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DETROIT (WWJ) – The men and women of the Detroit Police Department believe the city is too dangerous to enter, and they want citizens to know it. Detroit Police Officer Association (DPOA) Attorney Donato Iorio said officers are holding the “Enter At Your Own Risk” rally at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in front of Comerica Park to remind the public that the officers are overworked, understaffed, and at times, fearful for their lives. “Detroit is America’s most violent city, its homicide rate is the highest in the country and yet the Detroit Police Department is grossly understaffed,” Iorio told WWJ’s Kathryn...

We are a short 31 days away from making President Obama a one term President! There is much to do over these next several weeks and that is why we at the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama are spending the weekend in Michigan on the Rebuild America - Defeat America bus tour. This is an exciting time and you don't want to miss this! Please come out and join us as we spend 5 1/2 weeks on the road to rally the troops and help defeat Obama. This is a long journey, but well worth the fight. It is going...

For eight consecutive years, the city of Pontiac broke the law by spending more for police services than it budgeted. According to the city records, Pontiac violated the State Budget Act from 2002 to 2009 and was part of the reason why an emergency financial manager was appointed in 2009. In August 2011, Emergency Manager Lou Schimmel worked out an arrangement where the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office took over as provider of police services for Pontiac. The sheriff’s office brought in the existing 50 Pontiac police officers and re-hired 13 other former Pontiac police officers who had been laid off,...

The man who went to school with both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney and predicted the president would "smoke" the Republican nominee says he is dumbfounded by Obama's poor showing in the first debate. "I'm surprised. I was shocked, actually," Sidney Barthwell, a district court magistrate in Michigan who attended Cranbrook with Romney and Harvard Law School with Obama, told The Daily. "That was not the Barack Obama I’ve seen through the years. I’m thinking the man might have had the flu or something." Barthwell, who has remained friendly with both candidates over the years and is staying neutral in...

A union labor contract agreed to by the Bay City Public Schools school board and local teachers' union permits educators to to sell drugs to students two times before being fired. In fact, as Michigan Capitol Confidential first reported last week, teachers are able to come to school drunk up to five times before they can be fired. It lets them teach while high on drugs up the three times before dismissal. The contract states on page 93 (see image nearby) that the first offense of a misdemeanor sale of tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs results in three day unpaid...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.fbi.gov/boston/press-releases/2012/fbi-seeks-assistance-in-locating-wanted-fugitive-ahmad-abousamra FBI Seeks Assistance in Locating Wanted Fugitive Ahmad Abousamra $50,000 Reward is Being Offered for Information Leading to His Arrest FBI Boston October 03, 2012 BOSTON—FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers announced today that the FBI is seeking the public’s assistance to locate wanted terrorist Ahmad Abousamra, a U.S. citizen from Mansfield, Massachusetts who left the United States in 2006. He may be living in Aleppo, Syria, with his wife, at least one child (a daughter), and extended family. A reward of up to $50,000 is being offered for information...

Detroit Police Chief Accused Of Affair With The Same Woman Who Brought Down The Last Police Chief Abby RogersOct. 3, 2012, 10:59 AMDetroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee A myriad of sex scandals has gripped the Detroit Police Department. Its latest chief Ralph Godbee was suspended for 30 days after an affair with police officer Angelica Robinson took a turn for the worse, 7 Action News reported Tuesday. His predecessor, Chief Warren Evans, was also forced to resign after sleeping with a police officer Monique Patterson. In a bizarre coincidence, Godbee is also accused of having an affair with Patterson. But...

The rigors of teaching apparently got to Michigan State University professor John McCarthy Monday. According to multiple sources, the math teacher stripped naked in the middle of his Calculus 1 class and started shouting obscenities.

Michigan State Rep. Woodrow Stanley says right-to-work states aren’t as attractive as Michigan to companies considering a move, but the Flint Democrat ignores the millions of dollars the state hands out to try and be competitive. In fact, the chief executive office of one of the companies Rep. Stanley says chose Michigan over a right-to-work state said in a video on the Michigan Economic Development Corp. website that he wouldn't have chosen Michigan without the MEDC tax handouts. That video is now listed as “private” on a MEDC website. In a column he wrote for The Detroit News, Rep. Stanley...

The Kent County government blocked private citizens who had interest in buying an abandoned house and purchased the property itself so the county could then re-sell it for an estimated $100,000 profit. And a county official said it was all legal. The house in Alpine Township was designated as "blighted" and before it was offered to realtors or others who might have been interested in the property, the Kent County Land Bank Authority acquired it for $10,448.28. "It is true that from the outside, this house looks to be in good shape," said Kent County Treasurer Ken Parrish, who also...

