News

The Michigan Legislature has approved a package of bills that would help more people clear their criminal records of certain convictions. They now go to Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The seven bill package is composed of House Bill 4980, HB 4981, HB 4982, HB 4983, HB 4984, HB 4985, and HB 5120. The Legislature has given itself a period of two years to put the system in place.

The Michigan and national Republican parties are asking a judge to reconsider her decision to allow absentee ballots to be counted if they arrive at clerks’ offices after 8 p.m. on Election Day.

This latest lawsuit comes as absentee voting has already begun in Michigan. Republicans are asking Judge Cynthia Stephens to rule that ballots that arrive after 8 p.m. on Election Day – regardless of when they were mailed or postmarked – cannot be counted. That appears unlikely since it would require Stephens to reverse an earlier ruling.

The extension given to drivers for license renewals is about to run out.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Secretary of State’s office extended the deadlines for renewal of driver’s licenses and registrations.

That all ends on September 30th.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s cabinet members offered more details Friday on the goal of making Michigan a “carbon neutral” state within 30 years.

The plans include adding electric vehicle charging stations at state parks and recreation areas, and working with utilities to reduce emissions.

The state of Michigan has completed an aerial spraying program over nearly a half million acres in hopes of reducing the risk of a disease spread by mosquitoes.

The state has been dealing with another outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). Health officials say EEE is one of the most dangerous mosquito-borne diseases in the United States.  It's rare, but has a 33% fatality rate for people who get sick. 

Michigan Radio’s Statement on Diversity begins with a direct acknowledgement that increasing diversity is an “existential question” for the station. Our future success depends on how well we are able to grow and diversify our audience, our news sources and our own staff.

As one of many steps we are taking, we have committed to publishing an annual report on the demographic composition of station staff. This post represents the first of these reports.

Win a ticket to The Moth Michigan Virtual StorySLAM coming up October 6, 2020 at 7: 15 p.m. 

Michigan Radio is giving away five tickets to the show. Each ticket is good for one household online admission. Deadline to enter is Sunday, October 4.  Winners will be notified by e-mail or telephone on Monday, October 5.  Contest rules available here. 

It's election season, which brings out the yard signs, which brings out the people who steal and vandalize yard signs. I'm sure you've seen the stories in newspapers and the postings on social media. Maybe you've had first-hand experience.

I try not to be too judgmental. I can imagine how in a moment of passion (or, more likely, drunkenness) an otherwise reasonable individual could have a lapse of reason. Naturally, it would need to be followed up with an apology and full restoration. It's forgivable, right? Yard signs are by their nature ephemeral.

Absentee voting began Thursday in Michigan.

Absentee ballots were put in the mail to people who requested them. Registered voters can also stop by clerks’ offices to fill out their ballots.

In a web conference with progressive activists, Governor Gretchen Whitmer noted the election in Michigan was very close in 2016.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed suit against a dairy farming operation she says has repeatedly “thumbed its nose” at environmental regulations.

Slater Farms is a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in rural West Michigan. According to the Attorney General’s office, it collectively owns and manages CAFOs with more than 1,500 mature dairy cows and 400 cattle. Every year, those operations produce about 8.9 million gallons of liquid waste and 1,500 tons of solid waste.

Four members of the Michigan Black Legislative Caucus are proposing legislation to deny legal protections for police who inflict unjustifiable violence.

State Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson (D-Detroit) says the state may consider imposing an additional requirement on police.

This year, absentee ballots are all the rage.

Michigan voters passed a ballot measure in 2018 that allows for no-reason absentee voting. Now, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused ballot requests to skyrocket. 

Starting September 24, local clerks will begin to send ballots to the 2.39 million Michiganders who have already requested them. That beats the previous record of two million ballot requests, which was just set in August.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that bans the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles within 15 years.

Brett Smith of the Center for Automotive Research says the announcement from the largest car market in the U.S. will get the attention of Michigan car companies for sure.

"I think it means they have to double down or triple down on their investment and commitment to battery electric vehicles," he says.

Michigan's two largest utilities are committing to help build a network of fast charging stations across Midwest states - including Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Fast chargers can partially recharge an electric car's battery in about 20 minutes, and fully recharge it in about an hour.

