700K FAMILIES TO GET TAX REFUNDS IN FEBRUARY (link): More than 700,000 Michigan families will receive tax rebate checks averaging approximately $550 beginning in February of next year. The checks make up the difference Michigan families were owed on their 2022 tax returns after a new law signed earlier this year boosted the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit. According to the IRS, in order to qualify for the EITC, a person must have “worked and earned income under $63,398,” and have investment income below $11,000.
Also read: Dems tick off ‘nearly everything’ on Whitmer’s to-do list
NEW LAWS WILL REFORM MI JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM (link): Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist signed bills into law this week that will help improve the juvenile justice system in Michigan. The changes are meant to better position kids for success as adults, and focus on improving diversion programs that help offenders avoid conviction through rehabilitation. (You might be wondering why Gilchrist signed—Gov. Whitmer was out of state.)
ARREST MADE IN DETROIT SYNAGOGUE LEADER MURDER CASE (link): Here’s an update to the murder case of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll, who was found stabbed to death outside her home in October. Police have charged 28-year-old Michael Jackson-Bolanos—also of Detroit but an apparent stranger to Woll—with murder, home invasion, and lying to police. The news of Woll’s killing immediately created speculation that it might have been a hate crime amid the Israel-Hamas war, but Prosecutor Kim Worthy says there is no evidence that is the case. Woll was president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue and had also worked on the political campaigns of multiple Democratic officials.
TRAIL SPANNING MI GETS NATIONAL PARK STATUS (link): Did you know there’s a 4,800-mile hiking trail that spans 11 states, including Michigan? It’s called the North Country National Scenic Trail, and this week, the National Park Service announced it had received national park status. Michigan’s stretch of the trail has more miles—1,150 to be precise—than any other state, with a path that goes through the UP, over the Mackinac Bridge, and down the western side of the state into Ohio. The new designation will allow access to additional resources and funding opportunities for the trail.
Watch: First woman to hike the entire North Country Trail is doing it again
