(Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, File)LANSING – Former Michigan Department of Public Health and Human Services director Robert Gordon will receive more than $155,000 as part of a separation agreement, published reports revealed Monday. Gordon resigned in January after signing a new employment agreement the previous October that included a $182,000 salary, according The Detroit News and the Free Press. However, the separation agreement says if asked, the state will say Gordon voluntarily resigned. “Per the terms of the agreement, we can’t comment further on a personnel matter.”Republican state Rep. Matt Hall of Marshall told The Detroit News he was “stunned” by the separation agreement. The fact that Gordon signed one isn’t necessarily in itself a “smoking gun” that a major falling-out had occurred with Whitmer, he said.

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s health director says that protesters who gathered outside of his Lansing home on Tuesday night to decry the state’s coronavirus restrictions are wasting their time. Read more: Michigan COVID restrictions in effect through Dec. 20: What to knowMichigan’s extended epidemic order is currently scheduled to expire on Sunday, Dec. 20. In a live, public video posted to Facebook Tuesday, protesters can be heard singing Christmas carols and calling on Gordon to lift the state’s restrictions and reopen businesses. On Wednesday, the state of Michigan reported 4,037 new COVID-19 cases and 83 new deaths since Tuesday. The state has reported a total of 446,752 COVID-19 cases and 11,018 deaths since the pandemic began.