LANSING - The House and Senate Transportation committees could hold joint hearings on legislation to create the Detroit River International Crossing. Sen. Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he and Rep. Paul Opsommer (R-DeWitt), the House Transportation chair, have been discussing how they will handle the legislation in the wake of
LANSING - Michigan was one of 15 states and the District of Columbia to see its unemployment rate drop in December, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While Michigan has typically ranked first or second in national jobless reports for years, December's 11.7 percent unemployment rate placed the
LANSING - In his first State of the State Address that hammered home a commitment to actions that could help business, and with a headlining enthusiastic endorsement of the controversial Detroit River International Crossing, Gov. Rick Snyder called on all residents of the state to take an active role in helping rebuild Michigan. Snyder kept
LANSING - Michigan manufacturing companies pay a higher overall tax rate than other companies, officials with the Michigan Manufacturers Association said Tuesday, and to make the state more competitive the overall tax rate should drop to the national average that manufacturers pay. Meeting that goal could be helped if the state would eliminate its personal
LANSING - Major General Greg Vadnais, a former division commander who led troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia and in the Hurricane Katrina rescue effort, will assume the post of adjutant general and take command of the Michigan National Guard, Gov. Rick Snyder announced Tuesday. In that role, Vadnais (pronounced VAD-nay) will also serve as director
LANSING ? As earlier reported, Gov. Rick Snyder Tuesday signed an executive order splitting the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Quality into two separate departments. Executive Order 2011-1, the governor?s first executive order, creates a Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as separately functioning departments so each is
LANSING - It will be back to the future for Jan Winters, who will return as state employer in charge of labor relations with state employees for Gov. Rick Snyder after once holding the post for former Governor John Engler, Gongwer News Service has learned. Winters replaces Sharon Bommarito, who was an appointee of former
LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder's first full day on the job Monday included meetings with Budget Director John Nixon and Michael Finney, head of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Gov. Snyder reiterated in comments on WJR-AM and WWJ-AM that he planned to propose a two-year budget with the goal of having it signed into law
LANSING - Governor-elect Rick Snyder will keep Kirk Steudle as his Department of Transportation director and will promote Lt. Col. Kriste Etue to the top post on the Department of State Police. Steudle has been head of Transportation since 2006 and has been under fire from Republicans in recent years for his support of the
LANSING ? Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Friday that her administration has laid the foundation for the "Next Michigan" she described in her second inaugural address of 2007, where the state would have a diversified economy and better-educated workforce. Leaving office in 15 days after a wrenching eight years of economic upheaval, Granholm, continuing a series