Michigan News

A bill approved by the Michigan Legislature would let residents legally leave a vehicle running unattended on private property.

The bill cleared the Senate on a 30-6 vote Tuesday and goes to Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature. It was proposed after a Detroit-area man was ticketed $128 for leaving a car running in his driveway as the vehicle warmed up.

Environmentalists and their allies in Congress are stepping up their efforts to fight proposed cuts to federal Great Lakes funding and the EPA budget.

President Trump proposed deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget, as well as effectively eliminating federal money for Great Lakes restoration projects.  The Trump budget would shift the financial burden of maintaining the Great Lakes onto the eight states in the region.     

The 2017 Kids Count Data Book reveals that Michigan lags behind in nearly every aspect of child well-being. The report lists Michigan at 32nd among states for overall child well-being.

The report looks at health, education, economic well-being and family and community as part of a national effort to improve conditions for children and their families.

Republicans in Lansing are trying to roll back the state’s Medicaid expansion – but their legislation may be dead on arrival.

Governor Rick Snyder has been an advocate for the Healthy Michigan Medicaid expansion at home and in Washington, D.C.

But some Republicans in the state House want to close the expansion to all new enrollees beginning October 1^st. HB 4598 is currently waiting for its first committee hearing.

Enbridge Energy says it’s pressure testing the structural integrity of Line Five beneath the Straits of Mackinac. The company says the results appear to show the oil and gas pipeline does not pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes.

The company tested the first of two underwater pipes over the weekend.

Michigan has made major strides when it comes to the number of kids enrolled in state-funded preschool.

The state now ranks 15th in the country according to a new report from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).

The state’s Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) serves kids whose families make up to 250 percent of the federal poverty line. It enrolled almost 39,000 kids last year, which is a 64 percent increase from 2012. 

The fiercest rivalry in Michigan politics right now is between two candidates for governor who still have not actually announced they’re running.

We are seeing this rivalry play out between Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley in the nascent petition drive to make the state legislature part-time.

A controversial proposal to integrate behavioral healthcare with physical healthcare under management by private insurance companies is moving ahead, under a budget plan making its way through the state Legislature.

The new budget would require a pilot program  in Kent County, and allows the state to conduct up to three more pilot programs. 

While preparing for our "Sharing the Road" series, we asked Michigan Radio listeners to share some of their thoughts about improving bike safety in the state.

The state House passed controversial gun legislation today to get rid of the permit necessary to carry a concealed weapon.

Advocates say you already don’t need a permit to open carry.

Colleges are allowed to ban guns on their campuses.

There’s no end yet to the standoff between Governor Rick Snyder and the Legislature’s Republican leaders that’s delayed wrapping up the state budget. But they are talking again.

  A state House committee has adopted bills that would require local officials to help enforce federal immigration laws.

Two former Michigan State University football players were arraigned today on charges related to a sexual assault in January. Donnie Corley and Josh King are charged with forcing a woman to perform sexual acts on them during an on-campus party in January.

A third defendant, Demetric Vance, was arraigned yesterday.

The state is hammering out its budget. And lawmakers are having a sharp disagreement with the governor’s office over one of Michigan’s biggest price tags – the corrections budget. Both sides agree rehabilitation and lowering recidivism is the way to go. But they can’t agree on how much money to spend this year.

At stake are programs – like the Vocational Village in Ionia – that have helped lower the state’s incarceration rate.

One year ago today, nine bicyclists headed out for a 28-mile ride in Kalamazoo County. They were part of the Chain Gang – a group that has been organizing weekly rides since 1999. 

Some Democrats in the Legislature are calling for a law that would allow authorities to seize the firearms of people who threaten to commit suicide or hurt others.

Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio took swift action to kick three football players off the team once criminal charges against them were announced.

The three players face charges related to an alleged assault of a woman that took place on MSU's campus on January 16.

Dantonio says all players – and especially freshmen – have education "thrown at them" about how to act on campus.

A school reform plan implemented in Michigan in 2012 didn't actually improve schools.

That’s according to a new working paper published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The study looked at reforms implemented as part of the state's waiver from requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

New data from a nonpartisan think tank says Michigan would hit a financial stumbling block if the Republican replacement for the Affordable Care Act passes.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the new health care bill would cost Michigan more than $582 million to maintain expansion in the next four years, and more than $1 billion by 2023. 

A spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Rick Snyder says he's undecided about signing legislation that would require Michigan to create and sell an anti-abortion fundraising license plate.

The Republican-led Senate enrolled S.B. 163 Tuesday after it won mostly party-line approval in the Legislature.

Michigan State University police announced Tuesday morning that three of the school’s football players have been charged with sexual assault.

Powerful synthetic opioid street drugs have changed the way some law enforcement officials collect and handle drug evidence. 

Fentanyl and carfentinil are extremely powerful synthetic opiates sometimes used in street drugs that have made their way to Michigan. The drugs are especially dangerous because they can be absorbed through the air or through contact with the skin, according to Timothy Plancon, Special Agent in charge of the DEA's Detroit field office. 

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the crash in Kalamazoo County that left five bicyclists dead and four others seriously injured. The riders were all members of the Chain Gang, a group that organizes weekly rides in and around Kalamazoo. 

State lawmakers say they will look into reports the Michigan agency that handles child abuse and neglect cases fudged its numbers to make it appear it was complying with a court order.

Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed state budget includes a 20% cut to per pupil spending for virtual charter schools, but lawmakers in both the state House and Senate want to continue funding online schools at the same rate as traditional brick-and-mortar schools.

A lengthy order from a federal judge is allowing part of a wide-ranging Flint water crisis lawsuit to go forward. 

Plaintiffs are Flint residents Shari Guertin, her child and Diogenes Muse-Cleveland.  The suit claims a variety of state and local officials, government agencies, and private contractors’ actions caused their drinking water to become contaminated with lead and actively concealed the problem.

In the early morning hours of January 16, three football players allegedly assaulted a young woman at a party in an on-campus apartment.

That’s according to Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon, who announced she’s authorizing charges against the three men on Monday.

Their names won’t be released by the prosecutor’s office until they’re arraigned, a spokesman said. Michigan Radio reached out to the men’s attorneys, but they either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond.

State officials and health care providers called on Washington lawmakers to keep the state’s Medicaid expansion Monday.

From doctors to the state budget director, the message is clear. Let the state keep its Healthy Michigan Medicaid expansion. In order to do that, the federal government needs to keep paying for it.

But right now lawmakers in Washington are churning out plans that don’t seem to coincide with this goal.

Tuesday, state lawmakers will consider a package of bills  aimed at reducing Michigan’s growing problems with prescription painkillers.

Opioids, like hydrocodone and oxycodone, are commonly prescribed for pain management.