State News

The political jockeying around who’ll become the next U.S. District Attorney for our area continues. President Donald Trump had nominated Tom Leonard for the Michigan Western District job last fall. Leonard is a Republican, and is a former speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. He narrowly lost the 2018 …

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wants to add a third gender option to Michigan’s driver’s licenses. 13 other states have already added a gender-neutral choice to their IDs. Groups representing the LBGT community have been requesting the change since shortly after Benson was elected. Benson has made changes to …

The latest scam to hit our state targets those who have past-due tax bills. The victim receives a letter that appears to come from the government, threatening immediate action to seize property and other assets. To make the letter more credible, the scammer includes specific information about the tax debt …

Michigan’s two United States Senators have reacted cautiously to the drone attack that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani last week. In prepared statements, neither Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters expressed any sympathy for Soleimani… with Peters calling him a “notorious terrorist” and Stabenow saying he was “responsible for the deaths …

The first month of legal recreational marijuana business in Michigan produced around $6.5 million in retail sales. The Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency has now issued 54 recreational licenses, with about half of those for retail outlets. Only one retail license has been issued for the Upper Peninsula – the Fire …

The resolution of the General Motors strike helped Michigan’s unemployment rate fall a bit in November. The seasonally unadjusted rate dropped from 3.5 percent in October to 3.2 percent in November. The Upper Peninsula did not fare so well, as the rate rose from 3.6 percent to 4.2 percent. The …

Michigan’s economy is expected to slow a bit over the next three years. The Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency’s latest Economic Outlook and Budget Review is projecting growth of 1.8 percent this year, 1.7 percent next year, and 1.5 percent in 2022. That’s down from a 2.9 percent increase last year. …

Michigan’s population grew slightly last year, but remains shy of the all-time record. Estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau place the number of people who live in the state at 9,986,857. That’s a slim 2,785 increase over 2018. Michigan’s population peaked in 2004 at just over 10 million. It …

Miminum wage workers in Michigan will see an increase in their next paychecks. On Wednesday, Michigan’s minimum hourly standard rose to $9.65 per hour. The base pay for tipped workers – such as restaurant wait staff – rose to $3.67 per hour.  In 2018, a citizen initiative to increase the …

The Mackinac Bridge Authority has officially begun its phase-out of MacPass toll cards. The MacPass system will remain in place, but the cards are being replaced with window stickers. The stickers will be read electronically as your vehicle passes through the toll booth, with no need to roll down your …