Free Republic

FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- Mayor Don Williamson is taking a novel tack in fighting lawsuits - he's withholding city business from anyone who has sued Flint within the past five years. Williamson said the Jan. 21 policy is in the taxpayers' best interests. In recent years, the city faced a multimillion-dollar deficit that prompted the state to declare a financial emergency. "Who in the world would want to do business if you're sued by 'em?" Williamson said. But Greg Gibbs, chairman of the Greater Flint branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he would go to federal court to...

Delphi Corp. has the hatchet out again.The world's largest automotive supplier, which even now is razing a former Flint plant that last employed 400 hourly workers, announced today it is cutting 8,500 jobsAbout 3,000 of those will be in the United States, the company said.Delphi says the moves are necessary because of ongoing global price pressures, cutbacks in General Motors production schedules and lingering issues with its high-wage UAW-represented work force in the United States.In addition, Delphi is tossing three more troubled sites into its internal Automotive Holdings Group. And it might put more in the group, the company said.That's...

Why can't Johnny get a 2.0? Below C level FLINT THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Sunday, November 07, 2004 By Matt Bach FLINT - Last year, six out of 10 Flint ninth-graders couldn't manage a C average, falling below a 2.0 grade point. It's a surprisingly bleak statistic and a problem that runs deep, touching everything from the many students who drop out after the ninth grade to the number who can play sports (Flint requires a 2.0 GPA or a waiver to play). Then there are the individuals who suffer: A seemingly bright student who has failed the ninth-grade...

FLINT - Former Vice President Al Gore will encourage Democrats to continue working through Election Day in an "Every Vote Counts" rally Sunday. It will be a return to familiar territory for Gore, who visited Genesee County three times in three months leading up to the 2000 election he lost to George Bush. He ended up beating Bush by 62-34 percent in Genesee County. This time, Gore is campaigning on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, who has come to Genesee County once this year, in February, before the Michigan Democratic caucus. The public is invited to the...

NRA makes bang for Bush MUNDY TWP. THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Thursday, October 14, 2004 Joe Lawlor MUNDY TWP. -- In the home county of liberal, anti-gun filmmaker Michael Moore, the National Rifle Association endorsed President Bush for re-election, promising him millions of dollars in ads, phone banks and other efforts. NRA leaders chose the Flint area for one of several news conferences in the Midwest to announce their endorsement Wednesday of Bush, citing Michigan as a battleground state with many gun owners and hunters. Wayne LaPierre, the group's powerful executive vice president, said Bush is a true supporter...

Edwards responds to Cheney's criticism of Kerry By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN The Associated Press 8/13/2004, 4:14 p.m. ET FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A day after Vice President Dick Cheney criticized John Kerry, Democratic Sen. John Edwards defended his running mate on Friday, saying he "spilled his blood for the United States" and accusing the Republican of distorting Kerry's words. Cheney told voters in Ohio Thursday that Kerry had called for a "more sensitive" war on terror and mocked that notion as something that won't impress the Sept. 11 terrorists or the Islamic militants who have beheaded U.S. citizens. Edwards, returning...

Michael Moore has won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and may win an Oscar for the kind of work that got Stephen Glass, Jayson Blair, and Jack Kelley fired. Trying to track the unproven innuendoes and conspiracies in a Michael Moore film or book is as futile as trying to count the flatulence jokes in one by Adam Sandler. Some journalists and critics have acted as if his wrenching of facts is no more serious than a movie continuity problem, like showing a 1963 Chevy in 1956 Santa Monica. A documentary film doesn't have to be fair...

Bush, Kerry focus on values in scramble for voters By RON FOURNIER The Associated Press 7/13/2004, 5:42 p.m. ET SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — President Bush and John Kerry are trying to define and dominate the debate on gay marriage, abortion, gun rights and other values in a more virtuous-than-thou scramble for voters like blue-collar Democrat Carolyn Brooks. The 61-year-old clerk opposes abortion, even to save a woman's life, and gay marriage, even if it requires amending the Constitution. But there's a value she places above all others: Honesty. "And Bush, with his war on Iraq, has failed on that note,"...

Fourth-grader roughs up Flint teacher Assault was 2nd at Bryant on same day; students suspended THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION Thursday, April 22, 2004 By Matt Bach Flint Bryant Elementary teacher Davina Whitaker was assaulted by one of her fourth-grade students Wednesday. Whitaker, whom The Flint Journal has been following in a yearlong series on the high number of Flint students who move in and out of district classrooms each year, did not seek medical attention but was upset and had to be taken home by a family member, said Larry Watkins, director of school safety for the district. The...

Flint -- School officials are taking action over allegations that lesbian students at Central High School and other buildings are harassing other girls. There appear to be more complaints and rumors this year regarding lesbians fighting and sexually harassing students, said Larry Watkins, director of the office of school safety. The school doesn't track incidents by sexual orientation, so Watkins said he doesn't know for sure if the problems are increasing. But suspensions for fighting and sexual harassment have included at least one fight between two girls arguing about a relationship, he said. In response to concerns, the district reviewed...

Flint Township - A newly formed chapter of a national conservative group protested Thursday outside the local offices of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Holding signs saying "Quit playing politics with our judges" and "Free the Michigan four," about 25 people protested attempts by Stabenow and Sen. Carl Levin, both Democrats, to block President Bush's appointment of four nominees to the federal court of appeals. Democrats Stabenow and Levin have used their status as the home-state lawmakers to put off a vote on four judges nominated by Bush for the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. "They won't let them come up...

Florida, Georgia and Alabama Close to Reaching Water Sharing Deal By: Brendan Farrington The Naples Daily News May 17, 2003 TALLAHASSEE — The governors of Florida, Georgia and Alabama said Friday they have almost completed an agreement on how to share water from three rivers flowing through their states, saying the major point to discuss now is the length of the agreement. The three states have been arguing for more than a decade over the water flowing through the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, but the Republican governors expressed hope that an agreement would be in place by a July 31 deadline....

Michael Moore: All of the gravity of Pat Paulsen, with none of the intellect, integrity or humor. Could you hear America booing? Michael takes e-mails at www.michaelmoore.com. Make his day. Contribute to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and e-mail him the receipt.</B. That Moore showed his hand on a day when American POWs may have been executed, and in a week when even Sports Illustrated is obliged to report on the brutality of the regime in Iraq is just perfect. Moore's a clown, and not worth outrage out of proportion to his influence, which is minimal. But tweaking him with...

TOTAL Dick Jennifer DIFFERENTIAL Posthumus % Granholm % COUNTY BY Posthumus Granholm CODE/NAME COUNTY REP DEM 01 ALCONA 4,587 2,387 2,165 -222 52% 47% 02 ALGER 3,524 1,623 1,855 232 46% 53% 03 ALLEGAN 34,835 21,694 12,772 -8,922 62% 37% 04 ALPENA 11,223 4,722 6,391 1,669 42% 57% 05 ANTRIM 9,457 5,576 3,752 -1,824 59% 40% 06 ARENAC 5,516 2,611 2,821 210 47% 51% 07 BARAGA 2,480 1,170 1,263 93 47% 51% 08 BARRY 20,266 11,943 8,136 -3,807 59% 40% 09 BAY 39,759 18,001 21,190 3,189 45% 53% 10 BENZIE 6,625 3,480 3,036 -444 53% 46% 11 BERRIEN 40,845...