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.
The owner of a Warren bar is challenging the state’s smoking ban in court.
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission has issued 1,338 licenses to allow for Sunday morning and Christmas Day alcohol sales, reports the Bay City Times.
In another report about consequences of the state’s new smoking ban, officials in Port Huron have weighed in with two new issues. Litter, and people taking drinks outside illegally. The Port Huron Times reports the St. Clair County Health Department has received “a few” complaints about cigarette butts littering the sidewalks by various businesses.
May 1 marked the beginning of Michigan’s smoking ban, and three weeks later people are talking about the impact of the ban. First came the Michigan Department of Community Health announcement Monday morning that calls to the state’s Quit Hotline have increased 20 percent. From that release:
Less than a day after announcing that he would file a lawsuit to prevent enforcement of a statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson changed his mind and withdrew his challenge to the law. Saying he got 70 phone calls and 30 emails complaining about the suit, he said [...]
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson says he will go to court to seek an injunction to prevent the state’s smoking ban from going into effect, calling it a “quintessential unfunded mandate” that the counties cannot afford to enforce, the Detroit Free Press reports. Patterson notes that his county alone has 4,600 restaurants and bars [...]
With a stroke of her gubernatorial pen Friday afternoon, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law a statewide smoking ban that covers most public places and is set to take effect May 1. The new ban means that Michigan joins more than three-dozen other states with similar smoking bans. The one major exemption to the bill [...]
The Michigan House of Representatives approved the Senate’s version of the smoking ban, sending the legislation to the desk of Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her signature. And since the governor called the ban a “terrific gift to Michigan,” her signature is inevitable. The ban will go into effect on May 1, 2010. A total smoking [...]
LANSING — The Michigan Senate passed a bill to ban smoking in public places today, but the legislation includes exemptions for Detroit’s three casinos, private residences used as offices, and vehicles. The ban, which is based on HB 4377 passed by the Democratic dominated House earlier this year, passed the Republican majority Senate 24-13. The [...]
This week could be the make or break week for a statewide smoking ban in public places, according to a story in today’s Detroit Free Press. Lansing bureau chief Chris Christoff lays out the familiar battle lines separating lawmakers who see a need to exempt Detroit’s big three commercial casinos (as well as cigar bars) [...]
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