LANSING - Michigan is the 14th most energy efficient state in the nation, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy said in its annual scorecard released Wednesday. Michigan received 23.5 points out of a possible 50 points in the scorecard. Among the highlights the group noted were the loan programs for small businesses for pollution prevention
LANSING – Michigan House Republicans on Wednesday found the votes, mostly within their own caucus, to pass a $1.2 billion road funding plan with no guarantees of support from Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof or Governor Rick Snyder. The plan involved $600 million in new revenue through a gas tax increase and registration fee increases and $600
LANSING – Heads will soon be rolling at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality where officials failed to follow proper treatment and testing protocols when Flint moved from the Detroit water system to drawing from the Flint River and took too long to fix the problem once they discovered their error. Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant said
LANSING - News that Michigan's unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in September, putting it below the national unemployment rate for the first time in 15 years, brought plenty of cheers Wednesday. The national unemployment rate in September was 5.1 percent. In the past year, the unemployment rate has fallen from 6.7 percent, and employment
LANSING - Rep. Robert Kosowski on Wednesday told the Michigan House Regulatory Reform Committee one way to get more funding for the state's roads and bridges is to legalize sports gambling and simulcasting horse races at casinos in the state. HB 4469 and HB 4470 would allow casinos to accept wagers on sporting events, remove the current prohibition on
LANSING - Wednesday was meant to be a cooling off day following Tuesday's impasse on talks to generate $1.2 billion in new funds for roads, but instead the disputes continued. Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive) said he was surprised at remarks by House Minority Leader Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills) on road funding talks and how a proposal
LANSING - The state has reached tentative agreements with its bargaining units on new contracts for state employees. Two unions - the Michigan Corrections Organization and the Michigan State Employees Association - confirmed Wednesday the major aspects of the tentative deals between the state and their unions: a one-year contract for wages and health care
LANSING - A local government would be able to adopt an ordinance to prevent, control or eradicate aquatic invasive species in waters within the its boundaries and impose fees if an aquatic invasive species were present in the waters under legislation discussion by the Michigan Senate Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday. The fees collected -
DETROIT - As Michigan Public Service Commission staff have become aware of a number of gas service lines servicing residential or commercial gas customers connected directly to gas storage field, transmission pipelines, regulated and unregulated gathering lines, oil and gas wells, and gas processing facilities, the commission has opened an inquiry into gas safety issues.
