Bombshell news coming via Progress Michigan this morning detailing how Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette is using fees for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to interfere with government transparency. Earlier this year, Progress Michigan asked the state government for copies of all communications between Paul Pastorek, one of Snyder’s education advisers, and employees of the Michigan Department of Education, […]

In mid-September, just prior to the U.S. visit of Pope Francis, a group of 11 U.S. members of Congress introduced a House Resolution that has become known as “The Gibson Resolution“, named after Rep. Chris Gibson of New York who was the driving force behind it. The resolution, H.R. 424, calls upon Congress to begin taking action on global climate […]

A woman in Michigan this week decided that shoplifting was a crime punishable by death. She was in the parking lot of a busy Home Depot in Auburn Hills when she saw a security guard chasing someone out of the store. The fleeing person got into a vehicle and drove away. That’s when the woman took matters into her own […]

The following post was co-authored by David Holtz, the Chair of the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club, and Anne Woiwode, the chapter’s Conservation Director. As leaders of one of the primary watchdog groups in Michigan when it comes to water quality, I asked them to weigh in on the ongoing crisis with Flint’s water supply. In their essay, Holtz […]

Yesterday, the United Auto Workers notified Fiat-Chrysler US (FCA) that if a new tentative bargaining agreement is not reached by 11:59PM tonight (Wednesday, October 7th) they’ll call a strike. Workers at all of the Detroit Three automakers have been working under temporary contract extensions since their previous agreement expired September 14. The UAW targeted Fiat-Chrysler for early negotiations and reached […]

This past weekend, State Representative Jon Hoadley of Kalamazoo received the Michigan Nurses Association ‘Friend of Nursing’ Award in recognition of his advocacy on safe patient care and other issues that support nurses and their profession. The MNA is the largest union and professional association representing direct-care registered nurses in Michigan and they recognized Hoadley for his strong commitment to […]

MIRS News Service is reporting this week that the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued a joint statement clearing Planned Parenthood affiliates in Michigan of any illegal activities related to donations of fetal tissue. The two agencies have been investigating Planned Parenthood after Republican Senator Phil Pavlov called for the investigation in the wake […]

Much as most of us wish that the Courser/Gamrat saga would just end, there is no sign of that happening. Late last week, former Courser & Gamrat staffers Ben Graham and Keith Allard filed a lawsuit against the two claiming they were fired in violation of the Michigan Whisleblowers’ Protection Act: Ex-staffers have sued former state Reps. Todd Courser and […]

We live in an time when it often feels as if there are no consequences. After losing two wars, a financial crisis and a concerted effort to prevent a recovery, Republicans now hold more elected state and federal offices than any time since the Great Depression. Instead of preventing gun deaths, the gun industry profits off them by raising the […]

With just a month remaining before the primary election to choose the Republican and Democratic candidates in the 82nd Michigan House district, Todd Courser is in a three-way tie to replace himself with himself according to new polling results released this morning by Grassroots Midwest, Inside Michigan Politics, and Target Insyght. The poll of 300 likely Republican primary voters in […]

Catholic hospital systems don’t adhere to accepted medical standards, and the ACLU is demanding an end to this religious exemption with a federal lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Michigan announced a federal lawsuit filed today on behalf of their members against Trinity Health Corporation, one of the largest Catholic health systems in the country, […]