Featured Story Archives - Checks and Balances Project

Wind Energy Opponents Are Costing Michigan Landowners, Local Governments Over $200M

2022-06-6

Often lost in the debate in rural Michigan communities about whether to host a wind farm is the cost to saying “no.” That’s why Checks and Balances Project investigated just how much communities and landowners stand to lose over the projected 20-year life span of wind projects in their areas. Our research concluded that five… Read more »

Wind Opponent’s Claims of Economic Ruin Upended by Facts

2022-03-23

During a rally last month in Montcalm County, Mich., Dave Stevens told protesters that the last four years of his life have been “the worst of my life” since the approval of a wind project near his home of Mt. Haley Township in Midland County. “It’s only going to get worse,” Stevens told the crowd… Read more »

Claims That Wind Farms Lower Property Values Undercut by Real Estate Data

2022-03-10

UPDATED with new information on livestock feed lot: A common complaint of anti-wind activists is that wind farms decrease the property values for landowners near them. Those complaints were echoed again at a Feb. 5 rally in Trufant, Mich., in which speakers claimed that wind turbines drove down property values. “Absolutely they can hurt your… Read more »

As Anti-Wind Zoning Ordinances Spread Across Michigan, Ordinances’ Language Varies Little

2021-11-10

A series of virtually identical zoning ordinances that restrict the development of wind farms has spread across parts of rural Michigan, a Checks and Balances Project analysis shows. Two of the three ordinances were drafted with the help of the Grand Rapids-based law firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith, whose partner Michael Homier is part… Read more »

Despite Opponent Arguments, Wind Energy Fills Sails In Huron County

2021-08-23

ELKTON, Mich. – So pervasive is the misinformation surrounding wind farms in rural Michigan that when Robert Krohn developed lung cancer, some of his neighbors who have known him for years said he probably got it from the 17 windmills Krohn has on his 1,400-acre farm. “It ain’t from the windmills,” the soft-spoken 77-year-old lifetime… Read more »

Wall Street Journal Report Echoes C&BP Findings About Uninsured Patients

2021-07-7

In May, Checks and Balances Project showed that Sentara Healthcare makes IRS-required policies difficult to access, understand and use At least one uninsured patient was significantly overcharged Until Jan. 1, it was virtually impossible for the public to determine how much hospitals charged patients and insurance companies for the care they provided. Then an executive… Read more »

North Carolina Attorney General’s Office Cites C&BP Reporting In Derailed Sentara-Cone Health Merger

2021-06-22

“Your input was shared with the attorneys in our office who were in the midst of conducting a thorough review of this proposed affiliation.“ – North Carolina Attorney General’s office Last month, Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to review the proposed, $11.5 billion merger between Sentara Healthcare and… Read more »

Virginia State Bar Dismisses C&BP Ethics Complaint About Sentara’s Outside Attorney

2021-05-3

There had been no public disclosure that Hall and Martin had together previously represented Sentara in a four-year fight to get a Certificate of Public Need application approved to add a liver transplant unit. Martin argued Sentara’s case in the matter before Hall, who ruled in Sentara’s favor.