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myFOXDetroit.com Staff - A Macomb Township soldier injured in Iraq got a new, custom built home for Christmas. A group called Homes for our Troops helped build the home for 23-year old US Army Specialist Alex Knapp.

18 states allow for recall votes on US Senators. The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. The Senate oath of office is: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well...

Senate Democratic leaders say last-minute changes to the health care bill include giving nonprofit health insurance companies an exemption from the excise tax on insurers, a revision pushed by Sen. Carl Levin, who is a major recipient of campaign contributions form mega nonprofit Blue Cross Blue Shield. The excise tax or fee on health insurance companies was expected to bring in $6.7 billion to help pay for the nearly $1 trillion bill, but the complete exemption for nonprofits sought by Mr. Levin, Michigan Democrat, would cut the revenue in half. "The health insurance fee proposal in the pending Senate bill...

An aide to Rep. Bart Stupak (D. Mich.) coordinated opposition to a Senate compromise on the place of abortion in health care legislation this morning with the Republican Senate leadership, the Conference Catholic Bishops, and other anti-abortion groups, according to a chain of frantic emails obtained this morning by POLITICO. The emails show that Stupak — who has so far remained silent on language accepted by Senator Ben Nelson (D. Neb.) and faces intense pressure from the White House to accept it — is already working behind the scenes to oppose the compromise. They also demonstrate a previously unseen...

Dave Bing has just signed on to four years of maybe the most futile and thankless job in America: mayor of Detroit. What in the world was he thinking? "I wouldn't have taken this job if this wasn't doable," he tells me. "I finished basketball in 1978, then went into my own business in 1980 and did it for 29 years. . . . Now I get to the end of that career and probably should have retired. But there was a calling greater than anything that I ever envisioned, and that was to help bring this city back." In...

Sheila Murphy Cockrel, a member of the Detroit city council, has never been afraid to swim against the tide. She opposed proposals to create "Africa Town," a district exclusively for black-owned businesses in the heart of downtown. She regularly sparred with the city's former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned in 2008 amid enormous legal problems. Just last month, she drew headlines for abruptly leaving the council's chambers to protest a rushed measure, backed by Christian conservatives, to restrict alcohol sales at Detroit's strip clubs. "It was an act of democracy to walk out and not let the process be hijacked...

BEAVER -- The Beaver County Sheriff's Office has arrested three men suspected in a series of burglaries. According to the Spectrum, deputies said Luis M. Lopez, Andy F. Lopez, and Oren T. Hounchell admitted to varying levels of involvement in a series of break-ins at homes, stores and the Beaver City Library. They were also found in possession of an undisclosed amount of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. All three face multiple burglary and drug charges. Deputies discovered a set of footprints left in the snow after one of the home burglaries. They followed those footprints to the Hounchell's home. The...

The Detroit News’ Mike Wilkinson has an eye-opening story on how unemployment rates generally under-report true joblessness — and specifically how this is happening in Michigan’s largest city. The story points out that Detroit’s official unemployment rate of 27 percent (as of October) may be dramatically under-counting those without work in the economically-strapped city. The actual unemployment rate, when you factor in those who have given up looking for work or who have gone back to school following fruitless searching for work, could be as high as 45 percent. Similarly, official joblessness stats don’t include early-retirees — those who want...

A collective gasp was heard when computer enhanced photographs depicting numerous wind turbine generators were shown in Lake Michigan off Pentwater harbor and Little Point Sable at informational meeting in Scottville Tuesday night. The photos were included as part of the public presentation before a full house at West Shore Community College by wind farm developer Scandia Wind LLC. “It’s (Lake Michigan) more beautiful without them. Even I recognize that,” said Harald Dirdal, a project manager with Havgul Clean Energy of Norway. Scandia Wind LLC is exploring the possibility of constructing an estimated $3 billion, 1,000 megawatt wind farm in...

