News

U.S. Supreme Court justices Tuesday heard more than two hours of oral arguments over same-sex marriage lawsuits that involve two Hazel Park women. April DeBoer and her partner Jayne Rowse are optimistic about their chances. Their case challenging Michigan’s ban on gay marriage is linked with cases from Ohio, Tennessee …

A bill revamping the way teachers and administrators are evaluated is moving through the Michigan legislature. Under the measure, which cleared a Senate committee on a partisan vote, student growth would have less weight, dropping from 50-percent of an evaluation to 40-percent. In-classroom evaluations would play a role too. The …

A rulebook of sorts for landlords and tenants to follow if there is a bedbug infestation in a rental unit has been introduced in the Michigan Senate. The bill puts the onus on the tenant to comb through their rental unit to ensure there are no unwanted guests. If bedbugs …

Opponents of the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) told a Senate committee Tuesday the proposal is a license to discriminate, but supporters of the bill say it protects religious freedom. Christa and Jaime Contreras, a couple from Oak Park whose infant daughter was denied service by a pediatrician because …

The Michigan House has passed a nearly $38 billion budget that would keep state money from organizations like Planned Parenthood. The general government budget was approved Tuesday on a 59-51 vote. It includes language that blocks state contracts with organizations that provide elective abortions, abortion counseling or abortion referrals. It …

Republicans in the state House are struggling to find enough votes to change Michigan’s 37-year old no fault auto insurance law. The measure flew out of the state Senate in record time but has stalled in the lower chamber. It would remove lifetime benefits for crash victims in an attempt …

For the first time in three years, golf courses in the Upper Peninsula are getting an early start this Spring. The Portage Lake Golf Course opened this week and joins other U.P. golf courses that are starting the season earlier than the previous two years. Portage Lake Golf Course General …

  Here is a breakdown of all of the issues on local ballots during the May 5th Election. Statewide PROPOSAL 15-1 A proposal to amend the State Constitution to increase the sales/use tax from 6% to 7% to replace and supplement reduced revenue to the School Aid Fund and local …

A Manistique man was arrested in Illinois in connection to a fatal vehicle fire that killed three people in Schoolcraft County. Officers from the West Frankfort Police Department say Kenneth Daniel Brunke of Manistique was taken into custody Sunday after being identified as a person of interest during an investigation …

By moving their business to the downtown waterfront, expanding and adding jobs in the process, one Copper Country business is making an impact in their community. In recognition of that effort, Roy’s Pasties and Bakery has been awarded the 2015 Michigan Works! Association of Prosperity Award. Besides creating 13 news …