Drinking water monitors may shut down in southeast Michigan

A system that protects southeast Michigan water systems by monitoring for chemical contamination in Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair and Detroit rivers may shut down because of a lack of funding.

Cuts to heating assistance could devastate poor Michigan residents

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — As winter approaches in this prosperous-looking northern Michigan city, it is clear the safety net has ripped.

A federal judge orders Mich. health department to halt welfare cuts

A federal district court judge Tuesday afternoon ordered the state of Michigan to stop actions to cut an estimated 30,000 people off the welfare rolls in the state.

Women’s health advocates blast proposed GOP spending bill that would kill family-planning funding

The same week that anti-abortion-rights advocates and Catholic colleges pushed the Obama administration to repeal a recent decision to include contraception in a list of fully-covered preventive health-care services, House Republicans unveiled a proposed spending plan for 2012 that could leave many women without access to reproductive-health services, reproductive-rights More…

Michigan corrections department laying off workers, privatizing medical services

The Michigan Dept. of Corrections has announced plans to close the Mound Correctional Facility in Detroit, lay off 2,000 workers, and privatize medical services throughout the prison system.

MDOC director Dan Heyns acknowledged that the moves are drastic measures that will impact employees, prisoners families, and communities, but More…

$1.89 billion given to states to fight HIV

The federal government Monday announced more than $1.89 billion in funding to states to fight the HIV epidemic with access to care and with more cash for the failing AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

Feds release more that $1.8 billion in funds to combat HIV

The federal government Monday announced more than $1.89 billion in funding to states to fight the HIV epidemic with access to care and with more cash for the failing AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

Anti-obesity campaigns could be hindered by federal ag subsidies

Gov. Rick Snyder’s campaign to reduce obesity may be impeded by federal agricultural subsidies that make junk food cheaper than fruits and vegetables.
In a new report — Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food — the Public Interest Research Group in More…

Michigan slacking on conservation spending despite ‘Pure Michigan’ campaign

In a recent interview former Dept. of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries compared the ‘Pure Michigan’ marketing campaign to “putting pretty paint on a house that is structurally unstable.”
In an interview with the Center for Michigan’s Bridge Magazine, Humphries, who led the DNR from 2006-2010, predicted that More…

Anti-union Mich. rep. accepted tax breaks, loans for his business then fired more workers

A Republican state Representative from Jackson County is coming under fire for accepting tax breaks and government loans for his company and then laying off more workers.

Rep. Mike Shirkey (R-Clark Lake) received a tax abatement in 2005 from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for his non-union company, Orbitforms. More…