For the second time Detroit Public Schools Financial Manager Robert Bobb has threatened to bankrupt the school system. Bobb wants school teachers to agree to a Termination Incentive Plan (TIP) which says each teacher must loan the district $10,000 a year from pre-tax earnings to help eliminate the schools’ deficit. DFT President Keith Johnson says if teachers do not agree to the union-generated plan, they face a 10 percent pay cut for five years widening the wage gap between city and suburban teachers. Additionally, teachers may face bankruptcy proceedings that could make a teachers’ contract void. Many teachers have said...

Will consumers buy from a bankrupt auto maker? There always are bargain hunters, but I was certain many would stay away. With Pontiac and Saturn out of the picture, I figured General Motors would be down to 16% market share, losing perhaps another 3% as worried potential buyers talked themselves out of visiting a GM showroom. That would have left GM with as little as 13% share. At least, that’s what I figured, and I have a lot of experience covering failing auto companies. So far, I’m wrong. GM’s market share has been climbing since it left bankruptcy, hitting 20.2%...

Michigan's state Senate and House passed a smoking ban that will make indoor smoking illegal, save for gambling areas, cigar bars and cigar shops. The measure, HB 4377, passed by a vote of 24 to 13 in the Senate and was overwhelmingly approved by the House in a vote of 75 to 30. The legislation will become law when Gov. Jennifer Granholm signs it; she has come out in favor of such legislation, according to press reports from Michigan. The law will go into effect May 1. Exemptions to the legislation include cigar bars, tobacco stores and casinos. A smoking...

Investigators say they’ve uncovered evidence that a Pittsfield Township homeowner was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot another man outside his home Wednesday morning. Both men were armed when they got into a dispute, police revealed this afternoon. The shooting took place early Wednesday on Rockport Court in the Arbor Creek subdivision. The accused shooter, Adham Mofiid Abu Farha, 34, was released from the Washtenaw County Jail this afternoon as police continue to investigate the shooting outside Farha’s home in the Arbor Creek subdivision. Police say Michael Robert Rajchel, 28, of Van Buren Township, came to Farha’s home at...

Will consumers buy from a bankrupt auto maker? There always are bargain hunters, but I was certain many would stay away. With Pontiac and Saturn out of the picture, I figured General Motors would be down to 16% market share, losing perhaps another 3% as worried potential buyers talked themselves out of visiting a GM showroom. That would have left GM with as little as 13% share. At least, that’s what I figured, and I have a lot of experience covering failing auto companies. So far, I’m wrong. GM’s market share has been climbing since it left bankruptcy, hitting 20.2%...

Just how electric vehicles will change the world is an evolving debate, but one new analysis says that EVs and connected industries could be a $300 billion business by 2020 and create over a million jobs globally along the way. In the U.S., somewhere between 125,000 and 300,00 jobs could be created, with the higher number only being reached if the U.S. adopts more "concerted and aggressive efforts" to promote EVs. These predictions come from global management consulting firm PRTM and are based on widespread adoption of the recently-released Electrification Roadmap that ambitiously foresees BEVs and PHEVs making up a...

DETROIT (WXYZ) - The results of a national test indicate Detroit public school children performed the lowest of all eighteen participating cities, and the reaction from officials now charged with leading the district can be summed up in one word: disappointed.

The Detroit Public Schools posted the worst scores on record in the most recent test of students in large central U.S. cities. The scores came on the Trial Urban District Assessment, a national test developed by the Governing Board, the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education and the Council of the Great City Schools. The test for urban districts is part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress test given to school districts nationwide. “There is no jurisdiction of any kind, at any level, at any time in the 30-year history of NAEP that has...

Wayne County Prosecutors say Kilpatrick is living large on what he should be paying to the city of Detroit in restitution. He spent $595 at a Gucci store and $158 at a nail salon this past June, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Athina Siringas said. Siringas also said $800 was spent at one point over the summer on Omaha steaks. Other transaction were made for golf and smooties, and one at a shop called "Nothing Bundt Cakes.'' "That's what you chose to spend the money on?'' Siringas asked Kilpatrick, who invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege several times during Monday's hearing.

