Politics

LANSING - The Michigan Film Office would no longer be able to provide film incentives, but could continue functioning in other areas to draw producers to the state under a substitute adopted Wednesday by the Senate for a bill that began as a film incentive phase-out. That represents a major shift from a substitute adopted

LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder is in Montreal to discuss boosting trade relations with Canada, Michigan's largest trade partner. Snyder moved to the largest French-speaking city outside of Paris after meeting with the Great Lakes governors and premiers over the weekend in Quebec City. During his visit to the city, Snyder is to meet with

LANSING - The Public Service Commission on Monday adopted recommendations made by its staff in its April 30 report on circumstances of a natural gas shut-off in Hazel Park where hypothermia was reported to be a possible contributing factor in a death occurring there. Specifically, the Commission directed all PSC staff, regulated gas and electric

LANSNG - Michigan Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof would be supportive of eliminating the Earned Income Tax Credit, and he believes a majority of his caucus would be too, but that doesn't mean the House bill permitting such is primed for passage this week, Meekhof's spokesperson said Monday. "Right now, we're not specifically identifying any

LANSING - What seems like a relatively mundane change - altering the definition of a wind turbine in several tax laws - has prompted a significant battle pitting energy groups on one side and local governments and public school districts on the other. Rep. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) introduced HB 4570, HB 4571, HB 4572 and

LANSING - The Department of Environmental Quality released its plan to improve water quality and uses over the next 30 years, and is now seeking feedback to be sure the plan accurately captures resident's needs, Office of the Great Lakes Director Jon Allan said Tuesday. Because addressing water issues is a long-term agenda, Allan said

LANSING - A bill that would phase out the state's film incentive program was significantly broadened Tuesday to repeal statutory authority for the Michigan Film Office, which long predates the state's 2008 foray into using tax credits to attract productions to the state, as well as the Film Advisory Council. The change clearly concerned the

LANSING - It is becoming more and more urgent for employers to review their policies that address off-site work. New proposed rules from the Department of Labor governing exempt employment are likely to go into effect at the end of this year. When they do, they will almost certainly expand considerably the number of non-exempt

FLINT - Chemical Engineering and molecular biology students combined their skillsets to solve an open-ended water filtration problem presented jointly by Michelle Ammerman (Applied Biology) and Steven Nartker (Chemical Engineering) in each of their respective classes. The premise: address biological problems in engineering projects and vice versa around the theme of examining the impact of

LANSING - Plotting the locations of geological features, demographic information, transportation options and other data became more accessible with Wednesday's launch of the Department of Technology, Management and Budget's GIS Open Data website. One example of a practical use of the website is the ability to easily cross-reference jurisdictional boundaries with transportation networks and workforce