Free Republic

A division of the Michigan Education Association's political action committee, which is funded in part by teachers, is urging its members to cast votes in Michigan's 47th House District Republican primary even if they consider themselves to be Democrats. In a letter labeled: "IMPORTANT!," the MEA/Livingston County PAC Screening and Recommending Committee pressed union members to cast votes for Handy Township Supervisor Henry Vaupel, a Fowlerville veterinarian who is one of five candidates on the GOP primary ballot. A designation at the top of the letter reads in bold print: "To: All MEA members residing in House District 47," then...

Former Michigan Governor Jen Granholm is one of the nuttier of the Democrats, and she didn’t fail to fulfill expectations on Meet the Press, when she claimed that Republicans denying what Obama wants to do is their “Katrina Moment.” (Video @ http://therightscoop.com/jennifer-granholm-not-doing-what-obama-wants-is-the-republicans-katrina-moment/ )

The Department of Homeland Security has asked Catholic churches in California to temporarily house and feed groups of Central American migrants until 2016, according to an official at the diocese of San Bernardino.But any unpaid cooperation is legally questionable, because it may be intended to bypass Congress’ authority to fund — or to not fund — federal agencies’ new practice of distributing the flood of migrant families to homes across the country.The department “has reached out to the diocese and the bishop, and asked us to shelter families in transition,” Maria Christina Mendez, at the Office of Hispanic Affairs, told...

College campuses often seem culturally biased against non-liberals. But in some cases, political bias so deeply and obviously pervades official campus policy that no one can even defend it when challenged. On that front, the Young Americans for Liberty declared victory in their legal battle with the University of Michigan after administrators agreed to pay out $14,000 and revise discriminatory funding policies. Last year, YAL asked the university for $1,000 to bring anti-affirmative action activist Jennifer Gratz to speak on campus. UM collects mandatory fees from all students and uses them to subsidize events hosted by recognized student groups. But...

The mainstream media tries to pretend that ice remained on Lake Superior “only” into June. “How about July?”asks reader E Stephens. “We should name icebergs still floating in Lake Superior in July after infamous AGW scientists. This one is Gavin,” says Tilly LaCampagne via Twitter. See photo dated 11 July 2014:

Referring to the man who brutally beat and raped her 77-year-old mother as an “animal,” the victim's daughter said she hopes that 31-year-old Shane Chambers gets the same treatment as he spends the rest of his life in prison. “I hope you get to think about this while someone is raping you,” the victim’s daughter said to Chambers who stood a few feet away during the sentencing hearing Wednesday, July 2, in Kent County Circuit Court. "I hope the same thing happens to you," she said. In May, Chambers was found guilty of first-degree home invasion, assault and criminal sexual...

There's a reason why bedbugs are nicknamed "hitchhikers." But Detroit city bus riders don't want to share a ride with them. "I never ever imagined they would be a problem on buses," said Anthony DeRamus. "It makes me uncomfortable."

Former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (R) brought in more than $3.35 million in second quarter fundraising, besting her Senate opponent Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) by more than $1.3 million. ADVERTISEMENT The Republican's numbers came from more than $2.15 million raised and a personal contribution of $1.2 million, her campaign announced Wednesday. At the end of June, Land had more than $5.25 million cash on hand. She has outpaced Peters in donations during every fundraising quarter since entering the race to clinch retiring Rep. Carl Levin's (D-Mich.) seat. Peters' campaign announced Wednesday that the congressman has raised nearly...

DETROIT (WWJ) Prominent Detroit political consultant Adolph Mongo threw a verbal Molatov cocktail with an open letter in Deadline Detroit today saying it’s time for black people to “tell the UAW and Democratic Party to buzz off.” In a long opinion piece, he wrote the two stalwarts of African American political life haven’t done enough to help black people, and it may be time to embrace Republicans. “Look at our recent history and the best years in Detroit came under a working relationship between a black mayor, Coleman A. Young, and a white Republican governor, William Milliken,” he wrote. He’s...

VASSAR — Wolverine Human Services officials say Central American child refugees could arrive here in “a couple weeks,” though protesters didn’t roll out a welcome mat outside Vassar City Hall on Monday night. “I want them to go home where they came from,” said Julie Blossom Hunt, 48, of Vassar, one of several dozen people at a pro- test held by Michiganders for Immigration Control and Enforcement, or MICE. “I’m a big believer in going (to their home countries) and ministering to them, and helping improve their quality of life for them and for their future.” Monday night’s gathering featured...