Northland Family Planning Centers of Michigan are advertising their services with newly created videos which calls abortion "sacred work." Sacred? Sacred is defined as "entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; holy." The video is part of a series of videos highlighting their abortion services and states, "We believe in the goodness of our work." The spokesperson points to a sign hanging in the abortion clinic that says "We do sacred work that honors women and the circle of life and death. When you come here bring only love." The clinic says that abortion...

<p>HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (CBS/AP) Jamar Pinkney Sr., the 37-year-old Michigan father who allegedly shot and killed his teenage son because the boy told him he molested a 3-year-old girl, will pursue an insanity defense, his lawyer said Tuesday.</p> <p>On the same day, a judge in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park ruled that Pinkney Sr. will stand trial on first-degree murder, assault and firearm charges.</p>

CHICAGO – Illinois environmental officials will dump a toxic chemical into a nearly 6-mile stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Wednesday to keep the voracious Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes while an electrical barrier is turned off for maintenance. The fish, which can grow to 4 feet long and 100 pounds and are known to leap from the water at the sound of passing motors, have been found within a few miles of Lake Michigan and there is evidence they might have breached the barrier, designed to repel them with a non-lethal jolt. Environmentalists fear the...

General Motors Co. CEO Frederick "Fritz" Henderson stepped down Tuesday after the board determined that the company wasn't changing quickly enough. Chairman Ed Whitacre Jr. said at a hastily called news conference that he will serve as interim CEO, and an international search for a new CEO and president is planned. Whitacre thanked Henderson for his work during a period of challenge and change, but said it is time to accelerate the pace of rebuilding the largest U.S. automaker. The resignation comes just eight months after Henderson, 51, replaced former chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, who was ousted March 29...

Detroit, Mich., Dec 1, 2009 / 02:05 am (CNA).- Responding to an increasing number of women who continue to drive late in their pregnancies, car manufacturers are researching safety devices to help protect expecting mothers. The research includes a crash test dummy of a pregnant woman named MAMA 2B.Researcher Stefan Duma of Virginia Tech told USA Today that although states are not required to report fetal deaths in accident data, between 300 and 1,000 unborn babies die in car accidents each year. This accident fatality rate is about four times the rate for victims between infancy and four years...

Like a forgotten downtown billboard, Detroit proclaims a warning about the rest of America for any who will stop and look. If ever an American city was a warning for the nation, it is Detroit. Its crumbling mansions, overgrown boulevards and abandoned factories drive a message home to those who will pay attention. We cannot afford to ignore Detroit any longer. Why? What killed Detroit is killing America. Detroit used to be synonymous with wealth and prosperity. It was a city humming with big-finned cars and Motown rhythms. Factories churned out products that ended up on store shelves around the...

Detroit (WWJ) -- Outgoing Detroit City Councilwoman Martha Reeves is throwing herself a big "going away" party Thursday. The invitation calls it a "Come and Help Me Go Away Party" and says "gifts are welcome."

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Important Pro-Gun Bills to be Considered Tomorrow in Michigan!   Tuesday, December 01, 2009   Please Contact Your State Representative Immediately!Tomorrow, the Michigan House of Representatives will consider House Bill 5302 and House Bill 5303.HB5302, introduced by State Representative Paul Opsommer (R-93), and HB5303, authored by State Representative Joel Sheltrown (D-103), would prohibit employers from firing employees who safely and lawfully store their firearms in locked vehicles. Big business is actively lobbying against this much-needed reform and is trying to create loopholes for large corporations.Please contact your State Representative IMMEDIATELY and politely urge them...

CIA goes hiring in heart of Arab America Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:43am EST By Soyoung Kim DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - At Tuhama's Lebanese deli in Dearborn, and at bakeries and barbershops throughout town, it's no secret the CIA is looking for a few good spies. "There is a lot of talk, and nobody likes it," said Hamze Chehade, a 48-year-old Lebanese-American, taking a bite of his chicken shawarma. In dire need of agents fluent in Arabic, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has made an unusual public show of its recruiting effort in Dearborn -- a city of 100,000 with...

