Under a federal court order, Michigan has made progress in shrinking caseloads for foster care workers and it now takes fewer children from their homes.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero wants to make taxpayers stakeholders in the state's economic recovery. On Tuesday, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate proposed Michigan become the second state nationwide to create a state-owned bank.

State legislators need to adopt a retirement incentive package for Michigan state and public-school employees within the next three weeks for cost savings to take effect in time for the 2010-11 school year, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Monday in a teleconference call to local superintendents and news media.

Michigan began 2010 with a lower unemployment rate, posting a 14.3% mark in January, down two-tenths of a percentage point from December's revised rate of 14.5%.

A House committee upped the ante Tuesday on the state's Pure Michigan tourism advertising campaign, voting to add $11.5 million more to broadcast the TV ads outside the state than the Senate had approved last week.

A Saginaw County wind turbine parts maker has helped powered the rise of the green economy, Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm said.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board this morning approved a tax rollback for Greektown Casino creating a boost to the casino's bottom line and marking another milestone on its emergence from bankruptcy.

FLINT, Mich. -- Toyota's top two U.S. executives will have to answer questions for the family of a Flint woman who was killed in a Camry crash in 2008, according to media reports.

State police arrested 179 sex offender absconders during a statewide sweep in early February, state police officials say.

A state police sergeant based at the Traverse City post has been charged with drunken driving.

The new head of civil rights for the Department of Homeland Security -- previously a law professor at the University of Michigan -- is meeting today in Dearborn with Arab-American and Muslim advocates to discuss concerns about profiling.

In Michigan, where many enterprises are struggling to survive, the renowned University of Michigan is in the midst of a construction boom and hiring spree. Michigan State University, on the other hand, plans to lay off faculty and cut programs, blaming state funding that is lower than it was a decade ago. Flagship universities in other states are also prospering, while their lesser-known counterparts suffer from vanishing state appropriations. 

So, why not change the arrangement and require big-name universities to take responsibility for their own financing, leaving more state money to support the other state schools? As legislatures face their toughest budget year since the recession began, the idea of giving a few universities autonomy to control their own finances has some appeal.