LANSING - Private insurance companies would not be able to increase premiums on customers because they get sick and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan would have to use its reserves to cover its own costs or to help out those who cannot afford insurance under a plan unveiled Wednesday by Senate Health Policy Committee
LANSING - The Senate Economic Development Committee on Wednesday approved three bills aimed at making the state friendly to industrial parks or smart zones. SB 1203 would allow a local government with a technology park to join together with another municipality without the park to designate the joint area as a technology park, creating a
WASHINGTON DC - A Silicon Valley entrepreneur has been chosen to run the new National Cyber Security Center, an agency charged with coordinating efforts to protect the federal government's computer networks from cyberattacks, according to published reports. Rod Beckstr�m, 47, is expected to be appointed to the post Thursday and report directly to Michael Chertoff,
LANSING - With the Michigan House Energy and Technology Committee poised to report legislation this week that would implement a renewable portfolio standard and amend the state's electric choice program in the process, the Customer Choice Coalition launched radio ads Monday opposing the electric choice changes. But supporters of the changes said the group is
ANN ARBOR - With the housing market still skidding, consumers tightening their belts and the job market clearly weakening, the first half of this year will continue to be tough for the U.S. economy. But it gets better later this year and next, University of Michigan economists predicted Tuesday. "The economy is clearly in a
LANSING - The Small Business Association of Michigan on Monday released its new entrepreneurial legislative agenda to expand support and investment in small businesses. The Entrepreneurial Policy Agenda is based in part on the findings of SBAM?s Small Business Foundation of Michigan?s recently issued fourth annual Entrepreneurship Score Card. The Score Card consists of 128
MOUNT PLEASANT - Central Michigan University Research Corporation's Board of Directors has selected former Dow executive Ken Van Der Wende as the new CEO of its research park. He starts April 1. Van Der Wende comes to CMU-RC with more than three decades of experience with The Dow Chemical Company, most recently having served as
LANSING - The National Lieutenant Governors Association, in a resolution adopted Thursday, called on all of the Great Lakes states to adopt the Great Lakes Compact. The lieutenant governors also called on the three remaining presidential candidates to lay out their proposals for preserving the lakes. The resolution, sponsored by Lt. Governor John Cherry, Wisconsin
SAN FRANCISCO - More than half of IT professionals plan to increase their spending on security in 2008, whether that means more resources, more products or more services. A survey of IT professionals conducted by InsightExpress for Cisco Systems found that three out of five IT professionals plan to increase IT spending this year, with
WASHINGTON - One of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's most prominent Real ID cheerleaders made a more timid than usual push on Tuesday for states to adopt the controversial identification card standards. Stewart Baker, the department's assistant secretary for policy, has touted what he perceives as the privacy-protective, identity theft-preventive features of the congressionally