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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Summertime Help Available For Winter Heating

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Tuesday, August 15, 2017   

LANSING, Mich. – While most Michiganders are still soaking up summer, colder weather will be here before long, and the deadline is fast approaching to apply for assistance to help keep warm this winter.

The Michigan Home Heating Credit is based on household income and size, and is available to both homeowners and renters.

Whitney Skeans, a customer assistance manager with Consumers Energy, says the funds can go a long way toward helping vulnerable residents, as the average credit last year was about $170.

"If you're heating with electric, or if you're heating with gas, it gets directly applied to your account if you're a Consumers Energy customer, and if you're not it would be issued to you for your heat services," she explains.

The deadline to apply for the credit is September 30, and the application can be found on the Department of Treasury website, at Consumers Energy's assistance site, at Secretary of State branches, and at most public libraries. Free help in filling out the form is available by dialing 211.

Skeans says even if your income doesn't require you to file taxes, you may still qualify for the credit, which she says offers benefits beyond heat help.

"So if you're a food-assistance client, and you receive the home heating credit, you would be eligible for receiving expanded food allocation for the year," she adds.

Most years, more than 300,000 Michiganders receive the credit, however, census data shows many more households meet the income guidelines.


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