Rick Pluta

A lawsuit is challenging the rules ordered by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for partisan poll challengers on Election Day. The complaint filed with the Michigan Court of Claims says distancing and face covering directives will make it too difficult for poll challengers to see what’s going on as voters are checked in at voting sites.

The legislative committee looking into the state’s COVID-19 response meets again Monday – where top health officials in Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration will face questions from lawmakers.

This will be the first committee hearing since the state Supreme Court struck down the governor’s continued use of emergency powers and encouraged the Legislature and Whitmer to strike a bargain.

The state Senate returns Thursday after the Michigan Supreme Court declared many of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 executive orders unconstitutional.

Voting by absentee ballot began Thursday in Michigan.

Absentee ballots were put in the mail to people who requested them. Registered voters can also stop by clerks’ offices to fill out their ballots.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has toughened the rules that require masks in public to slow the spread of COVID-19. Her latest Executive Order says businesses must deny service to people who refuse to wear masks indoors. It also says customers must remain at least six feet from others outdoors.  

A new order signed Friday by Governor Gretchen Whitmer will soon allow Michiganders to get their hair cut or styled – as well as head to the gym or a movie theater – with certain precautions.

The restrictions will be lifted first in the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula starting Wednesday -- followed by southern Michigan starting June 15th.

In northern counties, indoor gatherings of 50 people will be permissible.

The state Department of Health and Human Services reports there are 11 new confirmed cases in Michigan. That brings the total number of known COVID-19 cases to 65.

The state is reporting new cases in Jackson, Leelanau and Otsego Counties.

Update 3/16/20, 11:30 am: In addition to bars and restaurants, Gov. Whitmer’s executive order also closes gyms, spas and health clubs, casinos, as well as theaters and other performance venues across the state. Order restrictions will remain in place until Monday, March 30 at 11:59 pm.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will sign an executive order this morning that closes bars and restaurants in Michigan starting this afternoon. The emergency action is to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The ban will only apply to sit-down service.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered public and private schools in Michigan to close as part of the state’s effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“In an abundance of caution, I am ordering the closure of all K-12 school buildings in Michigan for three weeks starting Monday, March 16th until Sunday, April 5th,” she said.

The number of presumptive positive COVID-19 cases in Michigan has spiked to 12 – and more are expected. Whitmer says K-12 schools are an obvious nexus where the virus can be spread.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says she’s willing to investigate allegations of sex abuse leveled against a University of Michigan doctor.

But she set some conditions that would have to be met first.

Former UM students and athletes have stepped forward with claims of abuse by Dr. Robert Anderson, who died in 2008.

They also say UM failed to protect them from the abuse.

The attorney general says she’s willing to investigate to determine whether UM is culpable. But Nessel says she cannot do that unless UM agrees not to use the attorney-client privilege.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden in Michigan’s March 10 presidential primary.

A federal court has struck down Michigan’s requirement that adults enrolled in the Healthy Michigan plan must be working or in school, but Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature’s Republican leaders are at odds on what to do next.

Democrats are turning to Michigan’ s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, to deliver the English language response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

The choice highlights the central role Michigan and the industrial Midwest are expected to play in the presidential election this year.

The state Bureau of Elections has tossed out petitions and thousands of signatures seeking a recall election against state Representative Larry Inman (R-Williamsburg). The decision is based on two typos on the petition form.

The Legislature has sent a K-12 schools budget to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The bill was adopted with the support of Republicans and Democrats, but the budget has a lot less money then what the governor recommended for special education and at-risk students.

Flavored vaping products will be banned in Michigan under emergency rules that were issued by the state Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday.

Brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers have 14 days to remove flavored vaping products from their inventories that are available to the public, accofding to the department.