Latest news with #Nessel
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Yahoo
Michigan attorney general says she is investigating a company promoting 'twin flame' romance
DETROIT (AP) — State and federal authorities are investigating an online company that pledges to help people find their eternal love, Michigan's attorney general said Tuesday. Search warrants were executed at two homes in northern Michigan's Leelanau County where Twin Flames Universe is based, Attorney General Dana Nessel said. Twin Flames, which is operated by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, has been the subject of unflattering documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime. It offers to help people find a lifelong romantic partner — a 'twin flame' — through a 'spiritual journey.' Nessel said there are allegations that Twin Flames exerts 'coercive control" over its members across the U.S. through illegal acts. She didn't disclose what investigators were seeking with search warrants. The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment through the Twin Flames website, but it was not immediately answered. Twin Flames has a variety of products, from a $9.99 Kindle book to the $8,888 'everything package,' with access to hundreds of hours of videos, guided meditation and other lessons. In March, Twin Flames posted a statement defending its mission. 'We take seriously recent allegations implying we wield inappropriate control over our community members. After a careful review of both media coverage and recent productions, we are saddened that so much effort has gone into taking swipes at an organization and community founded on love and mutual respect,' Twin Flames said. Nessel encouraged people to contact her office if they want to share information about Twin Flames.
Winnipeg Free Press
01-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Michigan attorney general says she is investigating a company promoting ‘twin flame' romance
DETROIT (AP) — State and federal authorities are investigating an online company that pledges to help people find their eternal love, Michigan's attorney general said Tuesday. Search warrants were executed at two homes in northern Michigan's Leelanau County where Twin Flames Universe is based, Attorney General Dana Nessel said. Twin Flames, which is operated by Jeff and Shaleia Divine, has been the subject of unflattering documentaries on Netflix and Amazon Prime. It offers to help people find a lifelong romantic partner — a 'twin flame' — through a 'spiritual journey.' Nessel said there are allegations that Twin Flames exerts 'coercive control' over its members across the U.S. through illegal acts. She didn't disclose what investigators were seeking with search warrants. The Associated Press sent a message seeking comment through the Twin Flames website, but it was not immediately answered. Twin Flames has a variety of products, from a $9.99 Kindle book to the $8,888 'everything package,' with access to hundreds of hours of videos, guided meditation and other lessons. In March, Twin Flames posted a statement defending its mission. 'We take seriously recent allegations implying we wield inappropriate control over our community members. After a careful review of both media coverage and recent productions, we are saddened that so much effort has gone into taking swipes at an organization and community founded on love and mutual respect,' Twin Flames said. Nessel encouraged people to contact her office if they want to share information about Twin Flames.
30-06-2025
- Business
Supreme Court to decide whether shutting down Michigan pipeline is a state or federal fight
MADISON, Wis. -- The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will review whether Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an aging pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel belongs in state court. Nessel sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows the Enbridge energy company to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4-kilometer) section of pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. She won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham County Judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements. The company moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects U.S. and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that Enbridge missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions. On Monday, the Supreme Court did not explain its rationale for taking up the matter. Enbridge officials said in a statement that they were encouraged by the Supreme Court's choice, noting that exceptions to the 30-day deadline exist. Nessel spokesperson Kimberly Bush said the lawsuit belongs in a Michigan court. The attorney general's lawyers have argued that the case invokes the public trust doctrine, a concept in state law holding that natural resources belong to the public. The pipeline at issue, Line 5, has moved crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953. Concerns over the section beneath the straits rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section's protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources under Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer revoked the straits easement for Line 5 in 2020. Enbridge has filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the revocation. The company is seeking permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel. The Michigan Public Service Commission granted the relevant permits in 2023, but Enbridge still needs approval from from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. The pipeline is at the center of a legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior's reservation. The company has proposed rerouting the pipeline around the reservation and has appealed the shutdown order to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Miami Herald
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
US Supreme Court to take up venue dispute between Michigan, Enbridge in Line 5 suit
The U.S. Supreme Court will review whether Enbridge Energy properly removed a case to federal court that was filed against it by the state of Michigan. Enbridge's appeal seeks a federal court venue for a years-long fight over the future of the Line 5 oil pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac. The case was listed Monday as one of several the nation's highest court would consider over the next few months. The Supreme Court's eventual decision in the case could determine whether a pending state court case deciding the future of the line should be moved to a federal courtroom, where laws are largely more favorable to Enbridge's efforts to keep the pipeline open. Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judges Richard Griffin, Amul Thapar and John Nalbandian ruled in June that Enbridge had missed a procedural window for filing to remove the case to federal court. The case was filed in state court in 2019, but Enbridge didn't try to remove it to federal court until 2021 - long past a 30-day deadline for removal, the judges said. Enbridge is challenging that decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing the Sixth Circuit's decision clashes with determinations made by other courts of appeals in similar cases. "The Sixth Circuit's remand decision is in conflict with decisions from two other federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, which both held that there can be exceptions to the 30-day limit," said Ryan Duffy, a spokesman for Enbridge. "The Supreme Court review will resolve this conflict in the courts of appeals." Attorney General Dana Nessel's office on Monday said it remained "undeterred" in its commitment to protect the Great Lakes from the "devastating catastrophe" a Line 5 spill would create if the 72-year-old underwater pipeline were to leak into the waterway connecting Lakes Michigan and Huron. "The department's lawsuit is based on state claims and law, and it belongs before a Michigan court," said Kim Bush, a spokeswoman for the attorney general. An eventual decision from the U.S. Supreme Court could disrupt ongoing proceedings at the state level. Ingham County Circuit Court Judge James Jamo heard arguments in late January on the merits of Nessel's attempt to shut down the four-mile segment of Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac. Both sides asked Jamo to dismiss the case in their favor. Five months later, Jamo has yet to rule on the motions. A finding by the U.S. Supreme Court that the case should be removed to federal court could eliminate Jamo's involvement. Over the past four years, Enbridge and the state have been engaged in litigation over which court - state or federal - should have jurisdiction over the cases. Enbridge has fought to keep the case in federal court, where federal law and federal regulatory authority would likely prevail. The state of Michigan has fought to anchor the case in state courts, where Michigan law and state regulators are likely to have priority. Nessel brought her case against Enbridge - the one being taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court - shortly after taking office in 2019. Enbridge attempted to move the case to federal court about two years later in 2021 - shortly after Canada invoked its transnational pipeline agreement with the U.S., and a federal district judge ruled that a separate, similar case filed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer must remain in federal court. It wasn't until after that decision that Enbridge turned its attention back to Nessel's case and moved to bump it to federal court. The company has argued U.S. District Judge Janet Neff's 2021 decision in Whitmer's case had constituted new and pertinent action that restarted a 30-day clock for removal that otherwise would have ended in July 2019. But the three Sixth Circuit judges disagreed, arguing the same facts that led to a prompt removal of Whitmer's case to federal court in 2020 were also present in Nessel's case in 2019. "While we appreciate the difficulty of navigating complicated doctrines and applying them to unique facts under time constraints, that is what § 1446(b) requires," Griffin wrote, referring to the 30-day deadline for removal. "And Enbridge showed that it could make these arguments under a tight deadline - it timely filed its notice of removal (and amended notice of removal) articulating these theories within 30 days of its receipt of the complaint in the governor's case." Enbridge's Line 5 oil pipeline, particularly the segment beneath the Straits of Mackinac, has long been a source of controversy, with environmental groups voicing concerns about the safety of the line and the catastrophic effects of an oil spill at the nexus of Lakes Huron and Michigan. Nessel's 2019 suit sought to shutter the line as a public nuisance and Whitmer, about a year later, filed her own suit seeking to support the administration's revocation of an easement for the pipeline. Enbridge has argued the pipeline is safe and that the state has no jurisdiction over its continued operation. Enbridge says authority over the pipeline instead lies with the federal government on three fronts: the Pipeline Safety Act; a 1977 transit pipeline treaty between the U.S. and Canada that prevents disruptions to the line; and foreign affairs policy. Aside from the state court case, Enbridge also is suing Whitmer in federal court over its efforts to revoke Line 5's 1953 easement through the Straits of Mackinac, effectively closing the line that transports about 540,000 barrels of light crude oil and natural gas liquids a day. Enbridge signed an agreement with the state of Michigan in 2018 that promised to build a more than $500 million tunnel beneath the Straits to house a new segment of Line 5 and assuage worries about the prospect of the crude oil and natural gas line spilling into Lakes Huron and Michigan. The project has been held up for five years by permitting and litigation delays. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently is considering some of the last permits Enbridge needs to move forward with tunnel construction. The corps is expected to issue a decision in the fall. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Global News
30-06-2025
- Business
- Global News
U.S. Supreme Court to hear Line 5 pipeline case between Michigan, Enbridge
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will review whether Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an aging pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel belongs in state court. Nessel sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows the Enbridge energy company to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4-kilometer) section of pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. She won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham County Judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements. The company moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects U.S. and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that Enbridge missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions. Story continues below advertisement On Monday, the Supreme Court did not explain its rationale for taking up the matter. 2:21 Crude quarrel: Canada invokes treaty to negotiate fate of Line 5 pipeline with U.S. Enbridge officials said in a statement that they were encouraged by the Supreme Court's choice, noting that exceptions to the 30-day deadline exist. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Nessel spokesperson Kimberly Bush said the lawsuit belongs in a Michigan court. The attorney general's lawyers have argued that the case invokes the public trust doctrine, a concept in state law holding that natural resources belong to the public. The pipeline at issue, Line 5, has moved crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953. Concerns over the section beneath the straits rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section's protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill. Story continues below advertisement The Michigan Department of Natural Resources under Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer revoked the straits easement for Line 5 in 2020. Enbridge has filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the revocation. The company is seeking permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel. The Michigan Public Service Commission granted the relevant permits in 2023, but Enbridge still needs approval from from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. The pipeline is at the center of a legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior's reservation. The company has proposed rerouting the pipeline around the reservation and has appealed the shutdown order to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