Former presidential candidate and successful CEO Herman Cain participated in a jobs forum at the University of Michigan last week.  During his presentation, Cain told several hundred students that they'll enjoy at least one significant advantage when the enter the job market, triggering an interesting response from a handful of hecklers:   Cain: "This is the greatest country in the world."Students: "Not," "It's not!" The rest of the audience gasped, booed, and a few chanted "U-S-A."  Cain then launched into an epic impromptu monologue about the greatness of America -- her liberties, her prosperity, her military strength, and her opportunities...

Michigan would have 10,540 fewer jobs in 2025 if Proposal 3 passes in November, according to a new study on the renewable energy mandate proposal. The study, done by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Beacon Hill Institute in Massachusetts, also concluded that Prop 3 would lower disposable income in Michigan by $1.42 billion; reduce net investment in the state by $147 million and impose net costs on the Michigan economy of $2.55 billion. "Our study also indicates that even if voters reject Proposal 3, Michigan residents will still bear some of these costs," David Tuerck, one of...

Mark Chappell says he's a lifelong Republican who will be voting for Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. She's got his back on an important issue: China trade violations, from currency manipulation to making knock-offs of American products. Alexander Dodds Co. makes woodworking machines for high-end furniture.

Prominent Middle East expert Dr. James Zogby tells Newsmax that President Obama is polling about 18 percent below his 2008 numbers among Arab-American voters. But those Arab-Americans who are Muslims now “overwhelmingly” support the Democratic candidate compared to four years ago, he adds. Zogby also discloses that Arab-Americans across the board consider jobs and the economy as the most important issue in this year’s elections. Zogby is founder and president of the Arab American Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based organization that serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab-American community, and author of the book “Arab Voices: What...

MLive columnist Rick Haglund writes that the 2/3 tax limitation and international bridge ballot proposals are not a grassroots effort. If you think a proposal on the November ballot requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to raise taxes was put there by a grassroots, tax-limitation group, you’re wrong. Proposal 5 is another maneuver by billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel “Matty” Moroun to try to stop construction of the proposed New International Trade Crossing bridge linking Detroit and Windsor. Haglund notes that a small group of people funded petition gathers and innocent-sounding groups to put these issues on the ballot....

The Service Employees International Union has engaged in unfair labor practices against workers stemming from the union's 2005 forced unionization of Michigan home-based caregivers, according to a Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filing made today with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. The legal action against the SEIU asks the Michigan Employment Relations Commission to reverse the decision that recognized the forced unionization of those workers nearly seven years ago. It also asks that the money being taken from the Medicaid checks of disabled and elderly people in Michigan be immediately ended and for the return of about six months' worth of...

Fresh off the heels of the disingenuous television ad from the unions telling people what Proposal 2 won’t do instead of what it will do comes a doozy from the unions supporting an initiative to add a home-based caregiver unionization scheme into the state constitution. The ad from the “Keep Home Care Safe” group shows Monette Winfield saying how happy she was that she didn’t have to go to a nursing home after a surgery because of the woman who came to her house to help her during her recovery. Monette then says that Proposal 4 ensures that will continue....

Proposal 2, the “Protect Our Jobs” constitutional amendment, would fundamentally change the power structure in Michigan. The amendment would allow government unions to effectively veto laws passed by Michigan’s elected representatives. Little to no attention, however, has been paid to the foreseen financial cost to taxpayers should Prop 2 pass. Prop 2 gives government unions an increased power at the bargaining table, which will cost taxpayers through compensation increases, padded benefits and negotiation on previously prohibited subjects. It is impossible to precisely calculate the taxpayer cost because the amendment would protect collectively bargained winnings without exception — making the cost...

A leading House Republican criticized the Obama administration Sunday for running ads in Pakistan denouncing the anti-Islamic film that allegedly sparked violent and deadly protests across the Middle East and North Africa, calling the roughly $70,000 project a “horrible idea.” “I think it was a horrible idea,” said Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. “It gave credibility and it gave a permission slip to Al Qaeda, to Pakistani officials.” The ad features President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denouncing the 14-minute Internet film trailer “The Innocence of Muslims,” purportedly by South California filmmaker Nakoula...

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, in Holland campaigning for Pete Hoekstra’s Senate bid Tuesday afternoon, said Michigan is key for Mitt Romney's chances. [Snip] Santorum called Michigan a “potential decider.” “If Mitt Romney wins Michigan, he’s going to be president of the United States,” Santorum said. The two talked about national security, the Senate race and Hoekstra’s opponent, Sen. Debbie Stabenow. “Debbie Stabenow’s taking up space,” Santorum said, later pointing to the lack of a budget proposal from the Senate Finance Committee, on which she sits. [Snip] Top of the list was national security. The U.S. has fewer allies...