DETROIT, Michigan, July 11 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan issued the following statement by Legal Director Dan Korobkin: The Detroit Free Press reported this morning that Michael Oliver, a 25-year-old Black man from Detroit, was wrongfully arrested because of a false face recognition match last year. This now appears to be the second known case of someone being wrongfully arrested in the United States as a result of face recognition technology. The American Civil Liberties  more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 10 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan issued the following news release on July 9: A coalition of civil rights organizations filed a class action lawsuit in federal court to make water affordable and permanently end water shutoffs for Detroit residents. The city's water rates are among the highest in the nation. Combined with a high poverty rate, especially among Black Detroiters, many families are unable to pay their water bills, leaving them at risk of l  more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 9 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan issued the following news release on July 8: A coalition of civil rights organizations fighting to end water shutoffs in Detroit and ensure water is affordable to city residents had the following response to Governor Gretchen Whitmer's executive order issued that extends the moratorium on water shutoffs to the end of the year. "While the Governor's executive order extends needed temporary relief for Detroiters, it does  more

TOLEDO, Ohio, July 10 -- The Alliance for the Great Lakes issued the following news release: This morning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its partners released the 2020 Seasonal Forecast of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) for Lake Erie. NOAA predicted a bloom severity of 4.5 and could possibly range between 4 and 5.5. In 2015, the Governors of Ohio and Michigan, along with the Premier of Ontario, set a public goal of reducing nutrient pollution by 40% by 2025, with 202  more

FARMINGTON HILLS, Michigan, July 11 -- The American Concrete Institute Foundation issued the following news: The ACI Foundation's Strategic Development Council (SDC) will host its first virtual Technology Forum on August 25th and 27th 2020. The SDC collaborates across the concrete industry to address technical challenges within the industry and hosts forums for the introduction and nurturing of new technologies. SDC Technology Forum 48 will consist of two separate webinar sessions. Each sessi  more

FARMINGTON HILLS, Michigan, July 7 -- The American Concrete Institute issued the following news release: The American Concrete Institute (ACI) announces the launch of its Nondestructive Testing Specialist - Concrete Strength certification program. The program will certify individuals who successfully pass the ACI examinations by demonstrating the knowledge and ability to properly perform specified nondestructive tests on hardened concrete. The nondestructive testing program is the newest in a   more

FARMINGTON HILLS, Michigan, July 7 -- The American Concrete Institute issued the following news release: Due to local, state, and federal regulations, and to protect the health and safety of attendees, the American Concrete Institute announces the transition of the ACI Concrete Convention from an in-person event in Raleigh, NC, USA, this October, to a 100% virtual event. The ACI Virtual Concrete Convention will be held over similar dates at the end of October. Attendees to the ACI Virtual Con  more

WASHINGTON, July 8 -- The American Enterprise Institute issued the following report by Andrew P. Kelly, senior vice president for strategy and policy at the University of North Carolina System Office, and Rooney Columbus , doctoral student in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan: Key Points * COVID-19 presents unique challenges for colleges and universities, constraining their ability to offer core services safely and threatening their fi  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 9 -- The American Human Rights Council issued the following news release: The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) calls upon Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reconsider its recent directive to force international students who are currently studying and in the US to depart the US if their college transformed to on line-education as a temporary measure due to covi-19 pandemic crisis. Bizarrely in the middle of a pandemic, students are asked to find altern  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 7 -- The American Human Rights Council issued the following news release on July 6: The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) joins the international community and all peace and justice loving people across the globe in condemning the Israeli plans to annex more Palestinian occupied land in the West Bank. This anticipated Israeli decision is a blatant violation of international law and of a long list of United Nations Resolutions related to Palestine. In 1967 Israel  more

ARLINGTON, Virginia, July 11 -- Americans for Prosperity issued the following statement by Board Member Mark Holden: Americans for Prosperity (AFP) joined a broad coalition in support of criminal justice reform recommendations released earlier this year from the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration. The first round of bills drawn from the Task Force recommendations will soon be up for consideration in committee in the state House. AFP encourages lawmakers to support thes  more

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, July 8 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana issued the following news release: Ahead of tomorrow's Smart and Sustainable Cities Committee hearing on an ordinance to ban the use of facial recognition technology and increase oversight of the city's use of surveillance tools, the ACLU of Louisiana and the Eye on Surveillance Coalition pointed to new evidence demonstrating the inherent racial bias of facial recognition technology. The ordinance is scheduled to   more

WASHINGTON, July 9 -- The Center for American Progress issued the following news release: A new issue brief (https://www.americanprogress.org/?p=487426) from the Center for American Progress shows how partisan gerrymandering has allowed officials in a handful of states to limit voting rights, making it harder for voters who oppose them to cast a ballot. The issue brief examines the only four states where, after the 2018 elections, the party that won a majority of state legislative seats receiv  more