More than 150 people in Tuscola Co. protested Monday night after learning the non-profit group Wolverine Human Services offered to house some children who crossed the U.S. border illegally near Saginaw. Wolverine runs a juvenile facility in Vassar. It says it has dozens of empty beds. "We don't have a lot of jobs around here," said Tamyra Murray, of Michiganders for Immigration Control and Enforcement, who protested the idea. "The cost to the taxpayer would be tremendous, even though Wolverine said it would be at the expense of the federal government-- that's our money. Eventually it would fall on local...

An Earth-sized planet that might hold liquid water by Staff Writers Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Apr 27, 2014 An artist's conception of the newly discovered exoplanet Kepler-186f orbiting the red dwarf star Kepler-186. The planet is the first Earth-sized world to be found orbiting a star at a distance that would allow it to harbor liquid water, a necessary ingredient for life as we know it. Image courtesy NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle. In a dim and faraway solar system, astronomers have for the first time discovered a rocky, Earth-sized planet that might hold liquid water-a necessary ingredient for life as we know...

As Detroit works to emerge from bankruptcy following a court-supervised overhaul, another Michigan city with strong auto industry bonds could be on the brink of beginning the same process, the latest sign that the spate of municipal defaults may not have ended. Flint, which was the birthplace of General Motors and once had 200,000 residents, also has suffered a spectacular drop in population and factory jobs and a corresponding rise in property abandonment, much like its insolvent big brother an hour's drive south

As Detroit works to emerge from bankruptcy following a court-supervised overhaul, another Michigan city with strong auto industry bonds could be on the brink of beginning the same process, the latest sign that the spate of municipal defaults may not have ended. If a judge rules against Flint's effort to cut its retiree health care benefits, the city is expected to join about a dozen cities or counties to seek court relief since the beginning of the recession.

Monroe Public Schools assistant superintendent quick to acknowledge that changes should be made. Unlike school officials in some other districts, the assistant superintendent of the Monroe Public Schools acknowledges that its union contract for teachers has provisions that are in violation of the state's right-to-work law and says they should be removed. The union contract, which runs from March 1, 2014 to Aug. 15, 2016, states that a teacher must pay union dues or an agency fee as a condition of employment. That is in conflict with the state's right-to-work law that took effect March 28, 2013. Assistant Superintendent Ryan...

Unions took $4 million from Michigan daycare workers; class action lawsuit now possible. Michigan daycare operators who had millions of dollars taken from them in a unionization scheme that has since been outlawed, may get some of their money back. On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Harris v. Quinn that people who take care of others and are paid with funds that partially come from the state cannot be unionized because they are not state workers. It also opened the door for Michigan daycare workers involved in a previous, separate scheme to revisit a class action...

At least 13 people have been shot in Chicago at the start of the long holiday weekend, including a woman killed as she sat on a porch near Garfield Park and a man slain in front of a hair salon on the South Side, police said. ... The mother of the boy, Andrea Byes, said she is planning to move out of the two-flat where she lives with her children because of the violence, drug sales and loitering on the block. "I'm not surprised something like this happened," said Byes, 40. "It was a matter of time. They're all over...

yesterday's decision in a key Illinois Supreme Court case has set off a first-class explosion in state and local government, potentially punching tens of billions of dollars in holes in their collective budgets. Some elements of the court's decision are drawing intense debate. But if the overnight consensus is anywhere near correct, everyone from City Hall and the Capitol to your local village and school board will have little option now but to dig deep, cut services and raise taxes a lot — and labor unions little incentive to compromise. "The law in Illinois is now crystal clear: Politicians cannot...

Michigan man kills 2-year-old girl by shooting her execution-style to torture her dad: policeRaymone Bernard Jackson, 24, walked up to the little girl as she sat on her porch with her dad and then opened fire, police said. Then he shot the child’s dad and a 12-year-old family friend. 'Anybody that feels that they can execute a child in the state of Michigan, we’re going to go after them,’ state police said. A little girl sitting on the porch with her daddy on a beautiful summer day was shot execution-style by a “coward” who wanted the child’s father to watch...

A Michigan referee of an adult-league soccer match died Tuesday, two days after being punched in the head by a player, authorities said. John Bieniewicz, 44, died at Detroit Receiving Hospital from injuries suffered in what police said was an unprovoked attack. The blow left the victim unconscious and not breathing on the field, Livonia Police Chief Curtis Caid said. After the attack, the player fled the field and waved his middle finger at the crowd. Bieniewicz was in critical condition when he reached the hospital and was pronounced dead Tuesday morning.