Free Republic

A federal judge ordered the city of East Lansing to pay $825,000 for violating an apple farmer’s right to free speech and freedom of religion because of his opposition to same-sex marriage.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — All firearms have been banned on Michigan State University's campus and buildings, after the Board of Trustees voted Friday morning to close a loophole that allowed visitors to carry concealed firearms in public areas of campus. Currently, a Board of Trustee ordinances bans all student, staff, and faculty from carrying firearms on campus or in university buildings, regardless of whether they have a concealed pistol license, or CPL. An interpretation of the ordinance has allowed visitors to carry concealed firearms in public spaces on campus. Law enforcement and the Michigan State University Department of Police and...

...SNIP.. It’s now being reported that the Konnech CEO is considered a major flight risk. During a Zoom call yesterday, Ingham County Prosecutors Office Unit Chief Nicole Matusko called Mr. Yu a significant flight risk and explained how they believed he was attempting to potentially flee the United States. "I will note for the record that Mr. Yu is a significant flight risk. Mr. Yu has substantial ties to the country of China. He maintains relationships with family and friends in China. He also has extensive and significant business relationships in the country of China. He also has business relationships...

The founder and CEO of an elections technology company targeted by election deniers was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stealing poll worker data. Eugene Yu, 51, of Konnech Corporation, was arrested in Meridian Township in Michigan on Tuesday and held on suspicion of theft of personal identifying information, Los Angeles County district attorney George Gascón said in a statement. The district attorney's office is seeking his extradition to California. Computer hard drives and other "digital evidence" were seized by investigators from the LA County district attorney's office. Yu's company, Konnech, is based in East Lansing, Michigan. It distributes PollChief software...

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's administration on Monday rescinded a rule that limits restaurant tables to no more than six people - a day after she apologized for ignoring the regulation while gathering with friends at a bar. The Democratic governor has said tables at the Landshark Bar & Grill in East Lansing were pushed together as more people arrived in her party of roughly a dozen fully vaccinated people. A revised gatherings and face mask order, issued by the state health department, no longer includes the six-patrons-per-table provision, effective June 1. Whitmer had announced last week the planned easing of...

Mr. Bogren, a Kalamazoo-based lawyer, was nominated for the Western District of Michigan judgeship in March by the Trump administration. But Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Thom Tillis of North Carolina all voiced objections to Mr. Bogren’s nomination . . . Republicans objected to Mr. Bogren’s recent writings in a case in which he was defending East Lansing, Mich. The city barred a Catholic couple from participating in the farmers market over their opposition to hosting same-sex marriages on their farm, and the couple sued. In defending the city, Mr. Bogren compared the couple’s...

'If you have a government that can go after somebody because they don’t agree with his beliefs, that is a problem for everybody'A Michigan farmer is challenging city officials after he was banned from a farmer's market following a Facebook post in which he affirmed the Catholic Church's teachings on marriage. Steve Tennes, who runs Country Mill Farms, is challenging the city of East Lansing and seeking a permanent order in federal court on Friday that would allow him to continue participating at the city's farmer's market, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom. City officials targeted Tennes after seeing a...

All Steve and Bridget Tennes want is to sell their apples, peaches and blueberries at a Michigan farmers’ market without being required to get into the gay-wedding business, and they’re hoping for an assist from Colorado baker Jack Phillips. The Tenneses, who make their home on the Country Mill Farm with their six children, contend that their Catholic faith has been maligned by East Lansing officials who have sought to bar them from the farmers’ market over the couple’s refusal to host same-sex ceremonies on their property. That’s where Mr. Phillips comes in. It was the state’s animus toward the...

A Michigan apple grower who posted on Facebook that he wouldn’t allow gay couples to get married at his farm filed a lawsuit against the city of East Lansing on Wednesday after he was shut out of an outdoor farmer’s market. The city said Stephen Tennes wasn’t invited back to the market because vendors must follow its civil rights ordinance, which bars discrimination. Tennes alleges that the city’s actions violate his rights to free speech and religion. Tennes’ farm, 22 miles away from East Lansing in Eaton County, is a popular place to have weddings. In a Facebook post in...

This email begs the question: Why did Huma Abedin feel the need to bring the desecration of a Koran in East Lansing, MI to the attention of the Secretary of State? Did Abedin feel that Clinton might be concerned about the news “inciting” attacks in America or abroad? Might she have felt that such a story could be leveraged politically? Was it just something Abedin as a Muslim found personally reprehensible, that she felt her confidant ought to be made aware of? Actions like Koran-burning presumably would have been important to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, given her stated support...

