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The Michigan Messenger going forward

By Staff Report | 11.16.11

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 [...]

Colorado-based abstinence program provided false and misleading information to Michigan students

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.16.11

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.

Class action lawsuit filed against MERS over unpaid taxes

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By Todd A. Heywood | 11.15.11

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.

Schuette fights important mercury regulations

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By Eartha Jane Melzer | 11.14.11

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.

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City of Lansing struggles with sex offender policy

By Todd A. Heywood | 05.12.10 | 12:01 pm

LANSING — The city of Lansing is working on an amended policy about sex offenders renting city facilities, but there seems to be some confusion over whether that policy is official and will now be implemented or whether it is still in the process of being approved — and whether the policy is what the city council wanted in the first place.

Lansing City Council committee demands FOIA policy from city attorney

By Todd A. Heywood | 11.05.09 | 10:18 am

LANSING — The city council’s Public Safety Committee demanded that City Attorney Brigham Smith provide a draft policy to that body in a special 6 p.m. meeting Monday night, or it will introduce an ordinance to address problems with the city’s responses to Freedom of Information Act requests.

Release of Lansing sex sting police reports raises concerns about disclosure of HIV status

By Todd A. Heywood | 07.06.09 | 4:31 pm

LANSING — Buried at the end of one of the arrest reports from a controversial May 22 sex-sting operation in the capital city’s Fenner Nature Center is information that one of the men arrested was HIV positive. That disclosure, experts say, may have violated the state’s confidentiality laws protecting the identity of those who are infected with the virus.

Lansing’s protocol gray area raises concerns of ‘councilmanic interference’

By Todd A. Heywood | 07.02.09 | 4:33 pm

LANSING — In the study of ethical strictures that govern actions by public officials, there is a principle called “councilmanic interference,” a term that describes the extra weight that’s given to statements, inquiries and comments from elected and appointed officials by city employees. And in the capital city, officials are sorting out whether a request for a May 22 undercover sex-sting by the Lansing Police Department by an appointed member of the city’s Board of Police Commissioners stepped over the line and into the territory of councilmanic interference.

New information shows Lansing police board member’s special requests prompted controversial sex sting

By Todd A. Heywood | 06.30.09 | 11:36 pm

LANSING — Documents released by city officials Tuesday evening show that Lt. Larry Klaus, who oversees the police department’s special operations unit, coordinated a controversial May 22 sex sting in Fenner Nature Center for responding a Board of Police Commissioners member’s requests that have been criticized as inappropriate and out of step with proper police protocol.

Officials review if request for Lansing sex sting was appropriate

By Todd A. Heywood | 06.30.09 | 1:47 pm

LANSING — A variety of city officials, from council members to the mayor’s office to the city attorney, are trying to figure out what to do about the case of Jan Kolp, a Board of Police Commissioners member who said on Friday that she placed a call to the police’s special operations unit which triggered a controversial May sex-sting operation in a city nature center. But some are saying that it may be inappropriate for board officials to make such call, which could be leaning in the direction of special treatment.