Four business groups sent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a letter asking to reopen industries that have been closed for five months, although they’re open in certain parts of Michigan and surrounding states.
After five months with no revenue and continued fixed costs, some gyms, movie theaters and bowling alleys are on the brink of bankruptcy.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed Senate Bill 899, a bill intended to shield health care workers from liability during a state of emergency.
The immunity granted to health care workers and facilities would have stretched from March 10, 2020, to Jan. 1, 2021, as the state battles COVID-19.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer traveled to Delaware last weekend to meet with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s first known in-person session with a potential running mate as he nears a decision.
Whitmer visited Biden Sunday, according to two high-ranking Michigan Democrats who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The first-term governor of the battleground state has long been on his short list of possible running mates.
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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told Fox News that he had chosen a vice presidential candidate; however, Biden’s campaign denied he had selected a running mate.
While riding his bike Saturday morning, Fox News asked Biden if he decided on a vice presidential nominee. The former vice president jokingly said he had chosen a person and told Fox News reporter Peter Doocy that it was “you” he had decided upon.
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Gov. Whitmer on Friday vetoed Senate Bill 956, legislation that would have prohibited the admission of COVID-19 patients into nursing homes.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby, and was passed by the Senate on June 24. The bill was approved by the state House of Representatives on July 22.
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With the “v-shaped” economic recovery taking shape nationwide, Michigan has begun to bounce back from the artificial coronavirus downturn sooner than most of us dared to hope.
Despite Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s excessively harsh stay-at-home orders, Michigan regained more than 460,000 nonfarm jobs since the start of May, reducing the unemployment rate by almost a whopping 10 percentage points. Blue collar industries that provide the lifeblood for Michigan’s middle class, such as construction and manufacturing, are doing particularly well — those two sectors alone created more than 180,000 new jobs in May, no doubt fueled in part by the President’s focus on ramping up domestic production of medical supplies needed to confront the invisible enemy.
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The Michigan House approved a bill with the stated purpose of better protecting Michigan’s nursing home population from COVID-19.
Senate Bill 956 seeks to prohibit the admission of COVID-19 patients into nursing homes.
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Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.), the radical governor of Michigan who has come under overwhelming criticism for her excessive coronavirus lockdowns, has cut as much as $115 million from the budget for the Michigan State Police, as reported by Breitbart.
Whitmer made the budget cuts through Executive Order 2020-155, demanding that $115.07 million be taken from the state police budget, in addition to a slash of $392.67 million from Michigan’s Department of Corrections, and another $36.46 cut from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-147, requiring Michiganders to wear a mask when in an indoor public space starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
The order also requires residents to wear a mask in crowded outdoor spaces and mandates any business open to the public to refuse entry or service to those without a mask, with some exceptions.
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Hours before Michigan’s indoor fitness centers were allowed to open for the first time in months, a Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel told the gyms to keep their doors shut.
A three-judge panel issued an emergency stay sought by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, freezing the preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney that would have allowed gyms to open at 12:01 am Thursday.
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Congressional Republicans intensified their questioning of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s nursing home policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Members of the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent a letter asking Attorney General Dana Nessel to investigate the impact of Whitmer’s executive orders that placed COVID-19 patients into the same buildings, but different units, as elderly nursing home residents.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-127 to extend Michigan’s state of emergency through July 16.
The first-term Democrat initially declared an emergency on March 10, 100 days ago, to curb the spread of COVID-19.
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More than 28,500 Michigan workers joined the ranks of the unemployed in the week ending June 6, bringing the total number of state residents filing unemployment claims to 870,772 since restrictions were put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Michigan unemployment claims are among the highest in the nation.
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House Republicans on Monday asked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to rescind her policy that requires recovering COVID-19 patients to be placed in isolated parts of designated nursing homes.
“Nursing homes have the very frailest of our population,” Rep. Kathy Crawford, R-Novi, told The Center Square. “Very many of them are bedridden. Nursing homes don’t have enough staff to take care of the daily needs of people who are in nursing homes.”
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Michigan was home to 17 of the 25 counties with the highest unemployment numbers in the nation in April.
According to a database from Lansing State Journal, Cheboygan County led the nation in unemployment with a 41.2 percent unemployment rate. Second in the nation was Mackinac County at 38.1 percent.
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As Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allows more sectors of the economy to open, Michigan unemployment claims dropped to 956,418 in the week ending May 30, compared to 985,294 claims the prior week ending May 23.
Those numbers are the lowest unemployment figures in Michigan since the beginning of measures to contain the coronavirus were initiated in late March.
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The Department of Justice filed a statement of interest Friday challenging Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “arbitrary and irrational” restrictions on her state’s businesses.
The move came as part of Attorney General William Barr’s efforts to ensure that civil liberties are protected during the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a press release. The statement of interest supports a lawsuit filed by seven Michigan businesses challenging Whitmer’s restrictions.
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Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer distanced herself from a much-criticized decision to award a no-bid contract to two Democratic firms to handle the state’s coronavirus contact tracing.
But a senior adviser in the Michigan Department of the Health and Human Services said that the executive office of the governor [EOG] gave the contract a “green light,” a newly public email shows.
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After Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued executive orders forcing the closure of many of the state’s businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, small-businessman Erik Kiilunen said he saw $600,000 in contracts disappear overnight.
