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 new study of Detroit’s neighborhoods by the Detroit Data Collaborative finds that more than one third of all the nearly 350,000 parcels in the city are either vacant lots or abandoned buildings. But there was some good news in the survey, as the Detroit Free Press reports:
The state of Michigan is expecting nearly $300 million in federal funding for a series of local land banks throughout the state that could help communities redevelop tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of foreclosed and abandoned properties. The Detroit News reports:
The state of Michigan is applying for $290 million in federal funds to help set up or fully fund municipal land banks that help local governments take control of foreclosed and abandoned properties. The Detroit News reports:
Over at WalletPop, they’ve looked closer into a big recent auction of foreclosed properties in Detroit, and it’s an even bleaker situation than first reported. The Wayne County auction of some 9,000 repossessed properties last week resulted in more than 80 percent of them failing to draw a single bid. And that’s even with the [...]
The New York Times gives high-profile treatment today to efforts in Flint to deal with a deluge of abandoned and vacant properties by literally shrinking the city — demolishing the houses, urging people to leave, cordoning off the decay and leaving it to nature. The Times focuses on Genesee County Treasurer and Land Bank Chairman [...]
Abandoned and vacant homes rapidly piling up in communities like Detroit are symbols of the secondary damage caused by the foreclosure crisis — a catastrophe felt on the ground but still unseen by Washington.
Q&A With Founder of Flint Land Bank That Saved Homes From Speculator Neglect As the mortgage crisis worsens and foreclosures grow, many cities now are facing the mounting challenge of cleaning up abandoned properties. They are looking for ways to fight back. Civic leaders are trying to gain control from lenders and speculators who abandoned [...]
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