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, November 23, 2009 Arrests Made in Case Involving Conspiracy to Procure Weapons, Including Anti-Aircraft Missiles Arrests were made today in a case involving a conspiracy to procure weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles. A criminal complaint, unsealed today, charged Dani Nemr Tarraf with conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles (FIM-92 Stingers) and conspiring to possess machine guns (approximately 10,000 Colt M4 Carbines). In addition, Tarraf and other defendants — including Douri Nemr Tarraf, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha, and Hussein Ali Asfour — were charged with conspiring to...

DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - At Tuhama's Lebanese deli in Dearborn, and at bakeries and barbershops throughout town, it's no secret the CIA is looking for a few good spies. "There is a lot of talk, and nobody likes it," said Hamze Chehade, a 48-year-old Lebanese-American, taking a bite of his chicken shawarma. In dire need of agents fluent in Arabic, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has made an unusual public show of its recruiting effort in Dearborn -- a city of 100,000 with the densest Arab population in the United States. The agency has bought full-page ads in Arabic-language newspapers...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP)—Charles Woodson(notes) wants to be known as more than a football player. Donating $2 million to the new University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital gives him a chance to do that. The school announced Woodson’s gift on Thanksgiving before he played for the Green Bay Packers against the Detroit Lions. Woodson’s money will support pediatric research by The Charles Woodson Clinical Research Fund in the $754-million, 1.1-million square foot hospital slated to open in 2012. He hopes to attract the world’s best researchers who want to help children with cancer, heart disease, kidney disorders...

Why is Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” book tour stopping at The Villages, a Florida retirement center, on Nov. 24? Here’s a thought – maybe it’s because The Villages is mentioned in the book. On page 265, Ms. Palin describes the place at some length as she writes about stopping there for a rally. She is particularly taken by the fact that the main mode of transportation in this retiree-heavy community is the golf cart, decorated and jacked up to fit the owner’s personality. “My family and I had never seen anything like this and thought it was the Florida version...

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - Talk about getting stuck with the cheap seats. The Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Detroit was built three decades ago for $56 million. Now it's being virtually given away after a judge approved its sale for a paltry $583,000. That comes out to $7.25 a seat as the once-proud arena is relegated to being another sad symbol of the Detroit area's economic collapse. The Silverdome opened in 1975 as home of the Detroit Lions and housed the NBA's Pistons in 1978-88.

Sarah Palin looks at a cover of Newsweek handed to her as she arrives for a book signing of her new book 'Going Rogue' in Grand Rapids, Michigan November 17, 2009

The abandoned corpses, in white body bags with number tags tied to each toe, lie one above the other on steel racks inside a giant freezer in Detroit’s central mortuary, like discarded shoes in the back of a wardrobe. Some have lain here for years, but in recent months the number of unclaimed bodies has reached a record high. For in this city that once symbolised the American Dream many cannot even afford to bury their dead. “I have not seen this many unclaimed bodies in 13 years on the job,” said Albert Samuels, chief investigator at the mortuary. “It...

Washington (CNN) -- Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country's current economic problems. In May, 53 percent blamed the GOP. According to the poll, 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May, and 27 percent now say both parties are responsible. "The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold...

Ann Arbor, Michigan POLL: Should guns be allowed on campus?

There may be additional e-mails that could have tipped off law enforcement or military officials to the Fort Hood shooter before he went on his deadly rampage, the chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee said Friday. The U.S. government intercepted at least 18 e-mails between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric. They were passed along to two Joint Terrorism Task Force cells led by the FBI, but a senior defense official said no one at the Defense Department knew about the messages until after the shootings. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss...

In a fast-paced world, life can sometimes be daunting. Fortunately, the state of Michigan has online advice for almost every aspect of life, from shopping to gardening, eating to driving. Sure, some of it may be painfully obvious, nitpicky or bizarre, but just remember: The state knows what's best for you.

