LANSING - Michiganders no longer will confront cigarette smoke in restaurants and bars starting in May after the Legislature's passage Thursday of legislation making it illegal to smoke in most workplaces. Passage of the bill was a bitter defeat for the Michigan Restaurant Association, which had successfully fought the concept for years, contending restaurant owners
WASHINGTON - U.S. House lawmakers Friday approved legislation that would make historic changes to the government's oversight of U.S. financial markets and would revolutionize the way businesses and consumers deal with financial products. A year after a cataclysmic financial crisis threatened to take down world economies, House lawmakers voted 223-202 to pass the largest overhaul
LANSING - Local exchange carriers could charge long distance providers for the use of their networks on intrastate long distance calls no more than what the federal government allows carriers to charge on interstate long-distance calls under a bill unanimously passed Wednesday by the Michigan Senate. Companies with more than 250,000 customers already are limited
LANSING - A jobs development proposal outlined by President Barack Obama could help the state propose a budget that does not need layoffs of police officers, firefighters and teachers, Gov, Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday. Speaking to reporters at a press conference on energy manufacturing grants Granholm did not offer details of how her budget for
LANSING - Five small manufacturing companies will split $15.5 million in federal stimulus awards to help them develop green energy systems and parts manufacturing, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced Wednesday. The companies will make everything from tanks, to auto parts to boats, to manufacturing solar shingles, to wind turbines and windmills. The governor's office contends the
LANSING - The Michigan Legislature moved Tuesday toward a ban on sending or reading a text message while driving as the full House and Senate Transportation Committee approved legislation to make the practice a traffic violation. Supporters of the bill said action is long overdue in Michigan to combat what they called a dangerously distracting
ANN ARBOR - Four more Michigan companies recently split $924,000 in investments from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund - Mandy & Pandy, Algal Scientific, Axenic Dental, and RealBio Technology. To date, 38 Michigan companies have received seed money from the Fund, a collaborative effort of Michigan?s SmartZones. ?The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund is a great
LANSING ? Dan Lohrmann, chief technology officer for the state of Michigan, has been named by Computerworld as one of the top 100 IT Leaders for 2010. Lohrmann, 46, was Michigan's chief security officer for many years, and his resume includes a stint at the National Security Agency. He's also a blogger and an author.
GRAND RAPIDS - On Tuesday, Van Andel Institute cut the ribbon on its eight-story, $178 million, 240,000 square foot Phase II expansion, increasing the number of laboratories from the current 18 to more than 50, and providing the capacity for another 550 high paying white collar jobs. The expanded facility creates economic and scientific opportunity
HOLLAND - Twice as many education and health care employers are planning to increase their information technology staff during the next six months as did during the last six months, reports a new survey by Paragon Recruiting. Manufacturing companies are least likely to be adding IT workers. Overall the hiring trends for the next half