A student at Central Michigan University boasted on social media about defacing his conservative classmates’ chalk drawings.
Anthony James — operating under the username “brownskinqueer” on Twitter — declared on September 29 that he spent forty-five minutes erasing “copaganda, racist, and pro-life bullshit” from a sidewalk at Central Michigan University.
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Two lawmakers introduced a bill that aims to provide long-term maintenance for roads.
Republican Reps. Steve Carra of Three Rivers and Gary Eisen of St. Clair Twp. introduced House Bill (HB) 5369, aiming to require long-term contracts for road construction and maintenance.
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The Michigan Senate approved three election bills on Thursday that aim to alter election law and make it easier get a state ID.
The Senate voted 20-16 to approve Senate Bill (SB) 304 as amended. Under the bill, the election inspector must notify an elector issued a provisional ballot that it will only be tabulated if the voter verifies voter registration with the clerk within six days after the election. The inspector would also have to inform the individual that some individuals are eligible for a cost-free state ID.
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Ingham County officials announced that they will pause the implementation of a new program aimed to curb gun violence in the area.
The delay in Advance Peace, the program meant to curb the spike in violent crime, according to city officials, is due to lack of participation from community organizations.
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The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Federal District Court Judge Paul L. Maloney’s preliminary injunction, which allows 16 Western Michigan University (WMU) athletes to continue playing intercollegiate sports despite refusing a Covid-19 vaccine shot.
Appellate Judges Ralph B. Guy, Jr., David W. McKeague, and Chad A. Readler issued their opinion confirming WMU violated the athletes’ First Amendment rights by denying their requests for a religious exemption from the mandate. This decision is now binding precedent in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
“The University put plaintiffs to the choice: get vaccinated or stop fully participating in intercollegiate sports,” the opinion says. “The University did not dispute that taking the vaccine would violate plaintiffs’ ‘sincerely held Christian beliefs.’ Yet refusing the vaccine prevents plaintiffs from participating in college sports, as they are otherwise qualified (and likely were recruited) to do. By conditioning the privilege of playing sports on plaintiffs’ willingness to abandon their sincere religious beliefs, the University burdened their free exercise rights.”
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s announcement this week that she is reinstating the state’s prevailing wage rules is drawing accusations that the move is nothing more than a sop to the governor’s extensive list of donors affiliated with organized labor.
“Governor Whitmer is putting campaign donors before Michigan’s hardworking taxpayers,” Eric Ventimiglia, executive director for Michigan Rising Action, said in a statement that included an extensive list of skilled trades unions that have contributed to the governor’s campaign war chest. “Hundreds of thousands of Michiganders worked to place this initiative in front of the legislature, and her unilateral decision to break the law is another example of Whitmer pandering to her highest donors.”
Among the donors listed by MRA are the Painters & Allied Trades Political Action Committee; Michigan Council of Carpenters PAC; Michigan State AFL-CIO; and several pipefitters unions.
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Rep. Rashida Tlain (D-MI-13) admitted on video Wednesday that she only wears a mask when the cameras are rolling.
“I’m only wearing it because I have this Republican tracker over here,” Tlaib said when asked by a man whether he should put on a mask.
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The Michigan State Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would strengthen voting laws in the state, requiring an individual to present a photo ID in order to vote.
In addition to the ID requirement, the legislation would prevent the Secretary of State from mailing absentee ballots, unless specifically requested by the voter.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) hinted Tuesday she may follow President Joe Biden’s lead and support a coronavirus vaccine mandate in the state.
Whitmer was asked about the federal mandate for federal government employees and employers with 100 or more workers, and the Democrat incumbent did not indicate any concern. In fact, she said she would follow Biden’s lead.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on the Legislature to provide more taxpayer money to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to attract businesses, but an economic development analyst and GOP leader disagree.
Citing Ford Motor Company choosing Kentucky and Tennessee to build electric vehicle battery plants instead of its home state, Whitmer called on legislative leaders to give the MEDC “more resources and more advanced procedural and legal tools” to pursue projects.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) lashed out at fellow leftist Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after his government bypassed her to ensure an energy pipeline continues operating.
Whitmer has sought to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5, which runs from Canada through Michigan to refineries in the Midwest. If Whitmer is successful, energy disruptions and price increases would be inevitable, analysts say.
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A nurse in Michigan was charged last week after authorities say they caught her stealing and selling authentic COVID-19 vaccination cards.
“The first complaint charges Bethann Kierczak, 37, of Southgate with theft of government property and theft or embezzlement related to a healthcare benefit program,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a press release. “Kierczak, a registered nurse, was arrested this morning and will be appearing in federal court this afternoon on the charges.”
