Appeals court: Michigan workers can seek damages for false fraud claims
By Ted Roelofs (Bridge) A lawsuit brought on behalf of thousands of Michigan workers falsely accused of unemployment fraud can proceed on constitutional grounds and seek damages, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel ruled last Thursday. The Michigan Supreme Court previously ruled in April that the suit could move forward, but it returned the case to […]
Why easy access to recreational marijuana is taking so long in Michigan
By Riley Beggin (Bridge) Michigan’s first recreational marijuana sales began Dec. 1. In most places, though, Michiganders over the age of 21 won’t be able to buy legal weed this week and perhaps anytime soon. As of last week Ann Arbor was the only city in Michigan with a licensed recreational marijuana shop. The number […]
Dana Nessel to review Michigan DNR handling of wolf kill records
By John Barnes (for Bridge) Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is reviewing whether state officials improperly blocked or delayed the release of public records relating to their efforts to have protected gray wolves killed three years ago, her office told Bridge Magazine. Nessel is responding to a recent Bridge investigation that detailed how the state Department of […]
Michigan House Speaker ordered to testify in Rep. Inman’s corruption trial
By Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING — Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, one of the most powerful lawmakers in the state, must testify under oath in next week’s corruption trial for embattled state Rep. Larry Inman, a federal judge decided Tuesday. Chatfield had sought to quash a subpoena from federal attorneys who are prosecuting Inman, a […]
Judge rejects GOP bid to delay Michigan redistricting commission
By Jonathan Oosting (Bridge) LANSING – Michigan can proceed with plans to create an independent redistricting commission after a federal judge on Monday rejected Republican attempts to immediately delay implementation of a state constitutional amendment voters approved last fall. The decision by U.S. District Court Janet Neff, appointed by GOP former President George W. Bush, […]
Michigan finds some success fighting opiate crisis on front line: emergency rooms
By Ted Roelofs (Bridge) DETROIT — A couple of months ago, Detroit resident Juanita Gross was desperate to turn her life around. She had a $200 a day opioid habit. She had already overdosed three times – and feared the next one might be her last. So she had her two adult children drive her […]
Michigan term limits face court challenge from former lawmakers
By Riley Beggin, Ron French (Bridge) LANSING – As unpopular among policymakers as they are popular in the public, Michigan’s term limits will now face a challenge in court. A bipartisan group of former legislators on Wednesday announced plans to file a federal lawsuit against the state, seeking to end term limits on Michigan legislators. […]
Michigan’s PFAS cleanup costs are mounting. Taxpayers may get stuck with the tab
By Riley Beggin (Bridge) BELMONT – Terry Hula loves Christmas. So much so, she and her husband, Tom, bought a home 28 years ago that was surrounded by a Christmas tree farm. Every summer, she celebrates Christmas in July, a gathering of her two daughters and grandchildren to watch Christmas movies, make Christmas cookies, exchange […]
Michigan youth suicide rate doubles: what parents can do
By Robin Erb, Mike Wilkinson (Bridge) In the small northern Michigan town of Kingsley, Jamie Pobuda heard the news last year that a 16-year-old local boy had killed himself. Then just months later, a 14-year-old boy took his own life, too. An inventory control supervisor raising her teenage granddaughter, Pobuda remembers the way the […]
Michigan government 101: Want more taxes? Hold elections when few vote
By Mike Wilkinson (Bridge) Next March, fully two years before its current property tax expires, the Detroit Institute of Arts wants to ask voters in southeast Michigan for more money. If the DIA wants the tax to pass, choosing the March 2020 primary was wise. “It’s a no-brainer,” said Michigan pollster Bernie Porn, who is […]
