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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A woman was killed and two others were hospitalized after getting shot in Grand Rapids in the early hours of Sunday. The shooting happened around 3:30 a.m. outside of a home in the 300 block of Brown Street near Madison Avenue SE, according to the Grand Rapids Police Department. Shanetta Latrice Franklin, 26, was shot and killed. Family and friends said she has three children. "Now her kids ain't even got their mama no more, and I ain't even got my twin sister no more," Franklin's sister Lanetta said. "You all killed my sister for...

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) -- The Secret Service said Wednesday it is investigating the reported theft of copies of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's federal tax records during a break-in at an accounting office in Franklin. Someone claiming responsibility demanded $1 million not to make them public.

A Middle Tennessee company is at the center of a mystery that could turn the political race upside down. The Secret Service wants to know if a group hacked into Price Waterhouse Cooper's computer system in Franklin and got Mitt Romney's tax records. "Right through here and it was just lying on the floor there," Peter Burr recalled.

Searching Google Books for Poor Richard's has become somewhat of an exercise in frustration for me. Typically, what you will find are compilations. Authors who have looked at Franklins' works and decided what should be considered "greatest hits" quotations. Consider me uninterested. So I finally got my hands on a copy from the library which contained the original constructs of Poor Richards' as Franklin wrote them, that way I would know what to search for. Below, you will see where to find all of them online, in their original context. 1733, 1734, 1735, 1736, 1737 ,1738, 17391740 ,1741, 1742, 1743,...

LONDON (AP) Michael Phelps has yet to win a gold medal, and Ryan Lochte's star is fading. So along comes Melissa "Missy" Franklin, yet to start her senior year in high school, to restore American swim hopes at the Olympics. Coming back less than 14 minutes after swimming a semifinal heat, the Colorado teenager won the first gold medal of what figures to be a dazzling career, rallying to win the 100-meter backstroke Monday. "Indescribable," the 17-year-old Franklin said. "I still can't believe that happened. I don't even know what to think. I saw my parents' reaction on the screen...

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier could face criminal charges in relation to the Jerry Sandusky case now that prosecutors have uncovered new evidence, NBC News reported this morning. According to NBC, prosecutors uncovered emails sent in 2001 in relation to what former assistant coach Mike McQueary reported he saw in a Lasch Building shower. McQueary, a graduate assistant at the time, testified that he saw Sandusky doing something that appeared to be "severe" and "sexual" in nature. Emails uncovered by investigators suggest Spanier conferred with former Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz, saying it would be...

Why were 10 dead bodies found in Benjamin Franklin’s basement? In 1998, a group called the Friends of Benjamin Franklin House began renovations on Franklin's London residence, No. 36 Craven Street, and discovered a nasty surprise: 1,200 pieces of bone from 10 bodies, six of which were children. And the bodies were buried in the basement around the time Franklin was living in the house. No, Franklin didn't engage in a murder spree in between penning Poor Richard's Almanack and flying kites in lightning storms. In fact, it's unlikely that the bodies were murder victims at all. The bones were...

'Factor' producer surveying the folks about presidential politics and leadership. Most of them have a hard time even identifying past U.S. presidents, let alone remembering their policies and accomplishments.

On August 11, Peter D'Attilio was merely handing out 2-inch-wide pro-life bookmark flyers at a local fair in Franklin, Massachusetts when he was arrested, handcuffed, and beaten by police while his hands were cuffed behind his back. massresistance

"The five deputies made a kill box around the car and emerged with assault weapons. We were ordered out of the car at gun point. [More]" I had Timothy Veldman on my show today--he's the guy who, along with his friends, was accosted by police for...going shooting. On private land. With permission. And they were driving back home at the time. I think this story needs to go viral, because this kind of crap could happen to any of us. Here are some Americans enjoying their day and their freedom--safely and responsibly--and the ones who introduce jackbooted arrogance under threat...

Benjamin Franklin owed the French for recognizing American independence, loaning money and entering the Revolutionary War against Britain. None of that, though, stopped Franklin from putting America's interests first and risking antagonizing the French when he negotiated a peace treaty with Britain. America won much better terms from the Treaty of Paris, signed in September 1783, than the Colonists had hoped for. On top of Britain's acceptance of U.S. independence, the treaty set America's boundary in the West at the Mississippi River — giving the young nation plenty of room and resources to grow. The problem was France, as well...

