Free Republic

Ratings company Moody's on Tuesday slashed Puerto Rico's debt rating by three notches into even deeper junk status after the US territory passed a debt-restructuring law. Moody's Investors Service cut the rating to "B2" from "Ba2" and said the outlook was negative, indicating further downgrades were possible. Now dubbed the "Greece of the Caribbean," the archipelago is, like Greece, reeling under massive debt. Over the past decade, the commonwealth's debt has doubled to nearly $70 billion and investors are growing increasingly worried the government is running out of cash. In a bid for debt relief, the Puerto Rican authorities recently...

Severe weather will lash through areas from the Midwest to the Great Lakes into Tuesday, hitting some of the major cities in the United States, including Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit.

Irritating phrases and words are not confined to political circles, or solely to Washington, although here in the nation’s capital they burrow in and proliferate like obsolete, but entrenched, government programs. This is a call to arms to fight them—but only metaphorically.15: “WAR ON [FILL IN THE BLANK]” Syria’s civil war has produced 2.5 million refugees and a death toll of 160,000, a tragedy that has galvanized neither major political party into action. So next time a Democrat brays about the so-called Republican “war on women” or a Republican trumpets the Obama administration’s “war on coal,” tell them you’ve...

DETROIT, MI -- Detroit police have arrested Monique Dillard-Bothuell, the stepmother of 12-year-old Charlie Bothuell V, on a probation violation; and Child Protective Services removed two children, 4 and 10 months, from his father's Detroit townhouse Thursday, Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens confirms. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office charged Dillard-Bothuell with illegally carrying a concealed firearm and purchasing a pistol without a permit in 2013. She pleaded guilty to the illegal purchase charge and the illegal carrying charge was dismissed, Wayne County Circuit Court records show. After an 11-day search that began when Charlie's father, 45-year-old Charlie Bothuell IV, reported...

The cost of Obamacare health insurance plans will likely rise next year in Michigan. 272,000 Michiganders signed up for health insurance using the marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act. They will be paying more for those plans if proposed rate increases released this week are approved by state and federal regulators. Josh Fangmeier is a health policy analyst with the Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation at the University of Michigan. He says he wasn’t surprised to see Blue Cross/Blue Shield proposing rate increases of 9.3% to 9.7% on their Obamacare health plans.

ON LAKE MICHIGAN NEAR POVERTY ISLAND, Mich. – In a remote part of northern Lake Michigan, divers have started looking at an underwater pit, hoping to find the resting place of the Griffin, a ship commanded by the 17th century French explorer La Salle.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A debris field at the bottom of Lake Michigan may be the remains of the long-lost Griffin, a vessel commanded by a 17th-century French explorer, said a shipwreck hunter who has sought the wreckage for decades.

It’s a basic human right: water. But could the United Nations soon help the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department provide the service to struggling customers? Water department spokeswoman Curtrise Garner says it’s a possibility — but for now, the water bills must be paid. “We do have programs that do help those that are just totally in need; can’t afford it — but we also know that there are also people who can’t afford it would can not pay and we know this because, once we shut water off, the next day they are in paying the bill in full....

DETROIT— Mike Duggan wants to do what no mayor of Detroit has done in more than half a century: attract more people than the city loses. "The single standard a mayor should be defined on is whether the population of the city is going up or going down," Mr. Duggan said in an interview at his City Hall office six months after he was sworn in. If he fails, he says he doesn't expect to run in 2017 and win—marking the boldness of his undertaking, considering the long odds he faces. Other former industrial powerhouses including Cleveland and St. Louis...

Detroit has too much of some things – stray dogs, abandoned houses – and not enough of others, such as residents who pay their water bills. The latest sign of Detroit’s decline came from the city’s water department, when it said in March it would begin shutting off water for up to 3,000 homes and businesses a week in an attempt to stop the utility from sliding even further into debt. The announcement sparked outrage among activists groups, who say the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is going after the city’s most vulnerable citizens to shore up its bottom...

A U.S. Navy sailor from Washington State is currently serving on a submarine thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean, but a judge has ordered him into an impossible custody scenario: Appear in a Michigan courtroom Monday or risk losing custody of his 6-year-old daughter. Navy submariner Matthew Hindes was given permanent custody of his daughter Kaylee in 2010, after she was reportedly removed from the home of his ex-wife, Angela, by child protective services. But now a judge has ordered him to appear in court Monday, or risk losing his daughter to his ex-wife in addition to a...