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President Joe Biden (D) visited a union training center in Howell, Michigan on Tuesday to rally support for his “infrastructure” plan alongside Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).
Whitmer posted on Twitter her support for Biden’s multi-trillion spending behemoth shortly before the President’s visit:
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Sunday vetoed four election integrity bills the legislature passed to improve training for election clerks and increase database security.
Pandering to a “captive audience,” Whitmer rejected the bills during a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People dinner in Detroit. Democrats argue election integrity legislation discriminates against black people, though recent polling found some provisions, such as requiring an ID to vote, are popular with that voting bloc.
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A 1977 pipeline treaty between Canada and the United States is being invoked by Canada in order to prevent closure of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline, which has been in operation under the Straits of Mackinac for the past 68 years.
On Monday, Gordon Giffin, legal counsel for the Canadian government, issued a letter to the U.S. Western District of Michigan Federal Court on Monday, according to a news report by Reuters. In the letter, Giffin noted the 1977 treaty prohibits Michigan and/or the U.S. government from disrupting the operation of Line 5, and asked U.S. District Judge Janet Neff to delay issuing an opinion to allow treaty negotiations between the Canada and the United States to proceed.
Article II of the treaty reads: “No public authority in the territory of either Party shall institute any measures, other than those provided for in Article V, which are intended to, or which would have the effect of, impeding, diverting, redirecting or interfering with in any way the transmission of hydrocarbon in transit.” Article V specifies “an actual or threatened disaster, operating emergency or other demonstrable need” as reasons to shut down the internationally operated pipelines.
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The Michigan State Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee on Tuesday will hold a hearing on an anti-critical race theory bill.
The legislation, which was introduced by Education and Career Readiness Committee Chair Lana Theis (R-Brighton), would seek to limit the teaching of critical race theory in schools.
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The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Committee (MICRC), charged with redrawing the state’s district boundaries based on 2020 U.S. Census data, has been riddled throughout its inaugural outing with blown deadlines and other missteps.
The most recent issue raising public concerns is the MICRC’s apparent lack of transparency, which was prompted by the committee eliminating four of its nine scheduled October public hearings. That means the committee will comply with the minimum number of five meetings called for in the state constitution, but canceling the four meetings will disappoint voters in Novi, Kalamazoo, Marquette and Warren. The five meetings not cancelled will be held in Detroit, Flint, Gaylord, Grand Rapids and Lansing.
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The U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $3.8 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Recovery Assistance grant to the University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, to construct the university’s new College of Innovation and Technology.
The grant, to be matched with $4.9 million in local funds, is expected to create 126 jobs, retain 175 jobs, and generate $10.4 million in private investment.
“We are grateful to Secretary Raimondo and the Biden Administration for investing in University of Michigan-Flint’s College of Innovation and Technology,” Whitmer said in a statement. “This grant will help us usher in a new era of prosperity by supporting over 300 good-paying jobs and generating $10.4 million in private investment.”
Mayor Sheldon Neeley welcomed the investment.
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Congressional candidate and current State Representative Steve Carra (R-59) is calling for a legislative investigation into the role of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in funnelling outside money into the 2020 election. Carra is a first-term Republican representative for House District 59 in Southwest Michigan and has been a leader of the movement to audit the November 3 election. “We have the ability and authority to subpoena records and witnesses. I would love to use subpoena powers to get to the bottom of what happened in the last election,” Carra told The Michigan Star in an exclusive interview. The Star broke the story on August 5 of how an obscure nonprofit, the Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA), received a $12 million grant to support its purported purpose of “nonpartisan voter education” and then turned all but a sliver of the money over to two Democratic political consulting firms for a get-out-the-vote campaign. Benson founded MCELA in 2008 and served as president of the board for most of its existence up to and including 2020, two years after she was elected as secretary of state. Benson’s assistant secretary of state, Heaster Wheeler, also served as a…
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The Michigan Senate passed a series of election integrity bills on Thursday, sending them to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) desk for a predicted veto.
The bills, part of a 39-bill package making its way through the legislature, “would limit who can access Qualified Voter File, prohibit poll books from being connected to the internet, require specific training for poll challengers and change how municipalities decide where to hold polling locations,” Mlive reported.
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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.”
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Wednesday vetoed over $16 million in funds in the new state budget allocated to programs promoting adoption over abortion.
Whitmer, a staunch abortion proponent, nixed spending “that either prohibits pregnancy service programs from providing referrals for abortions or would be allocated to programs aimed at steering pregnant people toward abortion alternatives,” according to Mlive.
