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 House Oversight, Reforms and Ethics Committee on Tuesday approved, on a party line vote, two pieces of legislation that would prohibit public employers from offering partner benefits to unmarried employees as well as prohibit unions from negotiating such benefits in contract negotiations.
A decision by the Michigan Civil Service Commission to extend partner benefits to non-family member adults who live with state employees could be overturned Tuesday by the state House.
A rare post lame duck session of the state legislature has prompted Kevin Epling, co-director of Bully Police USA and a leading advocate for anti-bullying legislation in the state, to call on the state Senate to use the opportunity to pass the law.
Just weeks before a crucial election, state Rep. Robert B. Jones (D-Kalamazoo) has died. He was 66. Jones had been battling esophageal cancer. Jones was a four term mayor of Kalamazoo before being elected to the state House in 2006. He was the Democratic nominee for the 20th Senate district, and was waging a spirited [...]
Gov. Jennifer Granholm is using her weekly radio address, released Friday, to ratchet up the pressure on the state senate to act on anti-bullying legislation. Legislation passed the Michigan House Thursday on a 76-29 vote. But it is now on its way to the Republican controlled state senate, which activists say has been the legislative [...]
The Michigan State House Education Committee took testimony regarding anti-bullying legislation Thursday morning. A vote on the measure is expected next week. The bill being reviewed is HB 4580, introduced by Rep. Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Township). The legislation does not include an enumeration, or list, of protected classes as has been a sticking point in [...]
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s successful Pure Michigan advertising campaign may have to shut down. Officials say the ongoing struggle over how and if to fund the advertisements have left the fund with just $5.4 million, the lowest funding level since 1995, reports the Business Review of West Michigan.
On Thursday, a state House panel voted to move a bill that will make texting while driving a traffic offense. The Associated Press reports the new law would make texting a secondary offense, meaning that police would have to pull a driver over for another offense in order to issue a $100 ticket for texting.
Fed up with the bottleneck on a smoking ban in all places that serve food in Michigan, Rudyard Democratic Rep. Gary McDowell has introduced legislation which would allow local government ban smoking. The new legislation, the Associated Press reports, will amend current law to allow local jurisdictions to pass their own ban. Right now only [...]
State Rep. Robert Jones, a Kalamazoo Democrat, says he will forgo a third term in the state house and instead set his sights on the state senate seat being vacated by Tom George, a Republican from Kalamazoo. Jones, the former mayor of Kalamazoo, said he will seek the senate seat as a way to demonstrate [...]
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