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.
In the wake of the EPA’s decision that no federal permit is necessary for a controversial new nickel sulfide mine to be located on state land near Lake Superior, state officials and mining experts are questioning the state’s ability to adequately regulate the project on its own.
Two days before the DEQ ceases to exist and a week after its director stepped down, DEQ moved to wrap up a long standing fight over permits for a planned nickel sulfide mine by concluding that only buildings may be considered “places of worship.”
Although some areas of the 2010 state budget remain under negotiation, both chambers of the Legislature have approved a 39 percent cut in general fund support for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, a move that will scale back environmental enforcement in the Great Lake State.
“If the state doesn’t have resources to establish programs to use federal funds or provide matching funds, Michigan is going to watch those funds go elsewhere,” said Noah Hall of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. “The federal government doesn’t want to give money if the state hasn’t shown it will value the program.”
The Department of Environmental Quality has warned Tittabawassee Township on the lack of signs warning of dioxin dangers at the park where this weekend’s fishing celebration will be held. Dow Chemical promised to pay for fish advisory signs but has refused to provide necessary funds. “I am not aware of anything further that we will be doing on this,” a company spokeswoman says.
Nestle wants to expand bottling by almost a third — despite concerns by environmentalists. A spokesman for the Department of Environmental Quality says that a new well planned by the Nestle corporation will add more than 200,000 gallons per day to the company’s bottling operation.
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