Michigan News

The state Senate leader says he wants to start planning now to allow some businesses to resume operations amid the coronavirus crisis.  Rick Pluta reports.

The Legislature convened Tuesday to adopt a resolution extending Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency authority to address the COVID-19 health crisis.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

State lawmakers will return to Lansing today for the first time since March 17th.  They expect to vote on a resolution to extend Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers to deal with the coronavirus crisis.  Rick Pluta explains.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the doors to school buildings are locked for the rest of this school year.  This is not a surprise.  It just makes permanent an earlier order that temporarily closed schools.  That was to buy time to come up with plans to address the rapid spread of the coronavirus.  But the governor says it won’t be safe anytime soon for students and teachers to return to school.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has asked the Legislature to extend her authority to deal with the coronavirus crisis.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign an executive order this week with more details on the state’s plans for schools amid the COVID-19 outbreak.  As we hear from Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta, schools have been closed since March 16th.

School officials will have to make some tough decisions very soon about the rest of the school year.  One of them is whether to send layoff notices to teachers and other school staff who aren’t working.  That would save money for later in case the school year is extended to make up for days lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  School officials have sent a letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature.  They’re asking the state to provide some certainty to parents, school staff, and students.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed a new executive order that further limits gatherings of people.  As Rick Pluta reports, the order took effect at midnight and lasts until April 13th. 

An Eastern Michigan University graduate is stuck out of the country and in quarantine amid the global coronavirus pandemic.  As Daniel Boothe reports, a Muskegon woman is begging for help in bringing her 23-year-old son home from Peru.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer continues to issue emergency orders that close public places in an effort to contain the spread of the new coronavirus

The governor closed schools for three weeks with the expectation that they would re-open April 6th.  That order can be extended and that now appears likely.

That leaves students, families, administrators, and teachers in limbo.  And they’re wondering how to ensure students are getting the education they deserve under this new reality.

We have more from Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta. 

A state board has approved $20 million in grants and loans to help small businesses affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.  As Rick Pluta tells us, the money is largely directed toward businesses ordered to shut down or scale back their operations. 

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed more executive orders Wednesday to address the COVID-19 outbreak in Michigan.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

There are 11 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Michigan.  That brings the total number to 65, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.  As Rick Pluta tells us, there is still a shortage of kits to test for the disease.

Attorney General Dana Nessel says her office will guard against profiteers who use the coronavirus outbreak to gouge consumers on the costs of health and hygiene supplies.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

The official count of people infected with the new coronavirus in Michigan is up to 53.  As we hear from Rick Pluta, state officials are looking for more ways to discourage large public gatherings and slow the spread of the virus.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says gatherings of 100 or more people should be cancelled or postponed.  She says businesses should relax their sick leave policies.  As we hear from Rick Pluta, these recommendations are part of her response to the first reported cases of COVID-19 in the state.

Michigan helped push former Vice President Joe Biden closer to the Democratic nomination Tuesday with a decisive win over Senator Bernie Sanders.  For Sanders, this was a stark and bitter change from four years ago, when Michigan resurrected his faltering campaign for president.  Rick Pluta has more.

President Trump delivered his latest State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was selected to give the Democratic rebuttal.  The governor delivered her response at East Lansing High School, which is attended by her two daughters.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivered the official Democratic Party response to the State of the Union address.  Rick Pluta reports. 

Governor Gretchen Whitmer spent at least part of her weekend working on the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.  She will deliver the response Tuesday evening following the President’s speech.  Rick Pluta has more.

The State Transportation Commission has given the go-ahead to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s plan to sell bonds to finance Michigan’s most urgently needed road repairs.  But, as we hear from Rick Pluta, she says bonding does not solve the entire problem.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she’s ready to go-it-alone to come up with money to pay for road repairs.  That’s if Republicans won’t support her proposal for a fuel tax increase.  That was the message Whitmer delivered in her second State of the State speech last night.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

A liberal advocacy group has taken an early step to put a proposed amendment to the state constitution on the ballot this year.  As we hear from Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta. it would place new controls on lobbying state elected officials.

Republican leaders in the Legislature say they are ready to adopt a petition-initiated bill to place new restrictions on abortion.  Rick Pluta tells us Republicans are looking to press the limits of the Roe versus Wade decision.

A state lawmaker from Ann Arbor has called for adding a new protection for people seeking housing in Michigan.  He says people should not be denied a house or apartment based on where they get the money to pay the rent.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

Trust – or the lack of it – is holding up a deal to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts to rural hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.  A deal seemed close Thursday, but the state Senate Republican leader says he’s lost faith that Governor Gretchen Whitmer would hold up her end of any bargain.  And so, he wants a new state law to seal the deal.  We have more from Rick Pluta.

Some Republicans in the state House want to limit the governor’s ability to move money around within state budgets.  They passed a bill out of a state House committee Wednesday.  Cheyna Roth has more.

Lying to your landlord about needing an emotional support animal could become a crime in the state.  As Cheyna Roth reports, bills in the state House would make it a misdemeanor.

A state lawmaker says Michigan’s hate crime law is overdue for an update.  State Senator Adam Hollier says it’s time to add violence or threats based on sexual orientation or gender identification as a deterrent to hate crimes.  Rick Pluta reports.