DETROIT — The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has taken major steps toward recognizing gay marriage. The General Assembly voted Thursday in favor of redefining Christian marriage in the church constitution as the union of "two people," not just "a man and a woman." The redefinition will take effect only if most of the 172 regional Presbyteries approve it in voting over the next year.

Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Gary Peters (D., Mich.) has received thousands of dollars from the labor union representing IRS agents, leading to strong criticism from Republicans. Peters has collected $8,500 from the National Treasury Employees Union over his career, according the National Republican Senate Committee. The union has spent more than $100,000 so far in the 2014 cycle, including a $2,500 donation to Peters Senate campaign. The NRSC demanded that Democrats benefitting from the largesse of the union return the money, since IRS employees are “stonewalling” a congressional investigation into the agency’s admitted targeting of conservative non-profit organizations. The scandal...

This is not the first time that al-Husainy has called for restrictions on the freedom of speech. In 2012 he declared: “They should put a law not to insult a spiritual leader.” Al-Husainy is also a virulently antisemitic supporter of Hizballah. With the President of the United States having declared the “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam,” and many in the mainstream media eagerly practicing self-censorship to appease Islamic supremacists, he probably sees this as his best chance to impose Sharia speech restrictions upon the U.S.I’m not in favor of book burnings, but...

Rev it up with hundreds of authentic vehicles from the 1890s through 1932 at America’s longest-running antique car show. Open ’til 9pm on Saturday night! For one weekend a year, we celebrate the triumphs of the earliest years of the automotive industry. It is a glorious spectacle, as the streets and grounds of Greenfield Village fill with the sights, sounds and smells of hundreds of authentic vehicles made from the 1890s through 1932. Wander through the village and talk to owners about their treasured vehicles. Watch drivers engage in games of skill, see a Model T assembled in just minutes,...

—Governor Rick Snyder continues to lead his Democratic challenger, former U.S. Congressman Mark Schauer, while Congressman Gary Peters now leads former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land in the U.S. Senate race according to the latest Mitchell Poll of Michigan conducted for MIRS (Michigan Information Research Services) and announced during a presentation for Farmers Group, Inc. at a meeting in Lansing today. However, Snyder’s lead has dropped since an April poll while Peters has taken the lead over Land. According to the new Mitchell Poll, Snyder leads Schauer by 5% (46%-41% with 13% undecided). In an April 9, 2014...

A federal appeals court has ruled in Walgreens’ favor regarding a pharmacist who was dismissed after shooting at armed robbers with a legally concealed handgun. Citing its non-escalation policy, Walgreens in 2011 fired Jeremy Hoven from its Benton Harbor, Mich., store eight days after shooting at robbers during his overnight shift. . . . . The court disagreed, citing Hoven’s status as an at-will employee who could be fired at any time, for any reason.

Thanks to the federal government, the Torch Lake, Michigan July 4th fireworks show will be a dud. In fact, it won’t even happen. “Organizers didn’t comply with a federal rule, so now the holiday tradition has to be canceled. The rule states that when anyone buys shells and fireworks, they have to be brought to town the day of the show. They cannot be moved ahead of time and left overnight,” the news site reports. The rule was reportedly changed after the Boston Bombings. Resident Douglas Colwell told the news station the July 4th fireworks show has happened every year...

The Mount Vernon Assembly – Indianapolis FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Skip Brown skip.brown@iga.in.gov 317-232-9521 The Mount Vernon Assembly to Meet at Indiana Statehouse June 12 and 13 INDIANAPOLIS (June 9, 2014) – More than 100 state legislators representing 33 states will meet at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on June 12 and 13 to continue establishing the rules and procedures needed for a future state-led convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as authorized by Article V of the Constitution. The meeting is a continuation of efforts that began in December 2013 at George Washington’s historic Mount Vernon estate...

Former presidential nominee Mitt Romney (R) is endorsing businessman Dave Trott (R) in his primary against Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (R-Mich.), the latest big-name Republican to weigh in on Trott's behalf. "As someone who grew up in Michigan and has family currently living in the 11th District, I am confident that Dave Trott has the honesty, integrity and experience we need in Washington," Romney said in a statement released by Trott's campaign. "As a job-creator, Dave Trott knows how to balance budgets, cut spending, and fix the mess in Washington. I am proud to endorse Dave Trott for Congress."