Ohio State's 23-game winning streak is over. Ended by a 41 yard field with no time left.

LINCOLN — Finally. It was Nebraska's turn for some late-game heroics. The Huskers stunned undefeated Michigan State and snapped the Spartans' 12-game winning streak Saturday night with an improbable game-winning drive — covering 91 yards in 38 seconds — to earn a 39-38 victory. NU got the ball back without any timeouts trailing by five. And quarterback Tommy Armstrong went to work. He found Jordan Westerkamp for gains of 28 and 33 yards on back-to-back plays.

The Department of Justice is concentrating on “far-right” groups in a new study of social media usage aimed at combatting violent extremism. The Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded Michigan State University $585,719 for the study, which was praised by Eric Holder, the former attorney general, earlier this year. “There is currently limited knowledge of the role of technology and computer mediated communications (CMCs), such as Facebook and Twitter, in the dissemination of messages that promote extremist agendas and radicalize individuals to violence,” according to the NIJ grant. “The proposed study will address this gap through a series...

An outraged mom live tweeted her son's sex education class after becoming outraged by its abstinence only stance. Author Alice Dreger took to Twitter to express her horror at what she heard at East Lansing High School, in Michigan, when she sat in on a lesson earlier this week. Ms Dreger, a respected professor, began furiously tweeting out the contents of the lesson - which was filled with horror stories about what happened to people who have pre-marital sex. MORE AT THE LINK ABOVE... SOME OF HER TWEETS: @alicedreger: Uh oh. They stuck me in the corner with my computer...

EAST LANSING – The Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan is demanding that Michigan State University cancel its Building Trades Academy program on the grounds that it encourages "organizing in non-union construction companies," while a state legislative committee has struck funds from the university's budget for 2014-2015. "Such activities lack legitimacy when performed by an academic institution," Chris Fisher, president of Michigan chapter of ABC, said in a statement. "Would the university support a similar program geared toward union busting?" But MSU spokesman Kent Cassella said that the program, which began in May 2013, is not paid for by taxpayer...

Michigan State University (MSU) officials will investigate anti-Republican comments award-winning professor William Penn was secretly recorded making to his literature class on Thursday, a school spokesman told Campus Reform Tuesday evening. “At MSU it is important the classroom environment is conducive to a free exchange of ideas and is respectful of the opinions of others,” Kent Cassella,an MSU spokesman wrote. “MSU is thankful we’ve been made aware of the situation,” he said, referring the secret video recording which was viewed by hundreds of individuals on Tuesday. “We will be looking into it,” he added.

A new video uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday shows a professor at a public university slamming Republicans as old, white individuals who want to keep black people from voting. The eight minute video, released by college news outlet Campus Reform, reveals Michigan State University Professor of Creative Writing William Penn opening the first day of class with an anti-Republican rant. “If you go to the Republican convention in Florida, you see all of the old Republicans with the dead skin cells washing off them,” said Penn. “They are cheap. They don’t want to pay taxes because they have already raped...

SNIPPET: " It was found at the front door of the Islamic Center of East Lansing." SNIPPET: "The department is offering $10,000 for any information that would lead to the identification and prosecution of those responsible for this act. Those with information are asked to call Det. Sherief Fadly..."

Meadows reflects on tenure as mayor By MELISSA DOMSIC The State News Editor's note: This is the third in a five-part series to reintroduce the people who run East Lansing. Two council members, Bill Sharp and Vic Loomis, are up for re-election this fall. When East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows was elected as the city's top leader in 1997, he had no idea his duties would involve marriage ceremonies. "One of the things I get the biggest kick out of as mayor is I perform weddings," Meadows said. "After I was elected ... a friend of mine had called and...

East Lansing High School Censors Student Newspaper Distribution of independent publication prohibitted EAST LANSING, Mich. – East Lansing High School student Tyler Whitney denounced the censorship of the Right Way, an independent conservative newspaper that students were barred from distributing. “Our paper featured respectful opinions from well-informed and open-minded moderates, libertarians, and conservatives. It was not disruptive,” explained the Right Way’s editor Tyler Whitney. Whitney faced punishment for distributing a paper, which he considered to be a part of his constitution rights to free expression. Before the administration halted the distribution of their publication, the writers stood in the hallway...