News

Minimum wage employees in Michigan get a raise today. The revision in the state’s wage laws that was signed into law this spring mandates that hourly wage workers begin receiving $8.15 per hour, beginning today. Employees who earn tips must now be paid at least $3.10 per hour. Employers must …

The sale of the Upper Peninsula Power Company announced in January has been completed. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Partners has bought UPPCO for nearly $300 million from Integrys Energy Group. State and federal regulators have approved the sale. UPPCO general manager Keith Moyle will remain with the company as chief operating …

A major local construction project will hault its work in an effort to ease travel during the holiday weekend. The Michigan Department of Transportation says starting today at 3 p.m., work on M-26 near Ripley will have two lanes open between the Portage Lake Lift Bridge and Dollar Bay with …

The 25th annual Parade of Nations celebration at Michigan Tech is two weeks away and a special guest will be speaking at the event. Arun Gandhi, grandson of legendary civil rights activist Mahatma Gandhi, will give a public talk about the lessons he learned from his grandfather on September 12th …

In an effort to bring down the price of school supplies, a state lawmaker is proposing a school supply tax holiday. House Republican Joe Graves of Genesee County says his proposal will give both parents and teachers a break from paying Michigan six percent sales tax on essential school supplies …

If this upcoming winter in the Copper Country is anything like last year’s, it’s going to have a bigger effect on your money. The County Roads Association of Michigan says the price of salt has risen steadily over the past decade while revenues have been on a downward slide. The …

Law enforcement officers from 150 local police departments, sheriff’s offices and the Michigan State Police are continuing stepped up drunk driving and seat belt enforcement through the Labor Day holiday weekend. The federally funded extra patrols are part of the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, which began August …

The Michigan Republican party is accusing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer of violating state campaign finance laws. The GOP complaint, filed with the Department of State, charges that the Schauer campaign violated Michigan’s Campaign Finance Act by supporting Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Lisa Brown’s activities. Brown’s campaign committee recently paid …

The gay community has been hoping for a vote in Lansing to add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to Michigan’s civil rights law, but it’s yet to be determined whether that vote will happen. Those in the LGBT community would like to see movement on the legislation extending the …

The Houghton City Council has updated many of their policies, including a couple at last night’s meeting. Yesterday, the council approved a few changes to the city’s purchasing policy for municipal employees. City Manager Eric Waara says he decided that the changes be made so that the city’s purchasing policy …