Kiilunen, of Ahmeek, Michigan, runs Kiilunen Manufacturing Group, which makes construction materials.
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The ongoing saga of Owosso barber Karl Manke’s battle against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order to shutter businesses during the coronavirus pandemic turned another page on Thursday.
Shiawassee County Circuit Judge Matthew J. Stewart determined state attorneys failed to convince him Manke’s refusal to comply with the governor’s order posed an imminent threat to the public. As a result, Manke’s shop on Owosso’s Main Street will remain open and the 77-year-old barber will be cutting hair for the foreseeable future.
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A Michigan lawmaker has requested an investigation into Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Executive Order 2020-84, which forces some nursing homes below an 80 percent capacity to create a unit dedicated to caring for residents with COVID-19.
That order expires after Wednesday.
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Throngs of people waited for as long as three hours in an Owosso downpour to see Karl Manke, a local 77-year-old barber, speak on Monday afternoon.
Manke has gained celebrity status and a certain amount of notoriety for his refusal to adhere to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s shutdown of what are deemed non-essential businesses. Manke’s barbershop falls under that rubric as defined by the governor’s executive orders.
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A Michigan Court of Claims Judge on Friday heard the first oral argument in which the GOP-led legislature challenged Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s authority to extend her emergency orders unilaterally.
The legislature filed its lawsuit on May 6.
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About 250 protesters braved a downpour of rain Thursday to object to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders on the Capitol lawn.
Protesters clad in rain gear brought signs wrapped in plastic to share their displeasure with the first-term Democrat’s response to COVID-19.
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Michigan residents went out more last week, according to cell phone data reported by The New York Times, even as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continues to push her stay-at-home executive orders during the coronavirus pandemic.
Approximately one million more people began to move around the state between May 1 and MAy 8, to move around the state again, The NYT reported.
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Amid signs that at least a partial reopening of Michigan’s economy could take place this month, the state’s weekly unemployment claim filings continued to drift back toward normalcy, although they remain far above numbers seen before the COVID-19 crisis.
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The Michigan legislature adjourned Thursday without extending Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s state of emergency.
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State Rep. Ben Frederick, R-Owosso, today asked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to allow Michigan hospitals and other medical providers to perform elective surgeries.
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The Senate passed two bills by a 22-15 vote Friday that would curb Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers, but she’s vowed a veto.
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At the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the public was willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the appropriate medical, public health, and government authorities. The public trusted these pandemic policymakers would use solid scientific evidence as the basis to implement the reasonable measures needed to “flatten the curve” and protect the public health.
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Michigan renters unable to manage their monthly payment are being granted relief through May 15.
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While Michiganders protested on Thursday the authoritarian like measures Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, a person trying to unseat Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) had harsh things to say about them.
Shannon Freshour, a progressive who is competing against two other Democrats for the party’s nomination, tweeted her true feelings about the protesters.
“Republicans everywhere want people to die while claiming to be pro-life,” Freshour said. “Also um gridlock would be an effective tool if there was traffic but y’all only blocking yourselves and your fellow hate-mongering, confederate supporting traitors.”
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday night signed Executive Order 2020-46 to allow the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) to buy back spirits from eligible bars and restaurants that she ordered to close temporarily in response to COVID-19.
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Michigan has 15 weeks before the state’s unemployment reserves are depleted.
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Two state representatives are calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to relax her executive orders to allow some businesses to operate if they can adhere to social distancing guidelines.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a sweeping executive order Monday that orders the closure of several public places in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Under the executive order, the following places of public accommodation were required to close: restaurants, cafes, coffee houses, bars, taverns, brewpubs, distilleries, clubs, movie theaters, indoor and outdoor performance venues, gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, spas, and casinos.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order Friday banning all public gatherings of more than 250 people in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
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The governor of Michigan dodged a question on whether she would rule out martial law as a response to the coronavirus pandemic Friday.
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Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the results of Tuesday’s primary will be reported later than usual because of an increase in absentee voting.
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A new Michigan poll predicts former Vice President Joe Biden will emerge victorious over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in Michigan’s Democratic primary.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is reportedly under pressure to make an endorsement ahead of her state’s presidential primary next.
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The Michigan Senate voted to reject Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s appointment of former Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell to lead the Natural Resources Commission last week.
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General Motors announced Friday that it is adding more than 1,200 new jobs at its Lansing-based factories to help with the production of mid-size SUVs and two new Cadillac sedans.
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Michigan officials revealed this week that 357 people in the state who traveled from China have been or currently are being monitored for symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.
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A six-bill package introduced on February 5 aims to regulate vaping like a tobacco product and tax it at 24 percent of the wholesale price.
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Michigan Republicans said they are committed to working with the governor to avoid more budget drama, but expressed a number of concerns with her new budget proposal.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer unveiled her Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal Thursday, which clocks in at a whopping $61.9 billion.
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Despite her insistence that she is not interested in going to Washington, D.C., Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has again roused suspicions that she may be tapped as a potential running mate for the eventual Democratic presidential candidate.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer delivered the Democrats’ response to the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address from East Lansing High School, where her two daughters attend school.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in January that Whitmer would deliver the Democratic response to the annual address, which is scheduled for Tuesday night.
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