Free Republic

Tomayto, tomahto — to “uh oh.” One Michigan woman landed herself on the wrong side of the law after throwing a violent fit in Burger King, reportedly because the burger she ordered from the chain had tomatoes on it, much to her dramatic dismay. Porsha Tyler stormed into a Livonia Burger King and demanded a cash refund, WXYZ reports, as the burger she ordered included tomatoes, which she clearly did not want. The incident occured on Jan. 27. According to the outlet, the woman brought the sandwich with her and things quickly took a turn for the worse.

A Detroit woman dubbed the “Crock-Pot killer” after she fatally bludgeoned her longtime friend with a slow cooker in an argument over politics was sentenced Monday to at least 23 years in prison. Tewana Sullivan, 51, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder charges last month in connection with the death of Cheryl Livy, 66, in Livy’s Livonia apartment on Oct. 22, 2014. She received the minimum sentence possible, and could have faced up to 50 years in prison. Sullivan’s attorney, John McWilliams, said the two women were arguing over the 2016 race for president. Sullivan had a blood-alcohol...

A couple whose two dogs mauled a jogger on a rural Michigan road have been charged with murder, reports CBS Detroit....In addition to the murder charges, federal authorities said Quagliata and Lucaj are Albanians living in the U.S. illegally. A report in the Detroit Free Press stated they were facing imminent deportation at the time of the attack. It is unclear if their citizenship status will affect their trial.Authorities said it was the third attack by the dogs in the past two years. The couple was apparently breeding dogs at their property, officials said.

The owners of two dogs that mauled and killed jogger from Livonia last week are in the country illegally and have been fighting deportation proceedings for several years, according to media reports. Now, Albania national Valbona Lacaj, 44, and her Italian husband, Sebastiano Quagliata, 45, may face involuntary manslaughter charges, the Detroit Free Press reports. Their Cane Corso dogs attacked and killed Craig Sytsma, 46, as he jogged past the couple’s Metamora home on July 23. It was the third attack by the large Italian dogs – mastiff-type dogs the American Kennel Club describes as “noble, majestic and powerful in...

It always seemed that the oddness of Thaddeus McCotter’s political career had already maxed out. From referring to himself in the third person as a state senator to quoting Led Zeppelin on the House floor to running for president, he always managed to outdo himself. His career kept growing weirder until it reached its climax in one of the strangest political collapses in recent memory. McCotter went from briefly being one of the highest-ranked Republicans in the House of Representatives to its most surreal flameout, serving as a cautionary tale for no one in particular, since one would be hard-pressed...

Big Labor bosses seeking protection from non-union competition on government construction jobs had a two-front fight going on last week in both Washington, D.C., and Lansing. Votes to determine the fate of project labor agreements occurred in both the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and the GOP-dominated Michigan Senate. When it was all over, a total of 34 Republican lawmakers from Michigan had cast votes on these legislative battlefields, and just one voted on the side of the labor unions to protect PLAs: Congressman Thad McCotter, R-Livonia. “A PLA is little more than a mechanism to put non-union construction companies...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama celebrated the opening of an advanced battery plant in Michigan on Monday as a critical boost for hybrid and electric cars — and a success for his administration's economic stimulus program. But even as mass-produced advanced batteries start rolling off assembly lines, costs are high for consumers, and hurdles remain. "This is about the birth of an entire new industry in America, an industry that's going to be central to the next generation of cars," Obama said Monday in a phone call broadcast at the opening of A123 Systems Inc.'s lithium ion battery plant in...

LIVONIA, Mich., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- The family of a Michigan boy celebrating his 14th birthday at a Fairfield Inn said the party was interrupted by an 18-inch snake by an indoor pool. Justin Moy said he was celebrating with six friends at the Livonia hotel when one of his friends approached the black or dark green snake, thinking it was a rubber fake, leading the reptile to hiss and slither into the pool, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday. "I was like, 'Oh my God,'" Justin recalled of the Saturday evening incident.

by Richard Lawrence Poe Monday, December 10, 2007 Permanent LinkPast Columns JAPANESE BOMBERS descended on Pearl Harbor 66 years ago, killing more than 2,400 Americans and demolishing our Pacific fleet. Every American knows the story. However, too few of us know that Japanese forces made additional attacks on U.S. soil after December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor was merely the first. Our history books grow strangely tongue-tied on this subject. After 66 years, it is time to tell the full story. Following his success at Pearl Harbor, Japanese Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sought to press his advantage. He planned a...

It's a case of too much information. Just in time for the Aug. 8 election, some area residents have received details about their neighbors past voting habits through the mail. An East Lansing-based political consultant named Mark Grebner has been studying methods that encourage residents to vote statewide. On July 27, he mailed out lists of area voters which showed whether or not those residents had voted in previous elections. For example, one homeowner on Berwick Street in Livonia received a list of about 21 other Berwick Street residents which designated whether those people voted in August 2004 and November...

LIVONIA, Mich. -- A driver was arrested on charges of angrily ramming into a sport utility vehicle that carried two pregnant women and pinning it against a wall. No one was hurt. Earl Boyd also gestured at the women and almost forced their vehicle into oncoming traffic, police said Friday. "Oh my God! He's pushing us!" one screamed on a 911 call as the emergency dispatcher tried to calm her. Boyd, 50, was charged with two counts of felony assault with a motor vehicle and with drunken driving. He was freed on bond, and a court appearance was set for...

You are invited to the Mike Cox for Attorney General Campaign Headquarters Grand Opening Thursday, June 27th 6:30 to 8:30 29427 Six Mile Road Livonia (on the corner of Six Mile and Middlebelt Roads) “President Bush has made us all very proud. It is an honor to have worked on his campaign and I truly enjoyed working with you at the Bush Victory Centers in Western Wayne and Oakland Counties. I look forward to seeing everyone again.” -Mike Cox Food and Beverages will be provided. See you there!

<p>Wayne County's two top elected officials and rumored bitter enemies, Sheriff Bob Ficano and Executive Ed McNamara, came eyeball to eyeball in a neutral arena Friday morning and neither blinked. Instead, they winked, shook hands and promised to work to get fellow Democrat Kevin Kelley elected to Congress.</p>