News
The UAW’s Big Three strike led to a surge in union organizing at other automakers
The UAW’s successful strike against Detroit’s Big Three automakers has workers at more than a dozen other car companies interested in joining the union. The UAW says thousands of non-union autoworkers at companies including BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo have announced campaigns to organize their workforces. If […]
Rep. Aiyash to join hunger strike in D.C. calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza
A Michigan legislator will be among five state lawmakers from across the country participating in a hunger strike while demanding a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck) says he will leave for Washington, D.C,. on Wednesday night to join the hunger strike with four other state lawmakers — […]
Gun violence as a public health crisis explored by U.S. Senate Democrats
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Tuesday discussed how to treat gun violence as a public health crisis, in hopes of building upon last year’s federal gun safety legislation. “Across the country, gun violence is a public health epidemic,” Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the chairman of the committee, said in his opening remarks. […]
Tentative deal announced in 11-week strike by Blue Cross Blue Shield workers
A little over a week after ratifying contracts with the Detroit Three automakers, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced on Tuesday it had reached a tentative agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and its HMO subsidiary, Blue Care Network. Approximately 1,300 UAW members have been on strike since Sept. 13 — […]
More states strive to make parks, trails accessible to people with disabilities
TWO HARBORS, Minn. — Perched high on rugged cliffs overlooking Lake Superior, Split Rock Lighthouse dominates the shoreline. Visitors from across the country make the 113-year-old beacon one of the most-photographed lighthouses in the country. The most spectacular view, many say, is from Pebble Beach, reachable only by a steep, winding forest trail that snakes […]
Whitmer signs climate change legislation setting 100% clean energy standard for Michigan by 2040
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a slate of bills Tuesday that take her proposals from the MI Healthy Climate Plan and make them into state law. Held at Detroit’s Eastern Market, the ceremony followed House passage earlier this month of a half-a-dozen pieces of climate change legislation from Democrats that address, among other issues, clean energy […]
Michigan board nixes citizen veto initiatives, punts on property tax elimination measure
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers took up several agenda items on Monday, including petitions to immediately suspend extreme risk protection orders and legislation passed that moved the presidential primary from March to February. Another petition was taken up to create a constitutional amendment banning property taxes. The board had a long day, having started […]
U.S. Senate panel advances former Maryland governor’s nomination to lead Social Security
WASHINGTON — Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley moved one step closer Tuesday to becoming the next Social Security commissioner, a role that would become increasingly difficult as the program inches closer to insolvency during the next decade. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted 17-10 to send O’Malley’s nomination to the floor, though it’s not clear […]
Federal judge finds former owner of mid-Michigan dams liable for nearly $120M in damages
A default judgment has been entered against the former owner of a mid-Michigan dam that failed in 2020, forcing the evacuation of more than 10,000 people and damaging thousands of homes and businesses. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on Monday awarded a $119.8 million judgment against Lee Mueller, whose business, […]
New life for old coal: Minelands and power plants are hot renewable development spots
PETERSBURG, Ind. — AES Indiana’s Petersburg Generating Station, which towers over the White River here in southwest Indiana, has been burning coal to generate electricity since the late 1960s. That era, though, will come to an end soon. Two of the power plant’s four coal-burning units have already retired and the last is planning to […]
Here’s your look at the candidates for Michigan’s two empty state House seats
Six candidates apiece have filed for the two open seats in the Michigan House of Representatives, with the special elections set to determine party control of the chamber next year. Whitmer calls for special elections to fill two vacant Michigan House seats After state Reps. Kevin Coleman (D-Westland) and Lori Stone (D-Warren) won mayoral elections […]
On this day in 1994: Iconic U.P. Rep. Dominic Jacobetti dies
On Nov. 28, 1994, longtime Democratic state Rep. Dominic Jacobetti died at Bell Memorial Hospital in Ishpeming. He was 74. Jacobetti was born in the Upper Peninsula in 1920. It was the same year that Ralph Story, television and radio personality best known as the host of “The $64,000 Challenge,” was born in Kalamazoo and […]