The unemployment benefits of about 692,000 Michigan workers are in danger of being axed the day after Christmas if Congress does not act, the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) warned this week.
State of Michigan
Glen Oaks Community College reached out to media organizations Friday evening to announce this project is “back on hold.” The college had received word in early December from the state budget office that it was recommitting and recommending approval of capital outlay requests for several Michigan colleges including a $7.3 million Glen Oaks project. The plan calls for the total renovation of the north side of campus including the library, technical labs, art studio, business classrooms, restrooms, and replacement of the bowed exterior walls.
The small Michigan regulatory panel charged with deciding whether to let Canadian oil company Enbridge build a tunnel-encased pipeline under the Mackinac Straits is shifting gears, announcing Wednesday that it has ordered a rehearing for Enbridge’s application now that the company’s 1953 easement has been revoked by the state.
Here’s how much politicians’ companies, media corps, lobbyists and more got in COVID-19 relief.
Facing record hospitalizations for COVID-19 infections across the state, Michigan health officials are extending the state’s pandemic control orders for 12 more days.
Federal and state officials signed nearly 400 treaties with tribal nations in the 18th and 19th centuries. Threatened by genocidal violence, the tribes signed away much of their land. But they secured promises that they could continue to hunt, fish and gather wild food on the territory they were giving up. In 1836 a treaty was signed in which tribal nations ceded more than a third of the territory that would become Michigan in exchange for the right to hunt and fish on the land in perpetuity. An oil spill from the Line 5 pipeline would destroy the state’s ability to honor that right, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.
A bipartisan bill package that would revise current laws dealing with low-level crimes, youth crimes and probation passed through the Senate Thursday.
More than a dozen U.S. House and Senate members are pushing for a bipartisan coronavirus relief package to aid struggling states and local governments and fund programs such as unemployment and rental assistance that are set to expire later this month. Among them are U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), both members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is hoping lawmakers returning from their hunting break this week will focus on COVID-19 relief, unemployment benefits, a mask mandate and preparations for vaccine distribution.
A number of Michigan’s Democratic members of Congress penned a letter Monday to U.S. Census Bureau Director Steve Dillingham asking for details about the accuracy of the 2020 Census count in Michigan.
For those who have not yet turned in absent voter ballots or who are planning to cast their vote in person on Election day, Watershed Voice has compiled the following guide to races that will appear on area ballots to provide readers with information about who is running and where to go for voting.
Voters on Nov. 3 will select two candidates to fill two seats on Michigan’s seven-member court of last resort.
In a statement Friday, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the open carry of firearms at polling places on Election Day is prohibited around the state. Three Rivers Police Chief Tom Bringman gives details on how the TRPD plans to protect against voter intimidation on Election Day.
In a marathon session, complete with ongoing negotiation between the GOP legislative leaders and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the state House and Senate on Wednesday finalized bills to address COVID-19 policies centering on unemployment benefits and business liability.
Watershed Voice recently became aware of two complaints regarding requested absentee ballots that had not been received. In order to clarify what issues might be affecting ballot request processing, Watershed Voice reached out to Three Rivers City Clerk Melissa Bliss for more information.
The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not possess the legal authority under two laws to extend states of emergency and issue executive orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whitmer said after 21 days, a number of health and safety protocols she has mandated will continue under “alternative sources of authority that were not at issue” in Friday’s ruling.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday a landmark investment in Michigan’s notoriously underfunded water infrastructure, prompting praise from environmental groups who say the action is a much-needed step in the right direction.
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission (MCRC) on Wednesday released a 62-page report outlining inequities in Michigan’s K-12 education system. It offered specific recommendations for action that policy makers and educators can implement to make achieving educational equity a priority in Michigan schools.