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.
As the city of Lansing is preparing for a rally by controversial Quran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones, a spokesperson for Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) is crying foul over statements made by Mayor Virg Bernero.
In spite of ongoing criticism related to the March 16 response during protests at the state Capitol by Lansing police officers, the city has refused to release policies and internal emails about the incident and subsequent changes in police policy.
In a contentious meeting of the Public Safety Committee of the Lansing City Council, Lansing Chief of Police Teresa Szymanski defended her decision to withdraw officers from the Capitol on March 16 during union protests and admitted that there was no official policy on handling protesters.
LANSING — A Lansing police officer has filed suit against the city of Lansing alleging she was the victim of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation for her participation in a sexual harassment investigation and of being harassed for being a whistle blower. The suit was filed Wednesday in Ingham County Circuit Court.
Municipalities such as Lansing and Grand Rapids rely on state revenue sharing to fund their police and fire programs officials say. They use what is called state revenue sharing, which is a program by which the state allocated a certain percentage of tax monies to localities to help fund them, to shore up those budgets. [...]
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.
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.
LANSING — Local unions came out on Wednesday to endorse City Councilwoman Carol Wood in her race to unseat Mayor Virgil Bernero. Former Mayor Tony Benevides, is also voicing his support of Wood. “I am one hundred percent convinced she can win,” Benevides, Lansing’s first Hispanic mayor, said.
LANSING — While Lansing Mayor Virgil Bernero stood on the steps of the Capitol Monday fighting to save the American dream, many local unions and union officials were sending a message of their own. “We did opt not to participate in it. We support the message. Our issue is with the messenger with Virg Bernero,” said Ray Michaels of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
The Lansing City Council got its first look at Mayor Virgil Bernero’s proposals for the anticipated multibillion-dollar federal stimulus package — a day before that list was to be submitted to the governor’s office.
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