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.
House Democrats announced yesterday that they will seek a constitutional amendment to ban offshore drilling in the great lakes. Michigan and the other Great Lakes states have already enacted a pact that bans drilling for natural gas and oil in the Lakes, but some say that a constructional amendment banning the practice would provide stronger [...]
The Michigan League of Conservation Voters has released its “signature accountability tool” — a directory of the positions taken by lawmakers on key environmental issues. Throughout the 2009-2010 legislative session the group tracked lawmaker performance on issues involving clean energy, environmental health, and funding for environmental protection.
Fears that proposed water protection legislation will limit the rights of homeowners and farmers led an Oakland County board to recommend a resolution opposing HB 5319, a bill that would declare water a public trust resource that must be managed for the benefit of all.
Last year State Rep. Dan Scripps (D-Leland) introduced legislation that states that Michigan groundwater should be held in public trust and managed for the good of all. The legislation was spurred by concerns that current law allows for the mining and export of groundwater. Though the recently enacted Great Lakes Compact bans most out of [...]
The Michigan Senate has approved a bill that dedicates $9.5 million from the general fund to the Pure Michigan advertising campaign intended to boost state tourism. The Traverse City Record Eagle reports that the measure now moves to the House where Democrats prefer a plan that would pay for the ad campaign by enacting a [...]
Attorney General Mike Cox, a Republican candidate for governor, and U.S. Rep. Dave Camp (R-Midland) have scheduled an Asian carp townhall meeting for Wednesday (11 am) at the Maritime Academy in Traverse City, the Midland Daily News reports. The men are expected to discuss the latest developments in their efforts to stop the spread of [...]
Financial trouble pushed state and national leaders to suggest abandoning longstanding environmental programs this year and some even blamed air and water quality regulations for Michigan’s economic problems.
In a flurry of legislative activity late last week the Senate passed a bill with provisions that would ban the Dept. of Environmental Quality from considering whether proposed power plants are necessary and prudent. This measure, if passed through the House might have squashed a February executive order from Gov. Granholm that directed DEQ to [...]
Businesses that make a profit selling Michigan water should pay a ten cent per bottle tax, and this revenue should be used to fund the recently cut Promise Scholarship for Michigan college students, Lt. Gov. John Cherry said at a University of Michigan forum yesterday. The Detroit Free Press reports:
State Rep. Dan Scripps (D-Leland) has introduced a bill that would raise money for recycling programs by establishing a $7.50 per ton fee for solid waste disposal. Michigan’s current 21 cents per ton fee on solid waste dumped in land fills or burned in incinerators, is among the lowest such fees in the region, making [...]
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