BY KEN COLEMAN, MICHIGAN ADVANCE MICHIGAN—Chanting “Clean water is what we demand,” “Water is a right” and “No justice, no peace,” dozens of people marched to Flint City Hall on Thursday to demand “justice and accountability” as the Flint water crisis turns 10 years old. “This march is not just about remembering the past; it’s about shaping our future,” said Claire McClinton of Flint. “We must stand together to ensure that no community ever suffers the same fate as Flint.” Residents, activists and researchers have described the Flint water crisis as one of the most egregious cases of environme ..read more

A law sponsored by Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is helping patients compare prices for different prescription drugs at different pharmacies—saving some thousands of dollars. MICHIGAN—US Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) said there’s only one thing that Americans are often asked to buy where they don’t know the price tag until they get up to the checkout counter.  And that’s prescription drugs. “Everything else, whether it’s a car or a gallon of milk, you can comparison shop and then make an educated decision,” Slotkin told a group of older Michiganders during a roundtable discussion in Lan ..read more

BY ANNA LIZ NICHOLS, MICHIGAN ADVANCE MICHIGAN—There is no law on the books in Michigan that expressly criminalizes engaging in sexual conduct with a dead person. And that is an oversight by elected officials and a loophole that must be fixed in order to treat individuals with respect in every phase of their life, state Sen. Veronica Klinefelt (D-Eastpointe) told media at the state Capitol Wednesday after announcing the introduction of legislation to criminalize necrophilia. “I was shocked to find out that necrophilia is not against the law in Michigan,” Klinefelt said. “I don’t know how commo ..read more

BY KEN COLEMAN, MICHIGAN ADVANCE MICHIGAN—A day ahead of the National Football League annual draft being held in Detroit, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 union workers held a press conference highlighting their importance to the Motor City’s success in attracting huge events. “Arena workers have been working hard to ensure that the NFL Draft experience is one of a kind for all who will be attending. Arena workers are the backbone of Detroit,” Pam Owens-Moore, a Local 1 vice president, said during a news conference on Wednesday. “Their hard work and dedication has made the ..read more

DETROIT—A state investigator testified Wednesday that he considers former President Donald Trump and his White House chief of staff to be uncharged co-conspirators in a scheme to claim that he won Michigan in the 2020 election, despite Democrat Joe Biden’s clear victory. Trump and Mark Meadows were among the names mentioned during the cross-examination of Howard Shock, whose work led to forgery charges against more than a dozen people in Michigan. A judge in the state capital is holding hearings to determine if there is enough evidence to order a trial. A defense attorney, Duane Silverthorn, o ..read more

Lawmakers say Michigan is facing a ‘child care crisis.’ But a series of bills introduced this month would help to make child care (much) more affordable for thousands of families. MICHIGAN—A package of eight bills introduced this week by Democratic lawmakers in the state House and Senate aims to offer a comprehensive plan that would make child care more affordable for Michigan families, as well as provide more support for childcare professionals. Lawmakers are calling it the “Child Care for All” package. And if it passes into law, thousands of Michigan families would soon catch a significant t ..read more

BY KYLE DAVIDSON, MICHIGAN ADVANCE MICHIGAN—Parents of victims and survivors of the Oxford High School and Michigan State University shootings on Tuesday drove to Lansing and called in over Zoom, sharing their stories and calling on lawmakers to continue the push to implement and educate residents on safe storage for weapons. Members of the House Education Committee took testimony on House Bills 5450 and 5451, which would require public schools to distribute information on the best practices for storing firearms, including the requirements of Michigan’s safe storage law and information on wher ..read more

The Biden administration announced a new rule Tuesday to expand overtime pay for around 4 million lower-paid salaried employees nationwide. The regulation will increase salary thresholds required to make workers exempt from overtime pay laws.  In other words, salaried employees who work more than 40 hours per week and make under a certain amount annually—at a higher threshold than before—will be required to receive overtime pay from their employers. The new rule does not change standards for hourly employees, who are already protected by overtime regulations.  The present annual thre ..read more

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted on Tuesday to ban noncompete agreements—those pesky clauses that employers often force their workers to sign which effectively bar them from starting their own business or finding a new job in the same field within a certain area or timeframe after leaving their current job. An estimated 30 million American workers are currently affected by noncompete clauses—that’s roughly 18% of the US workforce. These clauses have been shown to lower workers’ pay and restrict their opportunity and mobility.  The final rule agreed upon on Tuesday bans new noncomp ..read more

Michigan lawmakers and teachers are rallying behind President Joe Biden—and reflecting on a rough period for public schools after Trump put Betsy DeVos in charge. LANSING—With about six months until absentee ballots start arriving in millions of mailboxes across Michigan ahead of the November presidential election, state lawmakers and teachers are drawing a sharp contrast between President Joe Biden and ex-President Donald Trump. And when it comes to which candidate is more focused on providing support for Michigan’s public schools, Biden and Trump’s track records speak for themselves, said Mi ..read more