It was interesting to watch Bill O’Reilly begin to turn hostile toward Franklin Graham regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ. He pressed Graham to answer questions regarding the fate of people who live “good” lives but die without accepting Christ as their savior. Franklin seemed to handle the question with much more back-bone than his father Billy Graham. (See Larry King interview when King pressed on the same question. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozjLaoPrcQ0&NR=1 The Rev, Franklin answered the question by saying that Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me”. O’Reilly...

President Obama garnered praise from across the political spectrum for his moving speech last week at the memorial service for the Tucson shooting victims, including from his usual critics on the right, but the Rev. Franklin Graham can't be counted among them. In a speech on Tuesday at John Brown University, a private Christian college in Siloam Springs, Ark., the son of the revered evangelist Billy Graham voiced "dismay" at the way the Tucson memorial service was conducted, arguing that it was not as explicitly religious -- apparently meaning "Christian" -- as those following the Oklahoma City bombing and the...

The smear job against Governor Sarah Palin is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Reverend Franklin Graham, one of the voices of reason in this whole situation, calls out the decrepit media for utilizing the tragedy of the shootings, to attack a political opponent. There is no need to place blame whatsoever on political opinions nor politicians for a madman’s murder of innocent human beings. Graham said: “I have been shocked at the reports from those suggesting that former Governor Sarah Palin has some level of responsibility for the horrific shooting. She was extremely helpful to Samaritan’s Purse in...

Veteran ESPN broadcaster Ron Franklin was pulled from the air before Saturday's Fiesta Bowl after he called ESPN sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards "sweetcakes" during an off-air spat, Sports By Brooks reported Sunday. Franklin and Edwards were scheduled to work together for Friday's Chik-fil-A Bowl and the incident occurred in a pre-game production meeting also attended by ESPN announcers Ed Cunningham and Rod Gilmore. When the conversation turned to the subject of Gilmore's wife Marie being elected mayor of Alameda, Calif., Edwards tried to join in but was shut down by Franklin, according to the report. “Why don’t you leave this...

"I am a mortal enemy to arbitrary government and unlimited power. I am naturally very jealous for the rights and liberties of my country, and the least encroachment of those invaluable privileges is apt to make my blood boil." --Ben Franklin Thank you Benjamin. We need more like you in today's day and age.

Most famous today as a founding father, inventor and diplomat, Franklin also commanded troops during the French and Indian War Weapons ready, slogging into the deserted village, the men and their commander were appalled at what they saw: dead soldiers and civilians and evidence of a hasty retreat. The commander ordered quick fortifications against further attack, then burial parties. The orders came from an unlikely figure: Benjamin Franklin, 50 years old, already rich, retired from his printing business and notably famous for his inventions. He had received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society of London in 1753 for his...

I think Jefferson sorely misunderstood in his theology. His politic was too often identified as atheism. Jefferson might be described today as a Libertarian, running counter to most of his contemporaries who were zealously Christian, bleeding into their political views. Comments like, "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." This comment was simply to say that government had no place in religion, it should be...

Aretha Franklin cancels concerts because of fractured ribs, painBy the CNN Wire Staff August 4, 2010 9:34 a.m. EDT (CNN) -- Legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin has canceled two free concerts in New York because of an injury, according to a statement issued by her publicists Wednesday. "Due to fractured ribs and pain in the abdomen, it was necessary for Ms. Franklin to cancel and reschedule the two concerts," said the statement from spokeswoman Gwendolyn Quinn. Franklin's doctors have advised her to come in for tests immediately, the statement said. Efforts are being made to reschedule the concerts at the...

It's that time of year... all three of my children are sick with summer colds. To cheer them up last night, I went to the folks at JibJab and, with the help of their website, produced this video. I've watched it about 700 times at this point, and I thought some of you might enjoy it as well. So before I begin writing my scathing analyses of Kagan, the Arizona immigration case, Obama's golf game and other pressing matters, I'm going with a humorous diversion :)