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LGBTQ+ advocates deride Michigan House bathroom bill as attack on transgender students

LANSING — The Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill dictating which bathrooms K-12 and higher education students can use, a move that LGBTQ+ advocates have called a seeming violation of the state’s hallmark civil rights law. House Bill 4024, sponsored Rep. Joseph Fox (R-Fremont), passed the House on a party line vote of 58 to 46. Democratic representatives including Alabas Farhat, Peter Herzberg, Donavan McKinney, Cynthia Neeley and Karen Whitsett did not vote on the bill. Rep. Betsy Coffia of Traverse City also did not vote on the bill, but is ...

A Detroit street is named in honor of Vincent Chin – his death mobilized Asian American activists

DETROIT — The legacy of Vincent Chin has recently been commemorated in a street sign bearing his name on the corner of Cass Avenue and Peterboro Street in Detroit’s historic Chinatown. I was glad to see it. Watching the 1987 documentary “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” and learning about his life and Asian American activism changed my life. I was 18 and taking my first Asian American studies class at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The film made me realize two things: Asian Americans are targets of racial violence, and Asian Americans across the ethnic spectrum could ...

Rights groups urge college to end surveillance of protesters

NEW YORK — A coalition of more than 30 privacy and civil rights groups called on U.S. universities Thursday to dismantle campus surveillance and data collection, to protect student protesters and others from government retaliation. The demands, issued in a letter sent to leaders of 60 ...

As Michigan schools lay off staff due to ongoing budget standoff, Hall tells them to hold the line

LANSING — Michigan schools facing uncertainty over the state budget are beginning to issue layoff notices to staff, adding another layer of disarray over the Legislature’s strained and stagnant funding plans for the coming fiscal year. On Thursday, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) eschewed schools’ claims that new layoffs were related to the current budget fight. Hall also doubled down on his assertion that his chamber’s budget would provide them with more money than in years past. In a regularly hosted news conference, the speaker told schools to hold the ...

Michigan’s road funding outlook prompts question: Where’s the Senate’s road plan?

LANSING — As Michigan’s budget stalemate continues in the weeks leading up to Labor Day, one area of consternation between the Democratic-led state Senate and the Republican-controlled state House is how to pay for road repair and maintenance in perpetuity as existing bond funding and projects lapse. A clear outlook for road funding has been deemed critical for the current budget process to finally wrap, with both the House and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer emphasizing that no budget for the coming fiscal year would be complete without a negotiated plan for roads. The lack of a plan ...

Students face new cellphone restrictions in 17 states as school year begins

Jamel Bishop is seeing a big change in his classrooms as he begins his senior year at Doss High School in Louisville, Kentucky, where cellphones are now banned during instructional time. In previous years, students often weren't paying attention and wasted class time by repeating questions, ...