Free Republic

LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MI (WLNS) – Michigan is once again in the spotlight as Presidential candidates drum up support for their campaigns.Republican Senator Ted Cruz will visit Livingston County on June 3rd as the keynote speaker at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner in Howell. Senator Cruz is the latest in what is expected to be a number of visits from Republican Presidential candidates looking ahead to the March 8, 2016 party primary. Sen. Ted Cruz was the first Republican to announce a 2016 Presidential run. Known for his conservatism, Cruz is the son of Cuban immigrants. Prior to going to Washington...

CNN)—They already have enough sons to field a baseball team. And if their streak continues, they'll be able to add a basketball team, too. Kateri and Jay Schwandt, a Michigan couple with 12 sons and no daughters, welcomed their 13th child Wednesday morning.

Eighteen months away from the 2016 presidential election, two Democrats and six Republicans have formally thrown their hat into the ring. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was the first Republican to announce his candidacy. Cruz is the son of Cuban immigrants who before his congressional career was the longest-serving Solicitor General in Texas history. This week, Cruz began his ground game in Michigan by announcing his new state chairman. Saul Anuzis served as chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 2005 to 2009. Later, he was a candidate for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee. Now, as part of...

WINDSOR, Ont. - A new bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit will be named after hockey legend Gordie Howe. Howe, who is now 87, was born in Floral, Sask., and came to be known as "Mr. Hockey." The still-to-be built Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to be operational in 2020. The Windsor-Detroit corridor is the busiest commercial land crossing between the two countries and the border has long been a bottleneck. Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement today along with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder at the river separating Canada and the U.S. Harper praised Howe as a proud...

On Sunday, Michigan state senator Virgil Smith (D-Detroit) was taken into custody for allegedly firing a rifle at his ex-wife’s car following an argument earlier that morning. [Editor’s note: contrary to early reports, the official police report states that Smith fired a rifle, not a shotgun, at his ex-wife’s vehicle, not his girlfriend’s. This article has been updated to reflect these changes. Also, the police report alleges that Smith was naked during the incident.]

Before new Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has put his first points on the scoreboard in The Big House, the school has self-reported four minor NCAA violations in football that have occurred under Harbaugh's watch. The violations are classified as Secondary/Level III. Violations of that nature typically result in no punitive action by the NCAA and are handled through education of the coaching staff through the school's compliance department. According to mlive.com, two of the violations directly involved the former San Francisco 49ers head coach. In one violation, Harbaugh donated an autographed team helmet and a jersey to an auction...

We in Michigan have been talking about fixing our roads for years. "Just fix the damn roads," was the mantra Michigan lawmakers heard over and over from their constituents. Now the refrain sounds more like "just don't fix the damn roads this way." Voters overwhelmingly voted "no" on Proposal 1 - the statewide road funding ballot initiative that would have raised the state's sales tax from 6% to 7% in order to change the way fuel is taxed in Michigan. The changes in fuel tax would have generated new road funding. See vote tallies here. Now it's back to the...

Alcohol “possibly” played a role in the horrific fatal accident that claimed the lives of three high school students at Stony Creek Metropark, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said Sunday. The sheriff said investigators worked throughout the weekend on the Friday evening incident, which also resulted in severe injuries to two other teens who were in the car when it crashed. Asked on Sunday whether the investigation uncovered evidence that alcohol was a factor, Wickersham said: “Possibly. That’s a possibility. We still need to wait for the results of some toxicology tests that were conducted.” Asked if it was the...

DETROIT - Police searched a state senator's home Sunday after he was accused of firing a shotgun following a fight with his girlfriend. Sources told Local 4 state Sen. Virgil Smith, who represents the fourth district, fired several shots into the woman's car. Investigators walked out of state Smith's home with what appeared to be a shotgun wrapped in a garbage bag. Investigators with Detroit police placed it in the backseat of an unmarked car. Around 1 a.m. Sunday police were called to Smith's home for reports of shots fired Sources told Local 4 that early Sunday morning Smith and...

The next presidential election may very well determine if the United States survives as the world’s protector of individual Liberty or not. Nothing demonstrates it better than the beliefs of one Republican Presidential hopeful and a recent comment made by the Chairman of the Democratic Party.Ted Cruz says the Constitution is “Our Standard“. The DNC Chair says that Ted Cruz represents everything that is wrong with the GOP.The Detroit News reports that during a speech to Michigan Democrats at their annual dinner the DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, stated that GOP Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz embodies everything that is wrong with...

