Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fifteen phony products — including a gasoline-powered alarm clock — won the Energy Star label in a test of the program's vulnerability to fraud. A report released Friday says government investigators tried to pass off 20 fake products as energy efficient, and only two were rejected. Three others didn't get a response. The General Accountability Office concludes the program is susceptible to fraud and abuse. The program run by the Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to identify energy-efficient products to help consumers. Tax credits and rebates serve as incentives to buy Energy Star products....

YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) - A local doctor says the new health care reform will force him to quit practicing. Dr. Dave Janda tells Action News that he can't in good conscience deny people excellent medical care so he would be forced to stop seeing patients. He says "The focus in Obamacare is cutting costs by rationing and denying care, which I believe is the most inhumane and unethical means of cutting health care costs." Dr. Janda is a highly acclaimed orthopedic surgeon specializing in repairing shoulders. He was featured on Oprah for a book he wrote on avoiding injuries, especially...

Fieger Mulls Another Run For Governor Prominent Attorney Is Looking At Documents To Run For Office POSTED: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Geoffrey Fieger might run for governor of Michigan again. The attorney who rose to prominence by defending Jack Kevorkian won the Democratic party nomination and ran against incumbent Republican Gov. John Engler in 1998. Fieger lost that election. Michigan's current governor, Jennifer Granholm, is unable to run for a third term because of term limits. Fieger told WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids the state needs new leadership. "This state has a rather, in the last 20 to...

NEWS RELEASE RIGHT TO LIFE OF MICHIGAN ************************* RLM-PAC rescinds Reppresentative Stupak's endorsement On Wednesday, March 24, the Right to Life of Michigan political action committee notified U.S. Representative Bart Stupak that his endorsement was rescinded. In a letter sent to Representative Stupak, the RLM-PAC qualified how the endorsement criteria was no longer met. Right to Life of Michigan Political Action Committee Director Larry Galmish said: "The letter noted the endorsement had been based on Representative Stupak's voting record, previous interview and completion of a questionnaire in which Representative Stupak indicated he would oppose any efforts to include federally funded...

President Barack Obama will speak to University of Michigan graduates in Ann Arbor on May 1, the same day Sarah Palin is scheduled to speak in Clarkston.

Excerpt: Monica Conyers has just been sentenced to 37 months in prison. She also received 2 years of supervised probation. Just before sentencing, Conyers screamed "If they have their tapes, I have my tapes too. I taped Rayford, I taped Riddle. You'll be fair to me or I want to withdraw my plea." She also yelled, "What about my children? They did nothing to cause this. All I did was try to help someone I fired."

(WXYZ) - The FBI is confirming raids at the offices of three Michigan auto suppliers who do work for Toyota. Search warrants were served Tuesday evening at Yazaki North America, DENSO International and Tokai Rika. Yazaki sells electronic components and DENSO makes accelerator pedals. Denso has released the following statement about the situation "DENSO International America, Inc. (DIAM), U.S. subsidiary of DENSO Corporation, was inspected on February 23, 2010 by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice in regard to U.S. antitrust laws. DIAM is cooperating with this investigation." Stay with Action News and WXYZ.com...

DETROIT (WXYZ) - ABC News has learned that the man known as the Christmas Day underwear bomber is cooperating with authorities in what may be the first steps towards reaching a plea deal. Sources tell ABC that officials are now checking out the information provided by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Stay with Action News and WXYZ.com for the latest on this breaking news.

A Michigan man who was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 says he witnessed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab trying to board the plane in Amsterdam without a passport. Kurt Haskell of Newport, Mich., who posted an earlier comment about his experience, talked exclusively with MLive.com and confirmed he was on the flight by sending a picture of his boarding pass. He and his wife, Lori, were returning from a safari in Uganda when they boarded the NWA flight on Friday. Haskell said he and his wife were sitting on the ground near their boarding gate in Amsterdam, which is when they...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) - The 23-year-old man police say tried to blow up a Delta airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit has been arraigned in his hospital bed at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. Action News reporter Peggy Agar and an Associated Press reporter were chosen to witness the arraignment. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft and placing a destructive device onboard an aircraft. The charges were filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit. Investigators say the Nigerian flew from his home...

