Free Republic

WARREN, Mich. — A man who walked into a Michigan diner with a 5-inch knife stuck in his chest ordered a coffee and complained only about the cold weather.... ...Restaurant employee George Mirdita tells The Detroit News the man calmly ordered coffee.

Alger Smock is no dummy. The successful pig farmer with a history for standing up for what he believes is right, has a new battle, and it is taking place in the hallowed halls of Lansing. You see Smock has a semi-trailer alongside US127 at Coleman Road. On the semi-trailer is a professionally designed sign advertising Witbeck’s Family Foods of Clare. Smock charges Jerry Witbeck an annual fee to place his sign on Smock’s property. In September, Smock received a letter from the Michigan Department of Transportation (better known as MDOT), indicating the permit number on his sign was not...

Detroit's (predominantly black) public schools are the worst in the nation and it takes some doing to be worse than Washington, D.C. Only 3 percent of Detroit's fourth-graders scored proficient on the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test, sometimes called "The Nation's Report Card." Twenty-eight percent scored basic and 69 percent below basic. "Below basic" is the NAEP category when students are unable to demonstrate even partial mastery of knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at their grade level. It's the same story for Detroit's eighth-graders. Four percent scored proficient, 18 percent basic and 77 percent...