September 1st, 20220LANSING — A Michigan elections board rejected an abortion rights initiative on Wednesday after its two Republican board members voted against putting the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot.
The two Democrats on the Board of State Canvassers voted in favor, but getting the measure on the ballot required at...
August 25th, 20220DEARBORN — Governor Whitmer has appointed Dearborn Chief of Police Issa Shahin to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES), the Governor's Office said in a press release Thursday.
Shahin was was nominated for the position by the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP). His term commences Aug. 25 and...
August 5th, 20220Tudor Dixon has won the GOP primary race for governor.
On Tuesday, shortly before 10 p.m. with 16 percent of the votes counted, the Associated Press declared Dixon to be the winner. She’ll face Governor Whitmer in the November general election.
This marks the first time two women will face off in the governor’s race in...
July 21st, 20220LANSING — You now have to be 21 years of age to purchase tobacco products in Michigan.
The new rule is the result of a package of legislation signed by Governor Whitmer on Thursday that target public health-related issues.
Legislation targeting the legal age for tobacco purchase in the state includes bills in both the State...
July 20th, 20220DETROIT — As part of Governor Whitmer’s FY’22- ‘23 budget that was just signed, the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN) was awarded $45 million to build a comprehensive regional transformative behavioral health campus in Detroit. The new 120,000 square foot care center facility will help address disparities in health...
July 15th, 20220FLINT — The state’s new education budget promises the highest per-pupil spending in Michigan to date.
Governor Whitmer signed the educational budget agreed upon by the state’s legislature, at the Mott Community College Regional Tech Center in Flint on Thursday.
She said the budget also invests half a billion dollars in...
July 14th, 20220LANSING — The fight to maintain abortion rights intact in the state continues, with new actions from Governor Whitmer as well as voters.
This week, Whitmer signed an executive order refusing to extradite people who come to Michigan seeking reproductive health care. It also protects providers of legal abortion in Michigan, who will...
June 28th, 20220LANSING — After an unprecedented reversal of reproductive rights protections by the country's highest court, there is now some confusion about what that means for abortions among Michigan officials and health care providers.
This week, Michigan's governor and attorney general clarified that due to a pending lawsuit in the Michigan...
June 22nd, 20220WASHINGTON, D.C. — With resentment and desperation growing among Americans amid soaring fuel costs, the Biden administration is scrambling to ease the pain at the pump, and made a largely symbolic attempt to do so on Wednesday.
In a move that economists believe will make little difference if any on actual prices at the pump,...
June 9th, 20220ALLENDALE — The FBI arrested Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley on Thursday over misdemeanor charges stemming from his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by throngs of then-President Trump's supporters, the Justice Department said.
Kelley, 40, of Allendale, is one of five Republicans in the...
May 27th, 20220LANSING — As the U.S. Supreme Court gets set to reveal a decision that could overturn the federally established right to abortion access nationwide, states are taking actions to continue those protections on their own.
In Michigan, the Democratic officials have taken steps over recent months as the high court presides over a case...
May 26th, 20220LANSING — The state is giving away 100 tuition prizes to children in a random statewide drawing that family and friends can enter students into.
The prepaid tuition prize is worth $15,000 and is in celebration of the Michigan Education Trust’s (MET) 35-year anniversary.
Governor Whitmer announced the launch of the MET 35th...
May 22nd, 20220DEARBORN – Hundreds of community members, supporters, judges and elected officials were at the investiture ceremony for Wayne County Third Circuit Court Judge Yvonna Abraham on Monday, May 16.
The ceremony for Abraham, the first Palestinian American judge in Michigan, took place at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in...
May 14th, 20220- Amer Zahr is a law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy and president of New Generation for Palestine
On Wednesday morning, in the occupied Palestinian city of Jenin, Israeli occupation forces assassinated Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Since 1997, Shireen has been the face of Palestine for Al-Jazeera, the...
April 17th, 20220LANSING — Nearly a third of eligible drivers have already received their $400 auto refund checks from the state’s catastrophic fund surplus, and the rest should expect to receive their refunds by the May 9 deadline.
Where does the money come from?
The money comes from a surplus in the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association...
April 8th, 20220LANSING — Governor Whitmer became the first governor to file a lawsuit to protect abortion rights, in anticipation of a possible overturning of an overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Whitmer filed the suit using her executive authority to ask the Michigan Supreme Court to immediately resolve whether Michigan’s...
March 31st, 20221DETROIT — On Thursday, Governor Whitmer announced the appointment of Susan Dabaja to the Third Circuit Court of Wayne County for a partial term in order to fill out a vacancy.
Whitmer also announced the appointment of Christopher Blount to that court for a partial term.
A former City Council president in Dearborn, and a former...
March 18th, 20220DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The Islamic Institute of America (IIOFA) in Dearborn Heights held its fifth annual fundraising dinner at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center last Sunday to a packed audience of state and local officials and the community.
The large gathering of more than 800 attendees marked a return to full-scale events in the...
March 10th, 20220Governor Whitmer boasted strong economic numbers for the state, now in a steady swing upward and recovering from the COVID-9 crisis.
Economic numbers show that Michigan has added jobs for nine straight months and has a low unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, with the third-fastest decrease of any state. The unemployment rate for...
March 9th, 20220Americans are now experiencing soaring gas prices, surging more than 30 percent since Russia invaded Ukraine and the U.S. and other countries imposed a raft of sanctions.
The Biden administration has already begun looking at scenarios in which oil tops $200 a barrel, with gas stations already topping $4 a gallon in many...
March 4th, 20220WAYNE COUNTY — Pothole season continues in Metro Detroit and across the state, with drivers facing expensive repairs and even insurance claims from damaged wheels and suspensions.
Wayne County announced last week its highway division was increasing crews and work hours on roads it’s in charge of maintaining, expanding repair...
March 3rd, 20220LANSING — Governor Whitmer and the state's treasury are encouraging eligible families and individuals to claim both the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) when filing their 2021 income taxes.
Those who qualify and claim the credit could pay less federal tax, pay no tax or even get a tax refund.
The Michigan...
February 15th, 20220LANSING — The state’s housing authority has launched a new program to help homeowners experiencing pandemic-related financial hardships get current on housing expenses and avoid foreclosure.
The Michigan Homeowner Assistance Fund (MIHAF) is expected to help more than 8,300 homeowners stay in their homes by giving them direct...
February 14th, 20220WINDSOR — The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing was open Monday after protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 measures blocked it for nearly a week, but a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa, persisted as city residents seethed over authorities’ inability to reclaim the streets.
Demonstrations against virus restrictions and...
February 10th, 20220LANSING — Governor Whitmer is urging Canadian authorities to resolve a multi-day Ambassador Bridge closure so manufacturing and agriculture in the Midwest can continue humming along.
Protests over Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates spread from Ottawa to Windsor, which led to protesters blocking traffic from accessing the...
February 8th, 20220LANSING — More Michigan workers who got pandemic unemployment benefits could be qualified for waivers for receiving overpayments where they were not at fault.
Waivers stop the state from recovering the overpayment via collection. The state says waivers will not be applied to claims where it determines fraud is...
January 27th, 20220LANSING — Governor Whitmer announced the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is distributing 10 million free KN95 masks to Michiganders, as the state continues to face the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Free KN95 masks provided by the MDHHS will be distributed by community organizations, including...
January 18th, 20220LANSING — Governor Whitmer is urging residents to take advantage of the federal government’s free COVID-19 testing program.
At-home, rapid COVID-19 tests are available for free at COVIDTests.gov, with every household eligible for four free tests that will be shipped directly to Michiganders’ homes.
Deliveries of the tests...
