February 2nd, 20210LANSING — The Michigan legislature and Governor Whitmer have launch a $30 million program to cover tuition costs for adults seeking associate's degrees or a skills certificates at their community college.
The program makes 4.1 million Michiganders who are 25-year-old and older and do not have a college degree eligible to earn a...
January 4th, 20210MICHIGAN — As the state surpassed 500,000 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus, Michigan’s health department is distributing 3.5 million free masks as part of its Mask Up, Mask Right campaign.
Free KN95 masks provided by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) will be distributed by community organizations,...
December 7th, 20200LANSING — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced on Monday a 12 day extension of its COVID-19 order that restricts indoor social gatherings and other group activities.
The earlier order was in place for three weeks — set to expire on Tuesday — and covered the time people traveled and spent time...
December 4th, 20200LANSING — State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) is leading a bipartisan group of 36 Michigan House legislators in releasing an open letter to the Detroit Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp, suggesting Robert Saleh, a Dearborn hero and 49ers defensive coordinator, for the team’s next head coach.
“We are writing today to thank you...
November 16th, 20200DEARBORN — Michigan will begin its three-week “pause” on Wednesday, targeting in particular indoor gatherings around holidays and indoor dining and bar services to mitigate the sate's intense COVID-19 crisis.
This statewide restrictions on certain activities was issued by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services...
October 27th, 20200LANSING — On Tuesday, Governor Whitmer and State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks announced that eligible Michigan teachers and support staff who worked additional time and incurred additional costs during the 2019-2020 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic can receive a grant through two new grant programs.
Eligible teachers can...
October 22nd, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer signed two bills on Thursday that protect workers from retaliation from businesses if they get sick from or are exposed to COVID-19, and protects businesses from COVID-19 related liability.
A trio of Michigan House bills (House Bills 6030-6032) say employers are required to allow workers who are exposed...
October 21st, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bills 886 and 991, which expand unemployment benefits for all Michiganders.
The bipartisan bills Whitmer signed will extend unemployment benefits for Michiganders who have lost work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic from 20 to 26 weeks until the end of the year. Both bills were sponsored...
October 14th, 20200LANSING — Three weeks out from the Nov. 3 election, nearly 1 million citizens have already returned absentee ballots, and more than 2.8 million have requested them, according to the Michigan Department of State (MDOS). A breakdown by jurisdiction of this week’s absentee ballot data is available here.
“Michigan citizens can be...
October 8th, 20200LANSING — On Thursday, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against seven Michiganders for plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer.
“I’d like to announce that my office has filed additional charges in addition to the charges already announced by the U.S. Attorney’s office,” she said. “I’d like to announce the...
October 6th, 20200LANSING — A new bill allow clerks in certain cities or townships to begin processing absent voter (AV) ballots prior to election day.
Governor Whitmer signed Michigan Senate Bill 757 alongside Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Tuesday. The bill also requires clerks to now notify voters of any reason their vote won’t be counted...
October 5th, 20200LANSING — Michigan main health authority has stepped into the ring, now that the state’s Supreme Court has deemed all of Governor Whitmer’s COVID-19 related executive orders since the April extension of the state of emergency unconstitutional.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon has...
October 5th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer’s administration is asking for clarification from the Michigan Supreme Court after it decided last Friday that her extensions of the state of emergency and subsequent executive orders concerning COVID-19 were unconstitutional.
Whitmer said previously that legally her orders would stay in effect for at...
October 3rd, 20200LANSING - After months of legal back and forth, the Michigan Supreme Court has finally deemed Governor Whitmer's continued state of emergency in Michigan unconstitutional.
The drama began with Whitmer leveraging decades-old laws to give herself emergency powers and bypass the legislature when extending her original state of emergency...
October 1st, 20200LANSING — The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced on Thursday that the unemployment insurance benefits period has been lengthened under the Federal Extended Benefits (EB) program.
The EB program pays unemployment benefits during periods of high unemployment to workers who have otherwise exhausted entitlement to...
September 29th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer is extending her state of emergency order for Michigan until October 27. Under the state of emergency, Whitmer will maintain executive decision-making powers as it relates to public health during the COVID-19 crisis.
Whitmer also announced on Wednesday the extension of four executive orders: One allowing...
September 24th, 20200LANSING — The state’s newly-formed Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission convened for its inaugural meetings over Zoom last Thursday and Friday.
The 13 randomly selected commissioners sat for agenda and orientation discussions. Those orientation materials, YouTube links of the meetings and a list of the selected...
September 16th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer took time to discuss the upcoming Nov. 3 general elections at her weekly COVID-19 live address from Lansing on Wednesday. Joining her were the state’s health chief, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Benson appeared confident in the state’s ability to get through a...
September 10th, 20200
LANSING — The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced on Thursday that it has closed on an $800 million bond issue that marks the first installment in Governor Whitmer’s $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan program.
The bonds will cover the cost of rebuilding some of Michigan’s most highly traveled...
September 10th, 20200LANSING — The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced it has started processing payments for Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) for eligible Michiganders. Due to the large volume of payments to be processed, the UIA says workers will begin receiving LWA payments over the next week to 10 days.
Michigan applied to the Federal...
August 20th, 20200
LANSING — On Thursday, Governor Whitmer signed the bipartisan “Return to Learn” bills she and legislative leaders agreed upon on last Friday.
The package of bills has new, more flexible instructional requirements for school districts for the 2020-2021 school year. It also provides significant financial security to...
August 20th, 20200FLINT — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Thursday that a preliminary agreement in the Flint water-related civil lawsuits has been reached, offering a state of Michigan-backed settlement of $600 million to parties who claim they were affected by the Flint water crisis.
The settlement has been agreed to by state...
August 17th, 20200LANSING — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced on Monday the final selection of 13 commissioners for the state’s first ever Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The commissioners were randomly selected by an independent accounting firm, Rehman LLC, from a final pool of 180...
July 30th, 20200DEARBORN — The Dearborn School Board of Education will be conducting a special study session on August 6 at 1 p.m. to discuss the three possible options recommended by the district's Reopen Committee for a return to school.
The meeting will be held at the Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette. Indoor gatherings in Michigan...
July 28th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer is set to give an update on COVID-19 at 2 p.m., Tuesday afternoon, as cases continue to rise in the state. Whitmer will be joined by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun.
Monday saw 488 confirmed cases with five deaths, bringing up the total...
July 18th, 20200DEARBORN — Governor Whitmer’s signed a new mask order on Friday to clarify how certain people did not have to wear masks in side of a store or public indoor space. This includes people who cannot medically tolerate a mask. The clarification may actually add to the confusion of dealing with customers that businesses face during...
July 17th, 20200
LANSING — Governor Whitmer signed an additional order that clarifies businesses may not assume an unmasked customer cannot medically tolerate a face covering, though they can accept a customer’s verbal explanation that they fall within a specified exception and do not have to.
It also requires public safety officers to wear a...
July 14th, 20200LANSING — In an another indication this month that Lansing grows concerned over the rates and spread of COVID-19 in Michigan, Governor Whitmer announced on Wednesday she will be extending both the state of emergency and the state of disaster.
“Over the past three weeks … our progress in suppressing the pandemic has...