Farms housing thousands of animals are one of several sources contaminating the Pine River and dividing a mid-Michigan community.

Murray Borrello, wearing khakis and a loose-fitting brown button-up, walked down a backroad during the summer of 2019 listening to the sounds of the woods. Water from the Pine River flowed slowly beneath him as he looked out over a bridge.

“Oh, I hear a frog,” the Alma College geology and environmental studies professor said. “That’s a good sign.” 

Michigan is on the road to carbon neutrality by 2050, per an executive order Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed on Wednesday.

Whitmer made the announcement at a U.S. Climate Alliance virtual meeting. That’s a group of states led by governors who have committed to addressing climate change according to the framework laid out by the Paris Agreement, which President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the U.S. from in 2017.

State lawmakers tapped into federal COVID-19 relief money and the state’s “rainy day” savings fund to adopt a finalized budget plan Wednesday and send the bills to Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Leading up to the votes, the process was swift and secretive. There were no hearings, and most lawmakers were briefed on the details just a few hours earlier. But it was widely acknowledged the times are unusual.

New legislation would give sexual assault survivors much more time to take their abusers to court.

Last session the legislature change the law to give survivors of abuse by a doctor at Michigan State University their day in court. Now legislation is being introduced to give survivors of alleged abuse by a doctor at the University of Michigan their day in court.

The Michigan League of Women Voters is seeking to intervene in a federal lawsuit in support of the Michigan Secretary of State, over alleged issues with Michigan's Qualified Voter File.    

The lawsuit, filed by a Republican-affiliated group, seeks to force the state to purge Michigan's Qualified Voter File, claiming there are too many registered voters in some counties, based on the last Census. And it claims that if ineligible voters cast ballots, that will "dilute" the legitimate vote by qualified voters in the November election.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris stopped in Michigan on Tuesday for the first time after she was added to the ticket.

To soundtrack of Motown, Lizzo and Mary J. Blige, Harris traveled from Flint to Detroit, campaigning less than 45 days ahead of the presidential election.

Outside of the Detroit Pistons’ practice facility, Harris talked about her reason for returning to the state.

“To be here and to be present. You know, Jill Biden was here last week, Joe was here the week before. We will keep coming back because so goes Michigan, so goes the rest of the country as far as we’re concerned,” she said.

A new Netflix documentary has social media users rethinking the platforms they frequent. The Social Dilemma revealed some disturbing truths about tech companies and big data. In addition, the Federal Elections Commission recently published an op-ed for Wired magazine suggesting the integrity of the 2020 election is in the hands of Facebook and Twitter. With misinformation and disinformation running rampant on those platforms, the op-ed paints a bleak picture.

Mitigating misinformation

Update, Thursday September 23: Michigan State University has updated its online COVID-19 dashboard to reflect cases reported by the Ingham County Health Department, two days after the county's public health director revealed the health department's case count was far higher than what the university was publicly stating. 

The university notified the public of the change, says spokesman Dan Olsen, by contacting reporters Thursday morning and sending out a notice in the campus newsletter that afternoon. 

"The university’s COVID-19 dashboard now reflects the total number of positive cases of MSU students and employees reported by the Ingham County Health Department," the newsletter reads. "It does not include students and employees tested outside of the county and does not necessarily include those who self-reported a positive case to the university." 

That change means the case numbers listed on MSU's site essentially doubled overnight, from 548 cases at the start of this week, to 1,239 cases since July 27th. A spokesperson for MSU said the university is "continuing our ongoing partnership with [the health department] to report this information weekly (each Monday.)" 

Those case numbers are still slightly lower than the 1,250 MSU-related cases Ingham County Health Director Linda Vail said her department had recorded in the last 30 days. Those cases only include those the health department can verify are MSU students, faculty, or staff, Vail said Tuesdsay, and do not include secondary cases in the broader East Lansing community. 

This story will continue to be updated. 

Original post, Tuesday September 22: Michigan State University is knowingly underreporting the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among students, faculty, and staff, according to information released by the Ingham County Health Department on Tuesday.