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Oakland County board appoints Ferndale mayor to succeed Patterson
After a whirlwind process that involved resignations, boycotts and accusations of backroom dealings, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on Friday voted to appoint Ferndale Mayor Dave Coulter as Oakland County executive. Coulter will succeed L. Brooks Patterson, the longtime county executive who died in early August. Coulter’s appointment will be effective upon his resignation […]
Tlaib declines visit after Israel lifts ban
Just hours after the Israeli government announced Friday that it would lift its previously announced ban and allow U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) to enter the country, she said she will not go through with her planned visit. Israel’s interior minister, Aryeh Dari, approved a request Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, submitted Thursday to enter the […]
Woodward withdraws from Oakland County executive race
WXYZ-TV in Detroit reported Thursday that former Oakland County Board of Commissioners Chair Dave Woodward has withdrawn his candidacy for the position of county executive. According to the report, acting County Executive Gerald Poisson informed them that Woodward, a Democrat long viewed as the frontrunner, was withdrawing from the race and that he is still […]
Levin calls for an end to deportations ahead of vigil for Iraqi Oakland County resident
Updated 2:13 p.m., 8/20 U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Twp.) told the Advance on Thursday the recent death of Jimmy Aldaoud was unnecessary, preventable and the result of a President Trump administration policy agenda that prioritizes fear above all else. Aldaoud, a 41-year-old Iraqi national with diabetes and severe mental illness who had lived in […]
Israel bars Omar, Tlaib from visiting after Trump comments
Updated 4:12 p.m. with Attorney General Dana Nessel’s comments The Israeli government announced Thursday it would not allow U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to visit the country for a planned trip this month, after President Donald Trump publicly lobbied for them to be barred. Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said […]
Former Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard nominated for U.S. attorney, raising questions on Inman case
Updated 11:26 p.m. with comment from Sen. Debbie Stabenow President Donald Trump has nominated former state House Speaker Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt) to serve as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan. That nomination raises questions about whether Leonard will recuse himself from one of the district’s most high-profile cases — its prosecution of state […]
Whitmer boots civil rights chief from cabinet meetings, urges him to resign
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sent a letter to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) on Wednesday urging its director, Agustin Arbulu, to resign and saying she would disallow him from future cabinet meetings if he remains in office. Her call comes just days after the details of Arbulu’s alleged offensive and sexist comments to a […]
Oakland County moving forward with executive interviews amid controversy
Updated, 8:27 p.m., 8/14/19 A group of Oakland County commissioners interviewed candidates Wednesday to replace the recently deceased longtime County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, amid controversy over the appointment process and allegedly deleted emails. Three commissioners chose a group of candidates that included the recently-resigned Democratic County Commissioner Dave Woodward; Kevin Howley, a Democratic former […]
Nessel joins nationwide AGs in environment, gun control, health care efforts
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday that she was joining efforts from attorneys general across the country to fight the President Trump administration on its gun control, environmental, and health care policies. Nessel joined a Supreme Court brief in support of existing gun regulations, a comment letter opposing a change to the Affordable Care […]
Nessel announces new AG office in Upper Peninsula
Updated 1:17 p.m. 8/14/2019 Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Monday that the attorney general’s office will open its first location in the Upper Peninsula in a decade.* During a visit to the Elder Abuse Task Force conference at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Nessel said the office will open on the university’s campus within […]
Voting rights nonprofit intervenes in anti-redistricting suit
Just weeks after a group of Republicans sued Michigan’s secretary of state in an attempt to block the state’s new independent redistricting commission, the voting rights nonprofit that spearheaded its creation has filed a motion to intervene. Voters Not Politicians, which led the Proposal 2 ballot initiative that passed the new redistricting process into law, […]
Whitmer says Legislature must get ‘serious’ about infrastructure funding during Lansing bridge visit
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited a decaying bridge in Lansing’s REO Town neighborhood Monday morning, taking the opportunity to press the Legislature to pass a state budget that will fund the state’s much-needed infrastructure repairs. Accompanied by Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials, Whitmer toured a bridge on Elm Street that spans the Red Cedar River […]