DETROIT - An analysis by The Detroit Free Press has found that most of the federal stimulus funding that's reached Michigan has created few private-sector jobs. The Free Press examined more than 1,800 awards to agencies, departments, municipalities and firms in Michigan under the stimulus act. It found that the biggest impact was spurring or protecting public-sector or summer jobs-not private-sector jobs. Of the 22,513 stimulus jobs reported in Michigan, 13,555 were tied to state money for education, doled out to local school districts. The Free Press also reported Sunday that its analysis shows that some recipients of the stimulus...

Surrounded by her family, Maj. Stella Carroll looked out over a sea of fluttering American flags Wednesday morning at Parma Elementary School. More than 400 tiny voices greeted the mother of five with the national anthem and other patriotic songs, and the children presented her with letters calling her a hero. Carroll, who has served in the U.S. Army Reserves for more than 20 years, will leave Saturday for a year-long tour in Kandahar, Afghanistan. "We want you to know how much we respect and appreciate you," Parma Elementary School Principal Sue Haney told Carroll during the send-off ceremony at...

GRAND RAPIDS-- Sarah Palin will be coming to the Woodland Mall Barnes & Noble store in Grand Rapids Nov. 18, her first stop on a tour promoting her book "Going Rogue." The Associated Press reports Palin's tour will begin the day after the book is released and two days after she is interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. A local Barnes & Noble spokesperson confirmed Palin will be at the Woodland store at 3670 28th St SE. Palin, the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, will make appearances around the country. HarperCollins spokeswoman Tina Andreadis said Wednesday that the tour will...

<p>LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's governor wants you to give your mailbox a good shake.</p> <p>Jennifer Granholm has proclaimed Saturday "Shake Your Mailbox Day" in Michigan.</p>

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- With a midnight deadline that's come and gone, Michigan lawmakers continue to struggle to craft a spending plan, leaving many of those with a stake in how the budget turns out as uncertain as they were the day before. A deal to fill a nearly $3 billion shortfall with federal recovery dollars and more than $1 billion in cuts fell through, as many lawmakers discovered they couldn't stomach deep cuts to schools and local services such as police and fire protection in the stricken state. Michigan already is struggling with the nation's highest unemployment rate, a...

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) - The Penske Automotive Group has announced that it has terminated talks with GM on acquiring the Saturn brand. Penske says negotiations with GM regarding the future supply of vehicles caused the breakdown in talks. G In a statement issued by General Motors, the company is very disappointed about Penske's decision. This will ultimately be the end for the Saturn brand as GM prepares to wind down production and dealership network. STATEMENT FROM GENERAL MOTORS: Today we learned that Penske Automotive Group (PAG) has decided to terminate discussions with General Motors to acquire Saturn. This is...

U.S. Reps, John Conyers (D-Detroit) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Congressional Research Service requesting an investigation of ACORN, the anti-poverty group whose employees in Baltimore recently were caught on hidden camera offering questionable advice to conservative activists posing as a prostitute and pimp. In the letter, Conyers and Frank ask the nonpartisan research group to look into ACORN's alleged misbehavior, including funding violations and alleged voter registration irregularities. But they also question whether Congress' swift move to cut the group's funding was unconstitutional. Specifically, Conyers and Frank ask whether the funding cuts qualify as...

TROY, Mich. (WXYZ) - Hundreds opposed to President Barack Obama's proposed health care initiatives gathered outside Rep. Gary Peters' office in Troy Monday to voice their displeasure and concern. The "tea party" participants sported signs showing their opposition to the health care overhaul the president is trying to pass through congress. Rep. Peters, a Democrat, was not at his Troy office during the protest. A spokesperson says Peters is still not sure which version of the bill he will support, but he is glad to see Americans voicing their opinions and beliefs on the issue.

A pair of local child care workers are suing the state over their mandatory inclusion into a union. Following a December 2008 notification letter from the state, child care workers began paying union dues to the Child Care Providers Together Michigan, an arm under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and United Auto Workers, because they receive subsidy checks from the Michigan Department of Human Services for caring for children of low income families. But Petoskey residents Sherry Loar and Dawn Ives said they never asked to be part of a union and contacted the Mackinaw Center...

Computerworld - A company providing online payment-processing services for U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) is back online after being disrupted by a distributed denial-of-service attack over the weekend. The attack on Piryx began Friday afternoon and lasted into the early hours of Saturday morning, temporarily disrupting a Wilson fundraising effort that was under way at that time, Piryx CEO Tom Serres said. It also knocked out services for about 150 other Piryx clients, he said. Piryx is a nonpartisan Austin-based start-up that provides services to help political candidates and nonprofits manage online campaigns and fundraising.