Heirs to the fortune of the Boy Scouts founder — an architect and a bagpiper — purchased the Edenville Dam as an investment to avoid taxes, records show. For 14 years, the family trust clashed with government officials on taxes, regulations, fishing and other issues. Then came the rains.
Riley Beggin
Former reporter for Bridge.
Posted inMichigan Government
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends Michigan stay-at-home order through June 12
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends Michigan’s stay-home restrictions for a few more weeks, citing an uptick in coronavirus cases in a handful of counties in mid-Michigan and the west side of the state.
Posted inMichigan Government
It’s a long weekend. Can you hug Grandma under Michigan’s stay-home rules?
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has loosened restrictions on gatherings and retail stores ahead of Memorial Day weekend, but some confusion remains. Here’s what you can and can’t do. Spoiler alert: You may want to hold off on that hug.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan GOP calls for Nessel to step down from investigation into dam failure
Republicans say Michigan’s attorney general has a conflict of interest because she recently sued the owner of a failed dam over illegally drawing down water from Wixom Lake in 2018 and 2019, killing mussels.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan regulators moved fast on dangerous dam. To protect mussels.
In court papers, the owners of a dam that failed this week near Midland acknowledged it was considered unsafe for decades. But Michigan’s only action against the dam was a suit contending it lowered water and killed freshwater mussels.
Posted inMichigan Government
Judge sides with Whitmer in emergency powers standoff with Legislature
In a ruling that is likely to be appealed, a Court of Claims judge ruled that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can extend emergencies without GOP input under a 1945 law.
Posted inMichigan Government
Small gatherings, non-essential doctors' visits now allowed, Gov. Whitmer says
As coronavirus cases slow and economic fears grow, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is loosening some restrictions put in place to combat coronavirus.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Feds revoked dam’s license over safety issues. Then Michigan deemed it safe.
For a decade, safety regulators demanded improvements to a 95-year-old dam that failed this week. The repairs never came, and Michigan regulators deemed the dam in “fair condition.” One critic calls it a “catastrophic failure both of the dam and of our government at all levels.”
Posted inMichigan Government
Trump threatens Michigan funding over Benson absentee application plan
The president said he’d “hold up funding” for the state as it faces a $6.2 billion budget shortfall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Posted inMichigan Government
Jocelyn Benson orders Michigan to mail absentee applications to all voters
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office will use $4.5 million in CARES Act funding to send applications to 7.7 million registered voters. The plan is likely to be opposed by Republicans.