News

Michigan's Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Arbor Hills Landfill in Northville.

The lawsuit says the landfill has repeatedly violated state environmental laws since at least 2014. 

That includes failing to control methane and other noxious-smelling emissions, as well as failing to keep pollutants from leaching into the groundwater.

Monya Ibrahim lives near the landfill, and her son attends school next to it.

The Ottawa County health department has temporarily shut down a Christian school in West Michigan, and the related legal battle is one of the first to challenge the state health department's recent orders.

Ottawa County issued a final "cease and desist" letter to Libertas Christian School in Hudsonville this week, alleging the school didn't report two teachers' COVID-19 infections and has refused to provide students' information to contact tracers. A judge denied Libertas Christian's request for a temporary restraining order against the county.

A Jackson County judge lowered the bond amount today for one of the 14 men charged in the alleged plot to kidnap the governor.

The bond amount for Pete Musico had been set at $10 million. It’s now set at $100 thousand. 

At a town-hall-style listening session with US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Michigan farmers praised federal support of farmers during the pandemic.

Representatives from the state’s dry-bean, soybean, dairy, and sugar industries thanked Perdue for his support during the pandemic. Farmers said they were particularly happy with the way the federal government listened to them in developing the second Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.

Some hospital executives in southeast Michigan received bonuses this year, shortly before their health systems laid off thousands of workers and asked the federal government for a bailout as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the nation.

Two of Michigan's largest nonprofit hospital systems, Beaumont Health and the Henry Ford Health System, awarded those bonuses in March. And then, as the novel coronavirus caused a financial crisis at their hospitals, Beaumont and Henry Ford turned to the federal government for help.

Do you ever feel like you’re just…overwhelmed by the headlines? Those almost constant news alerts?

You are not alone. 

Our daily Stateside podcast, hosted by April Baer, is here to cut through the noise with conversations that matter to Michigan. 

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed bills into law Thursday that show Democrats and Republicans can find room to cooperate on the state’s response to COVID-19.

The bills are the result of bipartisan deal-making. They offer employers more protection from lawsuits and employees more guarantees they can’t be forced to work in situations that could place their health in danger.

About 800 people trudged across a muddy field to get to the airport in Waterford Township where Vice President Mike Pence was to speak. Speakers blared country music and 70s rock songs while a crowd of about 800 waited for Pence, half of them not wearing masks.

He said he and President Donald Trump created the greatest economy in the history of the world, made the military strong again, and saved lives in how they handled the coronavirus pandemic. More than 210,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. Pence promised a vaccine is coming soon.

Doctors in charge of Michigan hospitals are asking people in Michigan to voluntarily "do the right thing" to slow the spread of COVID-19, now that the Michigan Supreme Court says Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer does not have the authority to issue executive orders on COVID-19.

The statement, signed by 28 top medical officers of hospital systems across the state, was issued after COVID-19-related hospital admissions surged by more than 80% in recent weeks.

Dr. Gary Roth is Chief Medical Officer for the Michigan Health and Hospital Association.

Health care workers are slated to be in the first group to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Michigan if it becomes available, according to a draft COVID-19 vaccination plan submitted last week to the Centers for Disease Control by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

This Election Day is likely to be a bit different from those of years past: State election officials have been warning voters that it’s possible we won’t know the outcome of the presidential election and all the down-ballot races by election night. That’s because there’s been an increase in absentee voting, which is allowed for all Michigan voters and offers a safe alternative to voting in person during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some environmental groups are criticizing the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for a planned carbon offset program.

The DNR is planning a pilot program that would account for the carbon taken up by the Pigeon River Country State Forest. The forest absorbs carbon dioxide. That has value on a voluntary carbon market. Polluters can buy that carbon value as a way of offsetting their greenhouse gas emissions.

Michigan philanthropist and entrepreneur, Peter Secchia, died Wednesday morning. A spokeswoman for the family confirmed COVID-19 "was a contributing factor in his death."

Secchia had an enormous influence in the Republican Party, at the state and national level. He once served as vice chair of the Republican National Commitee and was the U.S. Ambassador to Italy during George H. W. Bush’s presidency.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has issued an order to allow more in-person visits with people in nursing homes.

The order applies to facilities in counties the state has identified as “low risk.”

Michigan has a goal to vaccinate about one million more people for the flu this year than it did last year, and so far, we’re making steady progress. 

More than half of the three million requested absentee ballots have already been cast, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Benson said that voters have received nearly all of the three million absentee ballots they have requested with two weeks left to go before Election Day. 

"When you reflect on the fact that just under 4.8 million voted in the November 2016 election, the fact that two weeks out, already three million are on track to vote early in this election is just extraordinary," said Benson, predicting that the number of absentee ballot requests will continue to climb.

Republican state lawmakers have presented their version of a COVID-19 response plan.

The state House GOP proposal follows a court ruling that struck down many of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s unilateral emergency orders.

A new report found Michigan’s energy use changed dramatically during the first few months of the pandemic.

In the second quarter electricity use dropped by 32% in the industrial sector compared to the same time period last year. That's the biggest drop in the country.