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Homicides in Michigan rose a dramatic 31 percent in 2020, above the national average, amid Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) coronavirus lockdowns that forced residents out of work and children out of schools.
The numbers posted both statewide and in Detroit are above national averages.
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Despite Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s claim that Michigan is the future of electric vehicles (EVs), Ford Motor Company and battery maker SK Innovation announced plans to build three new plants in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The new plants, which will host production of electric vehicles and advanced lithium-ion batteries by 2025, will cost roughly $11.4 billion to build and create a projected 11,000 jobs.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) chief medical advisor is hitting the exit amid the latest coronavirus surge in the state.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, a deputy director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Whitmer’s point person in the virus, is leaving for a job in the private sector, the Iron Mountain Daily News reported. Khaldun will be replaced by a bureaucrat who temporarily left her state job to work for the World Health Organization.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) refused to say if she would agree to President Joe Biden’s (D) demand to impose a statewide coronavirus vaccine mandate.
Whitmer, facing slumping polls showing her reelection prospects threatened by multiple Republican opponents, including James Craig and Tudor Dixon, sidestepped a question by Fox 2 about if Biden would “like that to be the case in Michigan”:
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The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is pressuring Central Michigan University to bring back their men’s track and field team, citing that the original decision as having “far-reaching racial implications.”
The ACLU of Michigan blasted CMU for eliminating the men’s track and field program, but then adding a golf program, which it contends is “among the whitest of sports,” Central Michigan Life reports.
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While the Michigan Independent Citizen Redistricting Committee (MICRC) draws political boundaries for the next decade, its spokesman complained that some members of the media are unfairly criticizing them.
Bridge reporter Sergio Martínez-Beltrán tweeted:
“The spokesman of the commission said that “the way we’ve been picked apart and analyzed is concerning” and continued: “The commission is a public body. We are watching. We are reporting. The public is watching. Seems like there’s not a real understanding on what’s the role of the press here.”
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A key FBI informant for the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wouldn’t see prison time under a plea deal despite pleading guilty to a 10-year gun crime during the plot.
The plea agreement for Wisconsin resident Stephen Robeson says that on Sept. 26, 2020, Robeson bought an Armalite .50 caliber rifle from a man he met at church. Months later, Robeson sold the gun to someone he met on Facebook Messenger. A federal judge must approve the plea deal.
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The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation partnered with Bursch Law to file a lawsuit alleging Michigan’s restriction on the use of public funds to pay for private education is unconstitutional.
Five Michigan families and the Parent Advocates for Choice in Education (PACE) Foundation, a nonprofit supporting the rights of Michigan parents to provide educational opportunities for their children, joined the lawsuit after conventional public schools frustrated them after the COVID-19 pandemic. Plaintiff Jessie Bagos’s school only provided virtual school for her young children for much of the last school year. She wanted other options for her twin boys starting kindergarten instead of sitting in front of a screen.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who earned a reputation for imposing extremely strict COVID-19 restrictions, will now sign a bill that bans mask mandates and vaccine passports.
The measures are part of the state’s $70 billion budget bill, which clocks in at 1,000 pages.
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Michigan’s $70 billion budget for fiscal year 2022 increases government spending by 11.5% from last year’s $62.8 billion budget. The increased spending includes one-time funds from federal stimulus packages, raising concerns Michigan can’t sustain current spending without hiking taxes or slashing services.
Once government federal stimulus money runs dry, the government must either raise taxes or reduce services to continue paying for programs that were once considered not essential.
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A new poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group shows Republican James Craig leading Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer in a potential general election contest.
The survey, released on Tuesday, demonstrated the former Detroit police chief leading Whitmer 50 percent to 44 percent, a six point advantage.
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The Michigan GOP and Chair Ron Weiser are suing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, challenging $3.4 million of campaign donations to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that they say is illegal.
A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan aims to force Benson to apply Michigan election law, compliant with the First and Fourteenth Amendments, to equally enforce contribution limits on all candidates. Whitmer raised funds over Michigan’s $7,150 contribution limit under the loophole of the recall exception, despite no apparent active recall efforts.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is refusing to challenge President Joe Biden (D) about the surge of illegal aliens at the southern border, the Republican Governors Association (RGA) claimed Monday.
The group, which views the Michigan governor’s race as one of its top priorities in 2022, noted 26 Republican governors have requested a meeting with Biden “to demand the end to the crisis at the border” and added Whitmer “refuses to acknowledge the crisis.”
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Republican state legislators are encouraging Michigan voters to register their opinions on three election procedural rules changes promulgated by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
The Department of State will conduct a public hearing on the proposed rules on Friday, Oct. 1.