An enraged Highland Park, Michigan father is accused of killing his son - as he begged for his life - after learning the teen may have sexually abused a toddler. Jamar Pinkney Sr., 37, irate over hearing his 15-year-old son Jamar Pinkney Jr. had sexual contact with a 3-year-old girl made the teen strip at gunpoint, marched him to a vacant lot and shot him to death despite pleas from the boy and his mother, a relative said. Michigan authorities filed a first-degree murder charge Wednesday against Pinkney Sr. in his son's shooting death Monday. Defense attorney Corbett O'Meara said...

This week marks five years since the NBA's infamous 'Malice at The Palace'. It was a scene that will live on forever as the moment player and crowd interaction went a step too far. With 45 seconds remaining and the Indiana Pacers leading by double digits over the Detroit Pistons at their home court the Palace of Auburn Hills, Ron Artest sparked a riot when he fouled Ben Wallace. Wallace responded with an aggressive shove and tensions boiled over for both sides as the referees tried to break up the all-in fight. A smug Artest then walked over and lay...

Have a close look at the screencap. Notice what Norah O'Donnell's holding in her left hand? Those are notes, with factoids from the 2008 presidential campaign. She's reading from them to challenge a Sarah Palin supporter who was waiting in line at the book signing yesterday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We all remember how back during the '08 campaign, MSM reporters would challenge people attending Obama rallies with uncomfortable truths about their candidate, along the lines "would you still support him if you knew he had the most liberal voting record in the Senate?" Or not. I certainly can't remember...

More than 1,000 people queued for up to 24 hours to have their books signed on the first stop of Sarah Palin's tour to promote her new book. Confirming her rock star political status, students bunked off, employees skipped work and the most ardent fans huddled in the cold overnight to make sure they received an orange wristband, given out by security staff at a shopping mall in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that would let them meet the former Republican vice presidential candidate. They sported "Palin Power" stickers and Palin T-shirts and broke into occasional chants of of "Palin! Palin! Palin!"...

Photo: Rebecca Cook, Reuters GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - College students ditched class, employees skipped work and some huddled in the cold overnight just to make sure they get an orange wristband Wednesday that would let them meet Sarah Palin. Thousands gathered outside a Barnes & Noble and chanted "Palin! Palin! Palin!" for the kickoff of the former Republican vice presidential candidate's "Going Rogue" book tour, which has taken on the feel of a political pep rally. "She's a person of faith, she has a family, she has gone through a lot of the trials and tribulations we have. I'd...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — College students ditched class, employees skipped work and some huddled in the cold overnight just to make sure they get an orange wristband Wednesday that would let them meet Sarah Palin. A line of more than a thousand people — some sporting Palin Power stickers and Palin T-shirts — moved slowly into a Barnes & Noble store Wednesday to see the former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor on the first stop of her "Going Rogue" book tour. During the hours they waited, some broke out in chants of "Palin! Palin! Palin!" Scores more who...

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

Folks, Post here if you are going, know someone who is going, have reports on the size of the crowds, or interaction with Gov. Palin. WWJ Radio Detroit this morning @ 5:00am noted people were already getting their wrist bands that early for the book signing in the evening.

Would Sarah make a good president? Vote here: http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox17-palin-for-president-poll,0,7769112.poll

Former presidential contender's book tour stops at ND. BY ERIN BLASKO SOUTH BEND — Bob Moore was enthusiastic about Mike Huckabee long before the Republican presidential candidate arrived on the national scene in 2007, charming his party's base with his strong commitment to conservative values and moderates and even liberals with his "aw, shucks" persona. He was quick to point that out Tuesday, shortly after meeting the former Arkansas governor at a promotional event at the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore. "I've read all of his books except the one that just came out," the Goshen man said, adding that that...

Talk about a political rock star. A crowd estimated at more than 1,500 already had lined up by mid-morning at a Grand Rapids, Mich., bookstore in advance of a 6 p.m. book signing by 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whose book "Going Rogue" has already become a runaway bestseller -- one day after its release. Die-hard fans of the former Alaska governor traveled from all over the state and began setting up outside a Barnes & Noble store in the city's Woodland Mall at around 9 p.m. last night, hunkering down in 30-degree overnight temperatures to camp out...

Waiting for Sarah's First Booksigning