State Roundup

Flint
Mich. St. has plans for Flint Journal’s home
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University’s future includes expanding into a piece of Flint’s past.
Officials with the East Lansing-based university voted to lease part of the downtown Flint building that was the longtime home of The Flint Journal. The decision Friday by Michigan State’s Board of Trustees authorizes the university to pursue leasing 40,000 square feet for its College of Human Medicine’s growing public health program.
Michigan State said the space will deepen medical college’s presence in Flint by increasing the number of third- and fourth-year students in the city, which is about 45 miles northeast of its main campus. It also is expected to provide room for new public health researchers.
The university plans to lease the space from Uptown Reinvestment Corp., the Flint nonprofit that bought the 120,000 square-foot building last year, Mlive.com reported. The medical school announced its plans in 2011 to expand its education and public health programs in Flint.
The newspaper building was among several properties across the state to be closed and put up for sale by The Flint Journal’s parent company, MLive Media Group and Advance Central Services Michigan. The Flint Journal moved to smaller space nearby.
It’s also not the first building that once housed a member of the newspaper chain to find new life as part of Michigan State’s expanding medical school. University officials last year signed a $12 million deal to buy The Grand Rapids Press building and parking lots near the school’s College of Human Medicine operations in the West Michigan city.

Port Huron
Business helps couples with marriage prep
PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan company is helping solve the problem of geographic separation for couples looking to get married in the Roman Catholic Church.
Port Huron-based Marriage Ministries allows couples to receive Catholic marriage preparation online.
The business was developed in collaboration with the Archdioceses of Detroit and Chicago and has served couples in those cities, as well as in the United Kingdom, Singapore and other places.
“We solved the problem of how the church can help couples separated by distance,” Marriage Ministries co-founder Matt Brooks told the Times Herald for a story published last week.
Frank Hannigan, director of the Family Ministries Office for the Archdiocese of Chicago, said he discovered Brooks and his fledgling business while looking for an online option for couples separated by distance. Hannigan and Brooks created the program in 2010.
The web series monitors couples’ progress so churches can be sure that the couple has completed the entire course, Brooks said. He added that the web course allows couples to absorb and discuss the information more than the regular eight-hour seminar or retreat that is required of couples who marry in the Catholic faith.
The Catholic Church requires those who wish to receive sacraments of the faith, including matrimony, to take part in education and preparation classes. Engaged couples are exposed to discussions of family planning, child-rearing, conflict resolution and finances.
On average, couples spend about 12 days going through the Marriage Ministries program, which costs $195.