Free Republic

The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA), a political fundraising group, touts the AGs as “the first line of defense” against Trump’s agenda. The “sheer volume” of Democratic lawsuits is “staggering,” said Scott Will, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association. Throughout 2017, Democratic attorneys generals filed 35 multi-state lawsuits against the Trump administration....By contrast, Republican attorneys general brought 46 multistate legal challenges during ALL of former President Barack Obama’s two terms. Attorney general races are playing out in 32 states in 2018, with 14 seats held by Democrats and 18 by Republicans. Rankin said DAGA is focused chiefly on...

A Michigan dog owner was surprised to find out that the state approved his German shepherd for weekly unemployment benefits. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency sent a letter to lawyer Michael Haddock saying that a Michael Ryder was approved to receive $360 a week in unemployment, reports ABC News. The only problem is that Ryder is Haddock’s German shepherd. The letter claimed that Michael Ryder worked at a restaurant chain in Detroit, Michigan. “I’m not sure what he’s going to do with the money,” Haddock said.

The father of three daughters who were abused by Larry Nassar tried to attack the former doctor in an Eaton County, Michigan, court Friday before he was tackled and arrested by security. Randall Margraves said he was a "distraught father" and cursed at Nassar, but Judge Janice Cunningham told him that was not allowed in court. He then asked the judge for personal time alone with the "demon." "I would ask you, as part of the sentencing, to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon," he asked. "Would you give me one minute?" The judge declined,...

Police had to restrain and remove a father who attempted to physically attack convicted sexual predator Larry Nassar during a sentencing hearing in Eaton County on Friday morning. Randall Margraves rushed at Nassar in court Friday morning after two of his three daughters provided impact statements outlining how the former doctor sexually assaulted them. The third gave her statement in an Ingham County courthouse earlier this month. Margraves reached a table where Nassar and two of his attorneys were seated before he was tackled by a host of police officers in the courtroom. "Give me one minute with that bastard,"...

Kellogg Community College (KCC) has agreed to pay $55,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by two students who were arrested for handing out pocket Constitutions on campus. According to a press release from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented the students, KCC agreed to pay damages and attorneys’ fees, but will not admit to any wrongdoing. As Campus Reform reported just over one year ago, a KCC student and two other conservative activists were arrested by campus police after spending two to three hours recruiting for the school’s Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) chapter, during which they handed out...

Democrats were thrilled in January 2017 when Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz launched a probe into the DOJ and FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Two House Democrats, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings and Michigan Rep. John Conyers, first requested an IG investigation into the FBI over alleged illegal leaks damaging to Clinton in an Oct. 4 2016 letter. Horowitz, an Obama appointee, announced his investigation into the FBI and DOJ’s handling of the Clinton probe four months later in January. Cummings praised Horowitz’s decision at the time, saying the investigation was needed to stave off...

Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar is scheduled to appear in a Michigan courtroom on Wednesday for a second sentencing hearing, after already being sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for abusing young female gymnasts who were entrusted to his care. Dozens of victims are expected to appear in court, as they did in the previous hearing, to tell a judge how Nassar abused them as young athletes under the guise of medical treatment. The hearing is expected to last several days. More than 150 victims offered searing accounts of his sexual assaults in another courtroom in Lansing,...

Florida ranks dead last when it comes to rating the best states in the nation. Michigan ranks No. 1, the very best state in the union. Let that sink in for awhile. Michigan, the state that gave us the Motor City Madman, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock (the poor man’s Ted Nugent), is 49 states better than Florida. Thrillist’s Definitive and Final Ranking of All 50 States list ranked the states “based on everything.” Specifically, the states’ contributions to America, like inventions, food and drink, “somewhat productive famous people,” and unique physical beauty, among other things.

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Detroit Police Officer Glenn Doss died Sunday from injuries sustained from a shooting on Jan. 24, DPD Chief James Craig said. Father of injured Detroit officer: 'He has been shot in the head, please pray for my son' Police officer in critical condition after being shot in line of duty; suspect in custody "He fought a good fight," Craig said. "He is truly what we call one of Detroit's finest. He is what we call an American hero." He was a two-year veteran of the force. Police say Doss arrived to the scene around 10:30 p.m. and...

Decades ago, Lake Michigan teemed with nutrients and green algae, casting a brownish-green hue that resembled the mouth of an inland river rather than a vast, open-water lake. Back then, the lake’s swampy complexion was less than inviting to swimmers and kayakers, but it supported a robust fishing industry as several commercial companies trawled for perch, and sport fishermen cast their lines for trout. But in the past 20 years, Lake Michigan has undergone a dramatic transformation. In analyzing satellite images between 1998 and 2012, researchers at the Michigan Tech Research Institute were surprised to find that lakes Michigan and...

