JACKSON - Consumers Energy estimates that more than 2,300 of its customers have sought approximately $1 million as victims of a nationwide utility bill payment scam that surfaced in Michigan earlier this month. However, there is no such money available from the federal government and customers may believe they have paid their bills when in
DETROIT - Armed with growing revenues and strong balance sheets, and to keep up with increasing vehicle demand, U.S. auto executives expect to boost domestic headcount and expand facilities in the coming year, according to a recent survey by KPMG LLP. Despite their overall bullishness, executives cite some significant challenges ahead, including persistent pricing pressures,
DEARBORN - The new Ford C-MAX Energi is expected to achieve more than 20 miles of electric-only range ? nearly double the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid ? and a 550-mile overall range to become the first hybrid vehicle ever that can be driven from Sacramento to San Diego on a single tank of gas and
ANN ARBOR - To meet the regional demand for evolving software development skills, SRT Solutions and Microsoft are hosting a Windows 8 Boot Camp on July 24. Attendees to the free, full-day event will learn about the new Windows 8 platform, including design tenets, programming language choices, and operating system integration points. ?Software developers are
ANN ARBOR - Internet2 announced that Indiana University President Michael McRobbie was elected as the sixth chair of the board of trustees and will serve until July 2015. President McRobbie joined the board in 2009 and succeeds University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman, who served as chair for the last year and as a
NEW YORK ? A new survey shows 68 percent of respondents with a cell contract struggle to afford their monthly bill, primarily due to rising costs in phone plans and extra fees. Another 34 percent of respondents said they were struggling to afford their monthly cell bill due to other financial commitments and bills that
WASHINGTON DC - Two U.S. senators are calling for a federal investigation of the power grid's potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities after a CNET article last month raised security concerns. The request for a probe comes from Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Susan Collins (R-ME), the panel's senior Republican,
LANSING ? The Michigan Film Office gave the movie, ?Only Lovers Left Alive,? an incentive of $365,904. Set in Detroit and Tangiers, the project will feature a wide range of Detroit locations and showcase some of Detroit?s influential sounds and diverse musical contributions throughout the soundtrack. Written and directed by iconic independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch,
LANSING - House Speaker Jase Bolger and Rep. Roy Schmidt clearly attempted to perpetrate a fraud on the electorate by attempting to pay a friend of Schmidt's nephew to run against him after he switched parties, according to a scathing report released Tuesday by the Kent County prosecutor, but none of it was illegal. The
LANSING - States face a series of revenue and fiscal issues, including Medicaid costs, underfunded retirement costs, local government fiscal stress and narrowing tax bases that could lead to overall budget crisis for many states, a national report said. The report, from the State Budget Crisis Task Force, did not include Michigan in the states