In his first campaign trail stop since surviving an assassination attempt and accepting the party nomination at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump on Saturday appealed to auto workers in Michigan.
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Former President Donald Trump to Hold First Rally with Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance in Michigan on Saturday
Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday with vice presidential nominee, U.S. Senator JD Vance.
Saturday’s rally, which will be held indoors at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids at 5:00 EST, will mark Trump’s first rally since announcing Vance as his running mate.
Read the full storyFrom DACA to Deportation to Murder: Michigan the Latest State Hit by Immigration Enforcement Lapse
An illegal immigrant, who once lived in the country as a DACA recipient before he was deported in 2020, was arrested over the weekend as a suspect in the slaying of a 25-year old Michigan woman. The incident is the second shocking murder of a young woman by an illegal immigrant this year, following the killing of Laken Riley in Georgia.
Michigan State Police began investigating the murder of Ruby Garcia, from Grand Rapids, after her body was found on a major highway that cuts through the city’s downtown. The body was discovered at 11:38 pm on Friday evening with apparent gunshot wounds, according to The Midwesterner.
Read the full storyMichigan Lawmakers Want Mass Transit Between Grand Rapids, Detroit, Ann Arbor
Michigan Democratic lawmakers want mass transit between Grand Rapids, Detroit and Ann Arbor but don’t know how to pay for it.
State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, D-Livonia, majority caucus chair & Education Committee chair, posted on social media that mass transit would prevent young people from leaving the state.
Read the full storySteubenville Catholic Trade School Forges Ahead Despite Obstacles in Ohio’s Regulatory Hurdles
A Catholic trade college plans to enroll students starting in fall of 2024, but said it continues to train people interested in learning craftsmanship while it works through the regulatory process and other hurdles.
The College of St. Joseph the Worker in Steubenville, Ohio is “shifting the start date back so that we can finish the state approval process,” Alex Renn, the school’s communications director, told The College Fix via email.
Read the full storyDetroit Taxpayers Paid $56 Million in Police Settlements Since 2020
Detroit taxpayers forked over $56 million in police settlement payouts between 2020 and four months of 2023.
Those payouts are a record amount in recent history, but public officials won’t explain why.
Read the full storyGrand Rapids Cannabis Operators Chafe Under City’s Social Equity Rules
When Grand Rapids enacted a social equity program for recreational cannabis, the goal was to create “equitable policies and opportunities that address the historical systemic and institutional injustices often connected to cannabis.”
But some cannabis operators say the rules are nearly impossible to follow as business grows.
Read the full storyMichigan’s Second Largest City Declares Racism a ‘Public Health Crisis’
Grand Rapids, Michigan’s second-largest city and the hub of the more conservative western side of the state, declared racism as a “public health crisis.”
The Grand Rapids city commission approved a resolution that read in part, “We know that racism is deep and pervasive throughout many systems and policies impacting health. Examples include health care, public education funding structures, criminal justice and sentencing, housing, and wealth-building opportunities.”
Read the full storyGrand Rapids Weighs Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis
Grand Rapids is considering naming racism a public health crisis to “center and prioritize anti-racism.”
City staff spent more than 200 hours prepping three draft resolutions presented Tuesday: one to declare a climate crisis, the second to support the decriminalization of entheogenic substances, such as magic mushrooms, and the third to name racism a public health emergency.Grand Rapids is considering naming racism a public health crisis to “center and prioritize anti-racism.”
City staff spent more than 200 hours prepping three draft resolutions presented Tuesday: one to declare a climate crisis, the second to support the decriminalization of entheogenic substances, such as magic mushrooms, and the third to name racism a public health emergency.
Read the full storyMichigan Cities Won’t Say Whether They’ll Adopt Critical Race Theory Resolution
After the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution in favor of teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) last week, the mayors of Michigan’s largest cities won’t say whether they support the resolution.
The Conference of Mayors defines CRT as a “malleable practice [that] critiques how the social construction of race and institutionalized racism perpetuate a racial caste system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers and recognizes that race intersects with other identities, including sexuality and gender identity.”
Read the full storyMichigan Employment Numbers Pick Up Pace for State’s Pandemic Recovery
Michigan’s recovery from the massive unemployment endured during the COVID-19 pandemic is among the fastest in the country, last week’s employment numbers indicate.
That assessment is according to a recently released WalletHub report, which ranked the state fifth nationwide for progress made between the previous week and the week of June 21, 2021, and fourth nationwide for the smallest increase in initial unemployment claims between the beginning of 2020 and the week of June 21, 2021.
Michigan was ranked 13th nationwide for quickest unemployment recovery since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
Read the full storyCaterers, Venue Owners, and Funeral Home Owners: Small Business People Struggle Under COVID-19 Restrictions
Eighty-three days into 2021, Grand Rapids-based Above and Beyond Catering owner Kim Smith said she hasn’t recorded a dollar of revenue in 2021 thanks to COVID-19 restrictions enacted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Catering isn’t alone.
Wedding and funeral owners are pushing back on COVID-19 restrictions killing their business for the last year.
Smith has been in business for 45 years, she told the House Oversight Committee Thursday. Although she’s “done everything to keep afloat” since the state forced her business closed in March of 2020, her revenue is down 93.6%.
Read the full storyMayors Push State Lawmakers to Pass Community Stabilization Plan
City leaders in Michigan are asking state legislators to adopt policy changes that will prevent 24 cities currently collecting local income taxes from losing up to $250 million next year.
Several mayors held a virtual press conference Monday organized by the Michigan Municipal League (MML), asking the GOP-led legislature to approve a plan with three components.
Read the full storyTrump Supporter Opens ‘MAGA Store’ in Michigan
A supporter of President Donald Trump recently opened a “MAGA Store” in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area to sell Trump-themed merchandise ahead of the 2020 election.
Read the full storyDiocese of Grand Rapids Supports Priest Who Refused Communion to Gay Judge
The Diocese of Grand Rapids is standing by a priest who is refusing Holy Communion to a popular judge in the area because she is in a same-sex marriage.
Read the full storyGrand Rapids Elected Officials Support Illegal Immigrants Getting Michigan Driver’s Licenses
Grand Rapids officials made it known Tuesday they believe illegal immigrants in Michigan should be able to obtain a driver’s license.
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