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.
If one Michigan senator gets her way, school districts with over 1,000 students and an administrative overhead above 28 percent of the district’s budget will see a five percent cut in state school aid funds. State Sen. Patty Birkholz, a Saugatuck Republican, is pushing the measure to “challenge” local districts to “make better spending decisions,” [...]
Movie Maker Magazine has just released its top ten places to live and produce independent films. Detroit made number eight on that list. The full list:
LANSING — It’s not Shakespeare, but it’s drama nonetheless at the Capitol today. House Democrats held a press conference at 12:30 p.m. to vent their frustrations with Senate Republicans who walked away from a joint House-Senate conference committee last night. The committee has been working to hammer out compromise legislation meant to fulfill the requirements [...]
EAST LANSING — Facing the continued pressure of dwindling state money and philanthropic donations, Michigan State University has proposed a series of cuts to its budget which will eliminate numerous programs, and scale back others. And that move has some students up in arms.
The Detroit Free Press reports on a new study from the Pew Center for the States that pinpoints the cause of Michigan’s persistent revenue shortfalls and resulting deficits: An out of date revenue structure that offers too many tax breaks and avoids taxing the most common types of spending.
LANSING — As the state is bracing for the worst for the coming budget 2010-2011 year, many are also working to find answers.
In an interview with Michigan Messenger on Monday night, Rep. Joan Bauer, a Democrat from Lansing who serves on the Appropriations Committee, said the state has to look at long term tax reforms.
LANSING — Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the final six budgets for the fiscal year which began Oct. 1 Friday morning, averting another state shut down. But her John Hancock on the bills doesn’t mean she’s happy about it. In a long press release from the governor’s press office, Granholm outlined what each budget she authorized [...]
LANSING — A disappointed, yet defiant, Gov. Jennifer Granholm faced reporters Thursday afternoon, hours after the state shut down for business for two and half hours after the state legislature failed to meet a constitutional requirement to pass a balanced budget by Oct. 1. State lawmakers managed to pass a temporary spending measure giving life to the state’s operations until Oct. 31, which the governor signed around 2:30 a.m.
In prepared remarks, the governor slammed the budget measures passed late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
David Littman, senior economist with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, says that the Michigan’s economic and revenue woes are only going to get worse this year. In a video interview released by the Midland-based think tank, Littman says that unemployment in Michigan, already the highest in the nation, will rise significantly over the next [...]
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