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.
Since assuming the chairmanship of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee following the retaking of the lower chamber by the GOP last November, the number of Rep. Fred Upton’s top donors that are energy companies have more than doubled from the 2009-2010 donating cycle to the 2010-2011 period.
If Michigan lawmakers are in the mood to offer reforms that could appease parts of the Occupy Wall St. movement — though there’s no indication that they are — beefing up the the state’s rules for campaign finance disclosure might make a good start.
Campaign finance reports filed last week in Ingham county show that at least two Lansing City Council candidates accepted donations from businesses that may be in violation of Michigan campaign finance law.
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson took home a load of campaign cash last week from a fundraiser held by Linda Orlans, owner of Orlans Associates Law Firm, which has been implicated in robo-signing fraud in Michigan and Massachusetts.
With the deadline for filing campaign finance reports this week, Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced that she raised $1 million for next year’s election, matching her chief Republican competitor, Rep. Pete Hoekstra.
It’s been almost two years since the privately-run prison in Appleton, Minnesota has held prisoners. But in early 2012, the prison’s owner, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), expects to fill Appleton’s Prairie Correctional Facility and another facility in Colorado with 3,256 inmates from California.
The 12 lawmakers charged with drafting legislation to cut at least $1.2 trillion out of the deficit over the next 10 years, which includes Michigan Reps. Dave Camp and Fred Upton, have received at least $20 million in political contributions from 1989 through 2011.
Last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission granted corporations (and unions) the right to directly and expressly back political candidates, and triggered an enormous new wave of political spending. Now watchdog groups are trying to find ways to make sure voters can see who is funding which candidates.
Gov. Rick Snyder has set up funds that can receive unlimited contributions from anonymous donors, prompting concerns by non-partisan campaign reform advocates that the anonymity could conceal quid pro quo arrangements between contributors and the governor.
Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope tells Michigan Messenger he has been investigating the allegations that a Lansing medical marijuana clinic, Your Healthy Choice Clinic, is offering inducements for votes — something that would violate state law.
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