MONTGOMERY, Alabama, July 8 -- Children's Rights issued the following news release: Children's rights advocates sent a letter of concern urging leaders in Alabama to take sweeping and immediate action to protect foster youth placed in facilities operated by Sequel Youth and Family Services across the state. Four for-profit Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs) - Sequel Owens Cross Roads, Sequel Montgomery, Sequel Tuskegee and Sequel Courtland and the state agencies responsible fo  more

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, July 7 -- The Campaign Legal Center issued the following news release: U.S. District Judge Janet Neff dismissed the lawsuits attacking the voter-approved constitutional amendment that established the Michigan's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The amendment puts voters - not politicians - in charge of drawing state Legislative and U.S. Congressional election maps through a fair, impartial, and transparent process, with robust public input. "It is time for   more

WASHINGTON, July 9 -- Clean Water Action issued the following statement by Michigan Director Mary Brady-Enerson: "Governor Whitmer has continued to show strong leadership in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her order extending the water reconnection order at least through the end of the year is absolutely necessary to ensure that Michigan residents have access to safe, clean, affordable water for drinking and hygiene. "Michigan's water affordability problems did not begin with this pandemic  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 8 -- Comparative Studies in Society and History, a peer-reviewed journal that says it features change in human societies through time, from the Society for the Comparative Study of Society and History, published research articles on the following topics in its July 2020 edition: Icons of Fascism and Their Afterlives: * In the Name of the Cross: Christianity and Anti-Semitic Propaganda in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy * Ghosts and Miracles: The Volkswagen as Imperial  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 8 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: Planet Money, the irreverent and informative NPR podcast, is convening a Summer School starting on July 8, "turning it's podcast feed into a classroom for the masses, for anyone who wants to see the world through the lens of an economist." Ford School economics professors Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers will offer their "fresh, modern take on old economic principles," as lecturers and story  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 8 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: Ford School PhD candidate Matthew Alemu (MPP '09) says that while he appreciates support from white friends when racist incidents occur, something deeper needs to occur. In an opinion piece in the Detroit Free Press https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2020/07/07/solidarity-not-acknowledging-your-white-privilege-but-relinquishing/5375261002/ on July 7, he notes that "possessing privi  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 11 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: Ford School Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali has been in the press recently commenting on a range of national security issues that have been in the news, including the president's daily briefing and the cross-border tensions between India and China. In an opinion piece for The Hill (link is external), Ali and Ford School graduate A'ndre Gonawela (MPP, '19) argue that the C  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 10 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: Newly-appointed Ford School collegiate professor of public policy Celeste Watkins-Hayes has received two awards from the American Sociological Association for her book Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality (2019, University of California Press). The ASA's Section on the Sociology of Sex and Gender bestowed its 2020 Distinguished Book Award recognizing the book's s  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 9 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: International students are full members of our Ford School community. We support efforts by the University of Michigan and other schools to reverse or substantially change the short-sighted, egregious policy announced yesterday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. I understand the stress this new uncertainty is causing. The Ford School is committed to working with our international stud  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 11 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: On July 2nd, the Labor Department reported that 4.8 million jobs had been added, and unemployment stood at 11% - still higher than it was at the peak of the Great Recession (https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/11/unemployment-rose-higher-in-three-months-of-covid-19-than-it-did-in-two-years-of-the-great-recession/) in 2008 -- with 17.8 million Americans still out of work. Ford School  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 11 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: The COVID-19 crisis is affecting an unprecedented number of people at the same time. As the pandemic evolved in April and May, a group of researchers, including Ford School professor Ann Lin, undertook a survey in over a dozen locations around the world which looked at individual attitudes and behaviors. The study looked at how people feel about the disease and prevention efforts, anxiety, vac  more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 11 -- The Detroit Medical Center issued the following news release: A report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), examines the coronavirus outbreak at skilled nursing facilities in Detroit. DMC was one of the partners in this collaborative project with the Detroit health department and the Centers for Disease control. The initiative from the DMC was led by Dr. Teena Chopra and her team. Dr. Chopra is the Director of Hospital Epidemiology, In  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 11 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the U.S. Department of Education has renewed a 5-year, $4.6 million grant to support the University of Michigan's Education Policy Initiative Training Program in Causal Inference in Education Policy Research (CIEPR). First funded in 2015, the focus of this program is to prepare doctoral students to design, implement, and analyze research to causally   more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 10 -- The Journal of Clinical Investigation-Insight, a peer-reviewed journal that says it features preclinical and clinical research studies from the American Society for Clinical Investigation, published research articles, including the following topics, in its July 9, 2020 edition: Research Articles: * Deep neural network analyses of spirometry for structural phenotyping of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease * AMPA/kainate glutamate receptor antagonists prevent  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 7 -- The Journal of Personality Disorders, a journal that says it features diagnosis and treatment of personality disorder from the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, published research articles on the following topics in its June 2020 edition: * How to Assess Recovery in Borderline Personality Disorder: Psychosocial Functioning and Satisfaction With Life in a Sample of Former DBT Study Patients * A Comparison of the Youth Psychopathic Trait  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 8 -- Michigan Association of School Boards issued the following statement by Executive Director Don Wotruba in response to the announcement of a lawsuit against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Education Department for guidance around the distribution of CARES Act funds to public and private schools: "On behalf of the Michigan Association of School Boards' more than 4,000 members, we support and appreciate the action being taken by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney   more

