, released Friday, to ratchet up the pressure on the state senate to act on anti-bullying legislation. Legislation passed the Michigan House Thursday on a 76-29 vote. But it is now on its way to the Republican controlled state senate, which activists say has been the legislative [...]
The Michigan House of Representatives on Wednesday passed HB 4580, aka Matt’s Safe School Law, a bill requiring public schools in the state to adopt a policy to prohibit harassment and bullying by students. The bill passed 76-29. This is at least the second time the bill has passed the House, but it has in [...]
U.S. Congressman Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) is sponsoring federal legislation to combat bullying in public schools. In a guest editorial in Between the Lines newspaper, a statewide newspaper reporting on events and news from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Peters explained his support for the Student Non-Discrimination Act:
Students from at least three rural, mid-Michigan high schools participated in an event they dubbed “straight pride day” last Friday. And while the events were without disruptive incident, they were not without controversy or concern.
The Michigan State House Education Committee took testimony regarding anti-bullying legislation Thursday morning. A vote on the measure is expected next week. The bill being reviewed is HB 4580, introduced by Rep. Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Township). The legislation does not include an enumeration, or list, of protected classes as has been a sticking point in [...]
A spokesperson for Gov. Jennifer Granholm Tuesday said Sen. Wayne Kuipers (R-Holland) was “wrong” when he characterized the freeze on the state’s anti-bullying legislation. In an interview with Michigan Messenger, Kuipers, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said the legislation was stalled because lawmakers were having trouble defining bullying.
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