Sources: Armed man barricaded inside Canton Township bank with hostages Police negotiating with barricaded robber at Citizens Bank By Derick Hutchinson Posted: 4:49 PM, January 25, 2018 Updated: 4:49 PM, January 25, 2018 CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Sources told Local 4 that an armed man is barricaded inside a Canton Township bank with hostages. Officials said they are negotiating with a bank robber who barricaded himself inside the Citizens Bank on Canton Center Road in Canton Township. The Citizen's Bank is near the intersection of Canton Center and Cherry Hill roads. Canton police officers and members of the Western-Wayne Special...

Shawn Johnson would never put her daughter’s life in the hands of USA Gymnastics, despite her admiration for the sport, the former Olympian seethed in a five-minute video posted on her YouTube channel Monday. “USA Gymnastics has failed their athletes so terribly,” Johnson said. “I think the fact that any of this ever happened shows that USA Gymnastics has failed as a governing body to protect the athletes it supports and claims to care about.” Johnson, 26, who won the gold medal in the balance beam competition during the 2008 Beijing games, in addition to silver medals in floor exercises,...

Larissa Boyce stood in a Michigan courtroom, the 89th accuser to tell her story of having been sexually assaulted by gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. All the accounts are chillingly similar, but Boyce's stands out — because she says she tried to get someone to stop Nassar two decades ago. "I told somebody," she said during her testimony Friday. "I told Michigan State University back in 1997." Although Nassar is best known as the former team physician for USA Gymnastics — a role in which he allegedly molested Olympic gold medalists like Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber — his busy sports...

Though federal employees won’t get a paycheck during the governmment shutdown, members of Congress will — unless they specify otherwise. Ten Democratic senators on Friday introduced a bill that would withhold pay for members of Congress during the government shutdown. The legislation comes from Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), along with Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “It’s wrong that members of Congress would still get paid in...

Democratic state Sen. Ian Conyers says he is running for the Michigan congressional seat long held by his grand-uncle, John Conyers. Ian Conyers made his announcement Friday in Detroit to join the 13th Congressional District race. The 88-year-old Democrat John Conyers was facing sexual harassment allegations and cited health reasons when he resigned in December from the post he held since 1964. …

Trump said, “I tell my people, I say right now it’s going to be very hard. And in my opinion, in order to make a fair deal with NAFTA, you have to terminate the deal and you have see where you’re going to come, and we’ll come out. But I think you have to give them — to make a fair deal and a great deal — and you see what’s going on, we’re being very tough and we’re being very fair. But we have to get back a lot. What’s happened to this country with NAFTA is unbelievable, the...

My group of respondents is made up of people I have met over the course of the last year while reporting from eight counties that were pivotal in the 2016 presidential election. Some I met through friends or political or activist organizations, but most I encountered at county fairs or festivals, churches, bars or restaurants. My sample skews somewhat toward Trump voters and supporters, but there are also plenty of Democrats. As I expected, most of my respondents had either only good or bad things to say about the president’s first year. Among the positive one-word responses were: “diligent,” “decisive,”...

The search for meteorites continues all over metro Detroit.  NASA experts point toward Livingston County to find them. Bill Cooke is the Meteoroid Environment Program Manager with NASA and he said the Doppler radar images show the meteorites from the meteor spotted on January 16 in Livingston County. “The meteorites should be just south of M-36 between Hamburg and Lakeland,” said Cooke. Cooke said Doppler is best way to track where they might be found. "Doppler weather radar is a very good indicator because, when it picks up meteorites, the meteorites are fairly close to the ground, they're only a couple...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos gave a far-ranging speech today in Washington at an American Enterprise Institute conference, “Bush-Obama School Reform: Lessons Learned.” She announced the death of Common Core, at least in her federal agency. DeVos also decried the federal government’s initiatives to improve education. “We saw two presidents from different political parties and philosophies take two different approaches. Federally mandated assessments. Federal money. Federal standards. All originated in Washington, and none solved the problem. Too many of America’s students are still unprepared,” she said. And she touched on a favorite topic, school choice. “Choice in...

Residents of southeast Michigan were left a bit shaken Tuesday night after a big bright flash lit up the sky and the ground beneath them shook. A flying saucer? No. A shooting star? Not quite. The National Weather Service eventually solved the mystery, tweeting "USGS confirms meteor occurred around 810 pm, causing a magnitude 2.0 earthquake."