The three rule changes include:
Significantly altering the process to allow the disqualification of candidates by city and township clerks for election finance violations;
Creating a state database of voter signatures whereby voters could upload signatures rather than submitting an original ink signature with local election officials;
Relaxing standards of signature verification for absentee ballots, relying on an automatic presumption a voter’s signature is valid.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is running neck-and-neck with relatively unknown Republican opponents, according to a poll released Monday.
Strategic National — a firm working for Republican James Craig — found its client trailing the incumbent by less than one point among likely voters, 46.6 percent to 46 percent, Breitbart News reported.
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A Democrat Michigan county executive is bucking his party leader’s vaccine mandate and said he will not be enforcing one.
Mark Hackel, the elected Macomb County executive, told the Detroit News he would not go along with forced vaccinations or fire an employee who defied a federal vaccination order.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) and President Joe Biden’s approval numbers continue to decline throughout the state, according to a poll commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber.
After analyzing 600 registered voters, the results of the poll conducted by the Glengariff Group detail that Michiganders are split on Whitmer’s job performance, but the majority of voters believe the economy is on the wrong track.
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A top official within the Michigan Republican Party confirmed to The Michigan Star that the House Oversight Committee chaired by State Rep. Steven Johnson (R-72) is on the verge of holding a hearing on the role of a Detroit-based nonprofit in the 2020 election.
The Star broke the story on August 5 of how the Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA) received a $12 million grant to support its purported purpose of “nonpartisan voter education” and then turned all but a sliver of the money over to two Democratic political consulting firms for a get-out-the-vote campaign.
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A Michigan school principal criticized students who wore Make America Great Again and other pro-Donald Trump clothing during “USA Day” this week.
WWMT reported students at Parchment High School near Kalamazoo celebrated a “USA Day” theme as a part of their homecoming week, which principal George Stamas said was intended to be “fun and unifying.” Instead, he claimed, it created “division.”
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A rise in the number of electric vehicles rumbling off manufacturers’ assembly lines and hitting the state’s roads and highways has Michigan planning to build out a network of charging stations.
A state report predicts by 2030, hybrid or electric vehicles (EV) will represent 51% of all vehicle sales; 50% of vehicle production will have Level 2 autonomy or higher; and software will account for more than 50% of the value of a new vehicle.
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The GOP-led Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer struck a budget deal to avoid a government shutdown before the next fiscal year.
Budget officials welcomed the deal.
“The last year and a half has been hard on all of our families and communities. Addressing their needs – from jobs to education to government accountability – is at the center of today’s budget deal,” Senate Appropriations Chair Jim Stamas, R-Midland, said in a statement. “By working together our divided Michigan government has shown what can be accomplished when Michigan families are put first. Michigan families are counting on us to invest in them. This budget does that by laying the groundwork for a healthy economy for Michigan’s future. I thank House Appropriations Chair Thomas Albert, Budget Director David Massaron, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their collaboration.”
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A Democrat Michigan state representative who has been in constant conflict with the law since April was arrested this week and found to have a handcuff key taped to his foot.
State Rep. Jewell Jones (D) was arrested on a slew of charges last spring stemming from an allegation of drunk driving. Dashcam video allegedly showed him resisting arrest and defying police orders while in jail.
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Former Detroit police chief James Craig, 65, tried to hold a press conference in a state park Tuesday to announce his candidacy for the governor of Michigan, but had to cut it short when a mob of aggressive left-wing agitators prevented him from speaking.
As soon as he reached the podium at Belle Isle Park to make his announcement, the political newcomer was swarmed by dozens of leftists who blasted air horns, raised their fists, flipped the bird, and screamed “hey hey, ho ho, James Craig has got to go!”
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The Michigan Freedom Fund filed a campaign finance complaint against 10 donors to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) reelection campaign, alleging they violated state law when they broke donation limits.
Dubbing it Whitmer’s “$100,000 Club,” Michigan Freedom Fund said in a filing with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) the group “comprised of donors who each illegally gave over $100,000 to Whitmer’s campaign in violation of the $7,150 contribution limit in state law.”
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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.
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Designating 10 major donors to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the “$100,000 Club,” the Michigan Freedom Fund on Tuesday filed a formal campaign finance complaint.
The Center Square is the first news outlet to report the MFF complaint, which asserts 10 donors violated state law by donating more than $100,000 to Whitmer.
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Michigan House Republicans will be taking up two bills this week introduced by Democrats that would grant state identification cards to illegal aliens.
Republicans will be considering HBs 4835 and 4836, the first of which strikes a current provision in law that requires a resident eligible for an ID to establish “that he or she is legally present in the United States.”
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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.”
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