LANSING, Michigan, July 7 -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. issued the following news release: $15 million in economic assistance for Michigan farms and agricultural processors to mitigate risks of the COVID-19 virus across the state's food production industry gained approval from the Michigan Strategic Fund, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) announced. "Michigan's food and agriculture sector h  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 7 -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. issued the following news release: The Ann Arbor Art Center (A2AC) is working to create a series of murals in downtown Ann Arbor through a new crowdfunding campaign, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Ann Arbor Art Center announced. The campaign is being offered through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity. If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 by July 31, the project will win  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 7 -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. issued the following news release: The Michigan Strategic Fund approved a $100 million program that will provide grants to small businesses around Michigan working to recover from the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 virus, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced. "The COVID-19 virus has especially impacted Michigan's food and agriculture sector. This investment will provide critical resources to ensure the saf  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 10 -- The Michigan League for Public Policy issued the following news release: Vaccination rates among toddlers in Michigan were at their highest in 2017, but have been declining for two years straight, which is cause for concern according to a new report from the Michigan League for Public Policy and Data Driven Detroit. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rates have dipped even further during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating higher risk for the   more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 9 -- The Michigan Nurses Association issued the following news release: After the University of Michigan passed a new budget, the All Campus Labor Council - a coalition of unions representing nearly 15,000 workers employed at the University of Michigan - is calling on the University to unequivocally commit to use its endowment to avoid making any further cuts in the short term and to develop a plan to reverse previous cuts to jobs and benefits in the long term. Dr. Ho  more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 11 -- The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund issued the following news release on July 9: A coalition of civil rights organizations filed a class action lawsuit in federal court to make water affordable and permanently end water shutoffs for Detroit residents. The city's water rates are among the highest in the nation. Combined with a high poverty rate, especially among Black Detroiters, many families are unable to pay their water bills, leaving them at risk of los  more

TOLEDO, Ohio, July 11 -- The Ohio Environmental Council issued the following news release on July 9: This morning the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its partners released the 2020 Seasonal Forecast of Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) for Lake Erie. NOAA predicted a bloom severity of 4.5 and could possibly range between 4 and 5.5. In 2015, the Governors of Ohio and Michigan, along with the Premier of Ontario, set a public goal of reducing nutrient pollution by 40% by 2025,   more

ARLINGTON, Virginia, July 10 -- Center for Naval Analysis issued the following news release: CNA President and CEO Katherine McGrady announced that Prof. Odest Chadwicke Jenkins is joining the CNA Board of Trustees. Jenkins is a professor of computer science and engineering and associate director of the Robotics Institute at the University of Michigan. "Professor Jenkins's knowledge of computer science and robotics is a vital asset as we look toward future technology, and I am delighted he is  more

WASHINGTON, July 10 -- Public Funds Public Schools issued the following news on July 9: Public Funds Public Schools (PFPS) commends the Attorneys General of several states for filing a lawsuit yesterday to block the Trump Administration's attempt to divert critically needed emergency federal funds from the nation's public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit, Michigan, et al. v. DeVos, challenges a July 1 regulation imposed by the U.S. Department of Education to inflate the amounts  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 7 -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers issued the following news: The National Association of Manufacturers urged President Donald Trump to lift a June 22 executive order that suspended new work visas and prevents foreigners from seeking work in the U.S. "We urge you to lift the restrictions in the June 22 proclamation and to work with Congress to identify ways to ensure these visa programs continue to provide benefits to American workers and the U.S. economy," Ja  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 10 -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers issued the following news: Time to pay even closer attention to workforce readiness, strategic partnerships, experts say The economic challenges brought forth by COVID-19 are causing a more intense focus in manufacturing on the need for the kind of alacrity achieved with digital tools and the kind of digital savvy achieved with strong partnerships. Shop floor workers want tools that provide instant feedback--especially when   more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 6 -- The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments issued the following news release: SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, announces that Monday, July 6 is an Ozone Action day in Southeast Michigan. This is the second Ozone Action day in a row. According to Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) meteorologists, the stagnant air mass remains. Higher humidity and light winds will keep the stagnant air here in Southeast Michigan, making condi  more

WASHINGTON, July 8 -- The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities issued the following news: There's no question that the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities members create and share valuable resources with others in the network. Each month, the Alliance Library identifies the most accessed resources from its collection. Thank you to all who have shared their materials during this uncertain and challenging time. A special thank you to our members included in this issue: Children   more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 7 -- The United Automobile Workers issued the following news: Union members in the public sector are once again under attack and need our support. The Snyder-appointed Civil Service Commission is using the cover of a global pandemic to engage in underhanded union busting targeted at State of Michigan workers. This is not only an attack on dedicated state employees, but also their ability to provide quality public services to the people of Michigan. At a time when state  more