Get a bunch of lefties together, mix liberally with wine, and the bombs start exploding. Public Citizen, the consumer group founded by Ralph Nader, gave its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award to Phil Donahue on Thursday night at the National Press Club. There were plenty of tributes for the talk show host, but it was impossible for the room full of pumped-up progressives to get through the evening without finding plenty of people to criticize -- including Barack Obama. "We have a president that many of us, particularly here on the left, we really want to cheer," investigative journalist Seymour Hersh...

A reporter for a Detroit TV station got in hot water earlier this week when she mentioned that, given the substantial Muslim population in the state, “it should not come as a real surprise” if there was a Michigan connection to Islamic State.The reporter was roundly criticized. Not for stating the obvious, but because she said the words “Muslim” and “ISIS” in the same sentence.Mediaite: During a Wednesday broadcast on NBC-affiliated WDIV-TV Local 4, anchor Carmen Harlan discussed a possible ISIS-connected threat in the state. “Given the fact that we have the largest Arab population outside of the Middle...

A Detroit-based local news anchor found herself in hot water this week after making a comment connecting Michigan’s large Muslim community to potential ISIS threats. During a Wednesday broadcast on NBC-affiliated WDIV-TV Local 4, anchor Carmen Harlan discussed a possible ISIS-connected threat in the state. “Given the fact that we have the largest Arab population outside of the Middle East, I guess this should not come as a real surprise,” she said. Seeing as the state has a substantial Muslim population, several organizations spoke out against Harlan, calling upon her and the network to officially apologize, the Lebanese Examiner reported.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will not run for president in 2016, according to two sources familiar with his planning. Snyder, a Republican who was first elected in 2010, has been traveling across the country in recent weeks but has decided against a White House bid. One source close Snyder said he’d expressed concern about the time commitment needed for a national campaign. “He is concerned about solving the problems in Michigan and the time commitment needed for out-of-state travel,” one source said. A Snyder spokesman declined to comment. The decision comes one day after a Snyder-backed ballot initiative, which would...

I was targeted by the IRS in a coordinated attack at the highest levels of government...and we now have the proof. My IRS files, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch, clearly implicate the IRS and a Democratic U.S. senator. "An IRS audit that required researching my political views clearly wasn’t a “normal random audit.” I was targeted for my political views. My civil rights were clearly violated." Per Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch: “The Obama IRS obstructed the release of Wayne Root’s tax documents. The abuse of process Judicial Watch and Wayne suffered through to...

<p>LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder and lawmakers will be forced to consider yet another alternative to address Michigan's deteriorating roads after voters' resounding rejection of a ballot measure that would have increased taxes to pump $1.2 billion a year more into transportation infrastructure.</p>

The terrorist group says they will murder Pamela Geller and kill anyone who shields her. The terrorists also say they have 71 fighters in 15 different states and they 23 have signed up already for missions like the failed Sunday attack in Garland, Texas. Via Sooper Mexican: Bismillah Ar Rahman Ar Raheem “The New Era” To our brothers and sisters fighting for the Sake of Allah, we make dua for you and ask Allah to guide your bullets, terrify your enemies, and establish you in the Land. As our noble brother in the Phillipines said in his bayah, “This is...

A former Veterans Affairs employee who managed one of the department’s retail stores admitted that he stole $150,000 from the store and spent it on strippers, prostitutes, and gambling, according to the Justice Department.

An Islamist radical recruited to Somalia from Minneapolis inspired the would-be “Texas Terror” killers, who were gunned down in Garland, Texas Sunday night by a sharp-shooting law enforcement officer before they could carry out their mass-murder plot at an art exhibit sponsored by First Amendment heroine Pamela Geller. It’s just the latest example of how and why Minneapolis—and specifically the congressional district of Muslim Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) —has become ground zero for the threat to the United States from Islamist terror groups such as ISIS and Al-Shabaab. ... The terrorist threat emanates from the Minneapolis neighborhood known as...

Ann Arbor area voters went to the polls Tuesday morning facing questions about the future of their roads and schools. Ann Arbor Public Schools officials have asked voters to approve a 10-year extension for the district's millage rate, which would raise an additional $33 million for area schools. The millage rate is scheduled to gradually fall off from its current 2.45-mill rate starting next year. If voters pass the ballot proposal it will stay at that rate for an additional decade. The district has said it would use the funds to purchase new classroom furniture, buses and instruments as well...