DETROIT, Michigan, July 15 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan issued the following news release on July 14: The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld that local clerks must receive absentee ballots by Election Day in order to be counted. This means all eligible Michigan voters must mail or drop off their absentee ballot in time for their clerk to receive it by the Aug. 4 Primary. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Michigan, Arnold & Porter, and Goodman Acker vowed to appeal  more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 17 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan issued the following news release: The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU) is calling for an investigation into a jury tampering incident involving a Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) detective and a sitting juror who texted each other during deliberations in a criminal trial, according to the detective's court testimony. The ACLU sent a letter, with the corresponding testimony transcript, to the Gran  more

FLINT, Michigan, July 18 -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan issued the following news release: Flint residents sued the Flint City Clerk for violating their absentee voting rights, as guaranteed in the state Constitution, because its local office is closed to the public, which denies registered voters their right to vote by absentee ballot in person. Within hours of the lawsuit being filed Thursday evening, Flint City Clerk Inez Brown indicated that her office would open on Mond  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 17 -- The Altarum Institute issued the following news: Altarum's Program to Improve Eldercare has designed a survey of nursing home residents on the impact of Covid-19. We'd be grateful to have your help in regards to disseminating the survey link, along with a brief set of instructions, to interested nursing homes and to residents and their families. Many thanks to Consumer Voice, AMDA, Leading Age Michigan, AHCA, the Pioneer Network, The Eden Alternative and ombudsm  more

WASHINGTON, July 16 -- America First Policies issued the following news release: As part of its "Great America Comeback" tour, America First Policies is debuting its "America Back to Work" ad, featuring Vice President Michael R. Pence. The ad is part of the group's $4 million cable and broadcast buy and will run until July 22nd nationally. America First Policies began its "Great American Comeback Tour" with special guest, Vice President Pence in June, with its first two events Pennsylvania a  more

FARMINGTON HILLS, Michigan, July 14 -- The American Concrete Institute Foundation issued the following news: The ACI Foundation has announced the establishment of The Advancing Organizational Excellence Fellowship. The new fellowship, sponsored by Advancing Organizational Excellence (AOE), honors Wendy O. Ward, a member of the AOE team for more than 10 years. She passed away at the early age of 32 from breast cancer. During her career, she was known throughout the concrete industry as a leadin  more

FARMINGTON HILLS, Michigan, July 17 -- The American Concrete Institute issued the following news release: The inaugural American Concrete Institute (ACI) Resource Center will open next month in Southern California. The ACI Resource Center will coordinate with ACI chapters and sponsoring groups to offer direct, on-demand access to all certification and educational offerings from the Institute. To help assist the industry and meet the growing demand for further access to ACI knowledge, the Insti  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 14 -- The American Human Rights Council issued the following news release: The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) commends Governor C. Whitmer and state of Michigan health officials for mandating that everyone wear a face mask while indoors and outdoors in crowded places. This is critical in order to help reduce and contain the spread of Covid-19. Unfortunately, many people rushed to free themselves from complying with the basic health precautions and resumed a n  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 17 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: The Ford School is pleased to announce that political scientist Jenna Bednar will be joining the faculty as a professor of public policy with tenure. Bednar is also a professor of political science, as well as a research professor with the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research. She continues her work as the Edie N. Goldenberg Endowed Director for the Michigan in Wash  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 17 -- Child Development, a journal from the Society for Research in Child Development that provides research for child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychiatric social workers, specialists in early childhood education, educational psychologists, special education teachers, published research articles, including the following topics, in its July/August 2020 edition: EMPIRICAL ARTICLES: * Cognitive Correlates of the Covariance in Reading and Arithmetic Fluency  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 17 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: This year's Worldwide Ford School Spirit Day on July 9, gathered nearly 150 alumni, current students, faculty, and staff located across the country and as far away as New Zealand for a discussion to better understand and take action on issues of racial justice. Dean Michael S. Barr virtually facilitated a distinguished panel of Ford School alumni, which included: * Dr. Menna Demessie, PhD '10,  more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 17 -- The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy issued the following news: At the July 16 meeting of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Susan Collins, Ford School Dean from 2007-2017, was appointed the University of Michigan's provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.. Her appointment is effective immediately and runs through June 30, 2022. "From the time of her appointment as acting provost in January and later as interim, she has provide  more

MIDLAND, Michigan, July 14 -- The Mackinac Center for Public Policy issued the following news release: Some public employers in Michigan must now obtain direct consent from their employees before withholding any union dues from employee paychecks. This is thanks to a rule change issued by the Michigan Civil Service Commission and recommended by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's Workers for Opportunity initiative. "Michigan joins a growing number of states that are working to further prot  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 15 -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. issued the following news release: With microloan funds still available, the Michigan Entrepreneur Resilience Fund (MERF) has already processed 113 microloans and grants, assisting 94 small businesses with $565,750 in support, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and Michigan Women Forward announced. Launched by the MEDC with Michigan Women Forward (MWF) in May in response to the economic impacts of the pandem  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 16 -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. issued the following news release: Michigan's small businesses and nonprofits working to recover from the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 virus can now apply for grants of up to $20,000 through the Michigan Small Business Restart Program, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced. The program will provide $100 million in economic assistance to Michigan's small businesses and nonprofits and in turn, help support w  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 14 -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. issued the following news release: The village of Manchester will gain a much-needed indoor market and cafe through a new crowdfunding campaign , the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Acorn Farmers' Market and Cafe announced. The campaign is being offered through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity. If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 by September 10, the project will win a m  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 18 -- The Michigan Economic Development Corp. issued the following news release: U.S. Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund announced on July 15th that Michigan Community Capital (MCC) will receive a $55 million New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation. MCC is one of only 76 Community Development Entities (CDEs) chosen to receive allocations out of the 206 that applied nationwide. MCC remains the only CDE to attract NMTC exclusiv  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 11 -- The Michigan Environmental Council issued the following news: Thursday morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its partners released the 2020 Seasonal Forecast of Harmful Algal Blooms for Lake Erie. NOAA predicted a moderate bloom severity of 4.5 out of 10 that could possibly reach 5.5. An index of 5 indicates severe algal blooms. In 2015, the governors of Ohio and Michigan, along with the premier of Ontario, set a public goal of reducing   more

ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 14 -- The Michigan Municipal League issued the following news release: The village of Manchester will gain a much-needed indoor market and cafe through a new crowdfunding campaign, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Acorn Farmers' Market and Cafe announced. The campaign is being offered through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity. If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 by September 10, the project will win a matching g  more

LANSING, Michigan, July 17 -- The Michigan Retailers Association issued the following news release: As retail sales in general plunged amid coronavirus lockdowns that have essentially shuttered much of the economy, small grocers like Ric's Food Centers are seeing a spike in sales, even as they are scaling back hours. "We haven't had this good of sales since 2008, during the Great Recession," said Tom Baumann, vice president of operations for the three-store grocery chain started in Isabella Co  more

SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, July 18 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation issued the following news release: Michigan teacher Deborah Wolter has just won a settlement in a case brought by Michigan Education Association (MEA) union lawyers against her. Union officials sued her earlier this year for allegedly not paying thousands of dollars in back dues, even though they had demanded these dues from her after she had resigned her union membership. Michigan's Right to Work law ensures   more

WASHINGTON, July 16 -- People's Action issued the following news release: People's Action announced the dramatic results of an organizing experiment in small-town America, revealing that a new "deep canvassing" model can effectively counter the right's use of strategic racism. The study took place among white, working-class voters in rural Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, and showed a dramatic shift in support for including undocumented immigrants in expanded social safety net progra  more

WASHINGTON, July 17 -- Protect Our Care issued the following news: Protect Our Care is launching two new digital ads as part of our $2 million ad campaign criticizing the Trump administration's failed coronavirus response that put millions of Americans at grave risk. * "Doubling Down," features Tarik Khan, a RN and family nurse practitioner from Pennsylvania, talking about how President Trump's coronavirus response has been a failure from the start, and even as the crisis worsens, Trump "keeps  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 14 -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers issued the following news: Imagine hearing the news that manufacturers are producing a proven and safe vaccine for COVID-19 and shipping it your way. It will be music to the world's ears. We don't yet know which manufacturers will be involved. But thanks to guest columnist Amar Hanspal, we can see the possibility that smaller companies will at least be in the mix--because technological advancements are entering factories and  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 14 -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers issued the following news on July 13: It's tremendously difficult to get products made. To turn an idea into a tangible object requires a list of difficult-to-obtain resources, including expensive machinery and capital, and a lot of time to program and configure machines. For this reason, the business of building things has long been reserved for the giants of the manufacturing world. This presents a dangerous problem: Great  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 14 -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers issued the following news: Machine tool orders fell in May as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) reduced demand among manufacturers. Orders totaled $219.4 million for the month, AMT - The Association for Manufacturing Technology said today in a monthly report. That was 5.3 percent lower than the adjusted $213.75 million in April. It was 44.5 percent lower than the $395.1 million for May 2019. For the first five months of the   more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 14 -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers issued the following news on July 13: Most machine shop owners and operators know about metal additive manufacturing (AM). They know it can make shapes they can't match by machining alone. They also know that 3D printed "builds" require other machines and in-house expertise for post-processing. This includes cutting a finished piece off the build plate, removing support structures on walls or inside passageways, and a variety  more

DEARBORN, Michigan, July 17 -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers issued the following news on July 16: By Anastasia Ustinova Contributing Editor, SME Media VIRTUAL REALITY: 'COVID-19 has increased the need to access and meet around projects in lifelike, virtual environments' When designers at Siemens started using virtual reality (VR) to quickly evaluate early-stage ideas, the usually slow and costly design-and-iteration process went from days and hours to minutes. Siemens is collaborat  more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 13 -- The United Automobile Workers issued the following statement by President Rory L. Gamble: In the past two weeks, the Administration has announced the latest in a series of policies that target workers and students who come to the United States to live, study, and work. On June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Proclamation prohibiting many H, L and J visa holders from around the world from entering the U.S. to work and study. With the internation  more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 15 -- The United Automobile Workers issued the following statement: "This ambitious plan is a win-win for American manufacturing, auto industry jobs, new technology and a cleaner environment. By focusing on investments in new technology, increasing demand for American-made and sourced clean vehicles; investing in our plants and our auto manufacturing facilities and creating 1 million new jobs, this all-American plan will ensure that the industry will thrive for decades   more

DETROIT, Michigan, July 15 -- The United Automobile Workers issued the following statement on July 14: In Boston, Mass., a lawsuit filed by Harvard University and MIT challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) new directive on student visas was heard. The UAW immediately filed an amicus brief in support of the Harvard/MIT lawsuit, held demonstrations at ICE headquarters and state capitols across the country and stood with the Attorney Generals in Massachusetts. Connecticut, New Y  more