Free Republic

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MI -- The Owosso barber who became a figurehead for those opposed to executive orders issued by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer nearly a year ago, is facing a $9,000 fine for giving unlicensed hair cuts on the steps of the state’s Capitol and sanitation and equipment violations. Individual fines of $4,500 were ordered against both Karl W. Manke, 77, and his barbershop, Karl Manke Main St. Barber & Beauty Shop -- totaling $9,000 -- to be paid to the state of Michigan within 90 days following a Michigan Board of Barber Examiners’ Monday, March 29 review, according to the...

Monday at 5:00, protesters are expected to gather in downtown Grand Rapids, in objection to Governor Gretchen Whitmer's stay at home order. According to the Detroit Free Press, Monday's demonstrations will include Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf as a speaker. Recently, Sheriff Dar Leaf appeared on FOX News, where he referred to the stay at home order as: unconstitutional. He's also taken to Facebook, showing his support to the Owosso barber who gained national attention after refusing to adhere to the governor's orders.

Karl Manke, a 77-year-old from Owosso, reopened his shop after he was turned down for unemployment. Amid the legal threats from Whitmer’s administration, he recently responded, “What, are they going to give me? Life? I’ve got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. I could care less.” “As long as I have two hands and I’m capable of cutting hair, that’s my occupation,” Manke said. “That’s what I do. That’s what I’m going to continue to do.” SNIP After the close of business on Tuesday, Whitmer’s administration stripped Manke of his operating license, his attorney...

OWOSSO, Mich. —Armed members of the Michigan Home Guard stood outside Karl Manke's barber shop, ready to blockade the door if police arrived. They were determined to help Manke, 77, reopen his shop Monday, in defiance of state orders, and dozens joined them, wearing Trump sweatshirts and Trump cowboy hats and waving Trump flags. They gathered not because they desperately needed haircuts but to rail against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s approach to fighting the coronavirus outbreak in Michigan, one of the nation’s worst hot spots. They were channeling President Trump’s support of such protests, but some also were taking aim...

A Michigan judge has denied a motion made by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration that an Owosso barber close up shop during the coronavirus outbreak. Great Lakes News was outside Karl Manke’s Barber & Beauty Shop on Monday when the ruling came down. Reporter Katie Heid said the judge denied the state’s claim that the 77-year-old Manke to close his shop because he was allegedly in violation of Whitmer’s stay-at-home order. “This is not only a big victory for Mr. Manke, but also for other small businesses,” she said. “Who else will open their doors?” The state Attorney General lost in...

In one small Michigan town, another chapter is being written in a controversial library debate. On September 23, nearly 300 Owosso, Mich. citizens crowded a local middle school to discuss whether or not filtering software should be placed on all Shiawassee District Library computers. The filters would prevent patrons from accessing "adult content."

Days after the shooting death of anti-abortion activist James Pouillon, some abortion opponents are asking why abortion rights supporters haven’t condemned the slaying. Harlan Drake has been charged in the deaths of Pouillon, a 63-year-old retired autoworker who was known locally for wielding signs depicting aborted fetuses, and another man Friday in Owosso, Mich. Police say Drake, 33, intended also to kill a third man. According to the Associated Press, prosecutors say Drake had been irritated by Pouillon’s protests, but police have said little about what might have led Drake to kill, other than that he had a grudge against...

Harlan Drake, the 33-year old man arrested in connection with the murder of the Christian pro-life activist James “Jim” Pouillon as well as business owner Mike Fuoss told detectives that he targeted Pouillon because he was “offended” by his pro-life message. Drake also revealed that he planned to target a third man, but was arrested before he could carry out his plan. This morning around 7:20 a.m., Drake drove to Owosso High School where he shot and killed Pouillon as he held a poster of a baby with the word, “Life,” written across the front. A press release from Citizens...

CORUNNA, Michigan -- The Shiawassee County Prosecutor's office has charged Harlan J. Drake, 33, of Owosso with two counts of first-degree, premeditated murder in Friday's slaying of an anti-abortion activist in Owosso and an Owosso Towship gravel pit owner. County Prosecutor Randy Colbry said Drake also had plans to kill an Owosso realtor but was arrested before he could carry out his alleged plan.

The Flint Journal is reporting that an unidentified pro-life advocate was shot and killed in front of Owosso High School this morning. A suspect was taken into custody shortly after the shooting. So far, no further details have been released, but based on the photo and the story, and the indication that there was an oxygen tank left at the scene, one wonders whether the victim was aged. Contrary to secular media reports, there’s a fair amount of violence perpetrated by abortion advocates - in addition to the violence done to the unborn - against pro-life advocates. That story is...

September 11, 2009 There was a killing this morning of a prolife activist who was protesting abortion in front of a high school in Owosso, Michigan. Locals say that the victim, James Pouillon of Owosso, was well-known in the area for his pro-life activities. He was known as “the abortion sign guy" and know for standing on street corners holding up signs with pictures of aborted children. The 33-year-old man arrested for the murder of James Pouillon has reportedly confessed to the killing and to the killing of a second man who owned a gravel business. There is no known...

A man who had long been vocal in his opposition to abortion was shot to death Friday morning while staging an anti-abortion protest outside a Michigan high school, authorities said. The man, James Pouillon, 63, was shot at 7:20 a.m. as he stood outside Owosso High School in Owosso, a city of fewer than 15,000 people 90 miles northwest of Detroit, the authorities said. By Friday afternoon, the police said they had in custody a suspect in the shooting, and in a second fatal shooting nearby, not far from the school. Officials are investigating whether Mr. Pouillon, who had been...

Of course, the fact that this murder of a pro-Life defender occurred on September 11, the anniversary of one of the greatest acts of violence perpetrated against the United States, only magnifies the profound evil of taking innocent human lives. It also reminds us all that a cycle of violence has been unleashed in our age. In 1994, at a National Prayer Breakfast, in the presence of then President Clinton, that little sign of contradiction and prophetic voice, God rest her soul, Mother Teresa, hit the nail on the head. Speaking at a podium where her small stature could barely...

OWOSSO, Michigan -- State police at the Corunna post have confirmed a well-known anti-abortion activist was shot multiple times and killed this morning in front of Owosso High School . . . State police also confirmed that a suspect was taken into custody about 8:15 a.m. at the suspect's home