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Dems: Trump’s environmental rollbacks harm communities of color
WASHINGTON — The President Trump administration is suspending key environmental reviews during the pandemic that critics warn could further harm poor and minority neighborhoods in Michigan and around the country. Lawmakers and activists say the administration’s actions — meant to boost the lagging economy — could have disproportionate effects on minority communities that live near […]
Whitmer warns Congress more federal help is needed to avoid COVID-19 resurgence
WASHINGTON — The federal government needs to assist states with a national strategy for distribution of COVID-19 tests and medical equipment or risk a second surge of the disease, Democratic governors told lawmakers Tuesday on Capitol Hill. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis asked Congress for more federal help as states try […]
‘People of color want freedom … from infection, freedom from death’
WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately harmed communities of color, laying bare the systemic racial disparities across the United States, experts told Congress this week. Early evidence suggests there are elevated rates of infection and death from COVID-19 in African-American populations and other communities of color. Nationwide, Black Americans are dying at nearly two […]
Fauci warns reopening too soon could cause ‘suffering and death’
WASHINGTON — A top Trump administration health official warned U.S. senators Tuesday that reopening the economy too quickly could cause suffering, death and an even longer economic setback. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told lawmakers there could be a surge […]
DeVos: Universities can’t share grants with DACA students
WASHINGTON — Colleges and universities across the country are getting emergency federal aid for COVID-19, but some of the most vulnerable students won’t be eligible for assistance. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said the emergency grants — part of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief act that Congress approved last month — can’t go to […]
Can more conservation, less wildlife trade help prevent the next pandemic?
WASHINGTON — As the United States reels from COVID-19, scientists and environmentalists say beefing up conservation efforts could help protect humanity from future pandemics. Lawmakers and policy experts alike have been focused on the immediate health and economic concerns from the pandemic. But many environmental advocates say the global crisis has also laid bare the […]
Nessel to Trump: Put the brakes on fuel economy, other rule changes
Updated, 9:35 a.m., 4/2/20, with comments from Nessel WASHINGTON — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and 20 other attorneys general from across the country are pressing the Trump administration to freeze pending regulations so officials can focus on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This action is essential to managing this public health crisis and […]
Senate Dems torch Trump admin for coronavirus response, Peters wants national website
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators want Trump administration officials to be more forthcoming about coronavirus amid concerns the White House has given misinformation on the disease. A Senate panel with oversight on health issues heard from top public officials Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug […]
Dingell slams Trump attempt to overhaul bedrock environmental law
WASHINGTON — Concerned citizens and environmental activists from around the country traveled to the nation’s capital on Tuesday to blast the Trump administration’s plans to overhaul one of the nation’s bedrock environmental policy laws at a rare public hearing with administration officials. President Donald Trump last month unveiled a massive rewrite of the regulations associated […]
Trump’s poverty line changes could crush Michiganders ‘barely getting by’
Low-income Michiganders could face cuts to federal food, health care and heating assistance programs under proposed regulatory changes from the President Trump administration. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is pushing changes to how the government calculates the official definition of poverty in the United States. The technical recalculation could have major […]
Upton joins Dems in approving massive U.S. House wilderness bill
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats approved legislation Wednesday that would place permanent wilderness protections on vast swaths of land in the West. U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) crossed over to vote with Democrats. The Michigan delegation was split 8-5, with U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (I-Cascade Twp.) voting with Republicans. As the Advance has reported, […]
Native American women have gone missing. Many have been murdered. Will Washington act?
WASHINGTON — Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind was 22, eight months pregnant, and looking forward to her baby shower the following day when she went missing on a sunny August afternoon in 2017. She had gone to a neighbor’s apartment in Fargo, N.D., where she had been asked to help with a sewing project. She never went home. […]