LANSING - Governor Jennifer Granholm has signed the last of the 2008-09 budget bills, giving her approval to the Department of Transportation $3.9 billion spending plan that had been held up over a contentious dispute regarding a new crossing to Canada over the Detroit River. The move came just days before the start of the
WASHINGTON DC. - Congressional leaders announced a plan on Sunday to help stabilize American financial markets - including cutting in half the Bush Administration's initial request for $700 billion and requiring Congressional review for any future commitment of taxpayers' funds. If the government loses money, the financial industry will pay back the taxpayers. The plan
LANSING - If the Legislature and Michigan voters approve a constitutional amendment changing the way property taxes are assessed, homeowners will see relief but it will be at the expense of services provided by local units of government, municipal officials said Friday. Bill Anderson, legislative liaison for the Michigan Townships Association, said his preliminary estimates
LANSING - Michigan Senate Republicans launched an effort Thursday to begin restructuring the Michigan Business Tax, hoping to reduce the burden of that tax and spread it more evenly across the businesses of the state. But that effort began on a sour note with the defeat by the Senate of SJR E to provide a
LANSING - Michigan Ballot Proposal 1, which would legalize the use of marijuana for chronically ill patients under a doctor's care, appears poised for approval by voters in November. Two polls this week showed overwhelming support for Proposal 1. Dianne Byrum, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Compassionate Care, the grassroots organization that placed the
TROY - Technology networking group ConnecTech is now accepting applicants to its 2009 Mentor and Coaching Program in partnership with the Midwest Technology Leaders. The ten-month program pairs ConnecTech members with a CIO mentor in a one-on-one relationship. The 2008 program featured CIOs from local companies such as MGM Grand in Detroit, Beaumont Health Systems,
LANSING - Absent the emergence of a strong opposition group, a proposal to allow legal production and use of marijuana for those with certain diseases should gain easy passage, according to a poll released Wednesday by Marketing Resource Group. MRG said Michigan residents see Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin as a stronger leader than
LANSING - The Strategic Fund Board approved $27 million from the 21st Century Jobs Fund for the creation of the first Centers of Energy Excellence. The funds, all $18.1 million from the current fiscal year and $8.9 million from next fiscal year, went to support three projects around the state. "We just knew this was
WASHINGTON DC - A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers left a two-hour-plus meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday saying they have a "fundamental agreement" on a $700 billion plan to bail out U.S. financial markets, as early as Sept. 29, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The lawmakers didn't offer details of
TROY - Tammie Quinn Grzebyk, founder of VerbalWise, will help ConnecTech of Greater Detroit members on Oct. 1 understand the root causes for miscommunications between departments due to cultural differences, learn strategies for increasing success rates for technology professionals, reduce communication gaps and improve business relationships and productivity through communication. The meeting takes place from