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There were five justifiable homicides in Saginaw from 2000 to 2010, though the Federal Bureau of Investigation only knows that one of those cases was justifiable. The killing is one of 117 civilian justifiable homicides that took place from 2000 to 2010 in Michigan, according to FBI statistics, though an MLive investigation has shown those numbers are incomplete. Saginaw Police Department Detective Sgt. Joseph Dutoi said the agency reports to the state whenever there is a homicide, and the department is supposed to file another report when the homicides are determined to be justified. 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan will withhold money from Xerox Corp. because a technical problem crashed the state's debit card-style food stamps program over the weekend...

LINK ONLY PER FR POSTING RULES. Gist: Official from Michigan Department of Insurance cannot confirm that anyone has enrolled.

From the racial makeup of University of California classrooms to the number of minority contractors working on BART projects, California's 17-year ban on affirmative action programs has indelibly marked the nation's largest state. But now the debate over whether that experiment has caused more harm than good will take a back seat to a larger national question: Are laws such as California's affirmative-action ban, Proposition 209, unconstitutional, and should be overturned? On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a challenge to Michigan's Proposal 2, a 2006 voter-approved law that mirrored Proposition 209 by barring the use of...

A school janitor in Michigan was fired after she was caught trying to hire a couple of 4th-graders for $1 total to beat up a 9-year-old boy who spoke disrespectfully to her. Other students and a teacher at Campus Elementary in Grand Rapids overheard the janitor’s offer and told the principal, who fired the employee that day, the New York Daily News reported. “There are no words to describe it,” said district spokesman John Helmholdt. “This is one of those things that make you scratch your head and wonder how any individual could think this was a good idea.” According...

LINK ONLY PER FR POSTING RULES. FULL TITLE: "146,000 Michiganders - at least - face loss of cheaper policies under new health care reform rules"

One way to think of the affirmative action case at the Supreme Court this week is like this: How can a state constitutional amendment banning the use of race violate the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on racial discrimination? But here’s a second: If the Supreme Court has found that limited racial considerations in university admissions are allowed, can a state’s voters forbid minorities from trying to convince political leaders that it’s a good idea?

What's this? Lansing — Votes by local legislators in the Michigan House and Senate last week. Senate Bill 351, to clarify fertilizer use restrictions: Passed 27 to 10 in the Senate. Would clarify that use of fertilizers and other soil conditioners which follows “generally accepted” agricultural and management practices at the time of use does not constitute a “release” of hazardous substances in violation of state regulations. Sen. Arlan Meekhof, R-Olive township: Yes Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton: Yes Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge: Yes Senate Bill 354, to revise dog and cat euthanasia regulations: Passed 37 to 0 in the...

DETROIT - Michigan residents in a federal food program are being denied purchases with their debit-style cards because of technical problems. A woman from Fenton, who asked not to be identified, spoke with WWJ about her experience. “I’ve been in two different stores and in both stores, I was told that food stamps could not be authorized so I was not able to make a purchase. I’m absolutely outraged and furious,” she said. “Today is Saturday, my only day off to go grocery shopping for my children and I’m very, very angry that this has happened.” Officials said they’re not...

People in Ohio, Michigan and several other states found themselves unable to use their food stamp debit cards on Saturday, after a routine check by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure. Shoppers from Maine to Oklahoma had to abandon baskets of groceries because they couldn't access their benefits.Ohio's cash and food assistance card payment systems went down at 11 a.m., said Benjamin Johnson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's cash system has been fixed, however its electronic benefits transfer card system is still down. All states that use Xerox systems are affected...

Bridge Cards reportedly not working EBT Food stamps system experiencing glitches in Michigan, other states Joanne Marie Hoopes Oct 12 2013 01:54:13 PM EDT DETROIT - The Local 4 newsroom has been flooded with calls and emails from people reporting problems with their Michigan EBT Food stamp card. Viewers say they attempted to use their Bridge Card but the system is not working and they are left unable to purchase groceries. Local 4 contacted the Michigan Department of Human Services; a spokesperson says the issue with client cards is not on the DHS end. The spokesperson says the issues are...

LINKMuch good background information this subject.Cannot post excerpt due to copyright complaint.

“The phones are ringing off the hook,” said Dizzy Warren, community outreach manager for Michigan Consumers Health Care. The health advocacy nonprofit received about $1.3 million in federal funding to do public outreach and enrollment for the Affordable Care Act statewide. But, Warren admits the system’s slow website has been a blockade for getting people enrolled. For some local navigators, there is a lack of demand. “It hasn’t been really demanding here at this point,” Jen Hansen, certified navigator based in Cadillac. “It think there is still a lot of confusion.”

<p>Jim Bonsall apologized Thursday in a statement issued by the office of state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr that he didn't intend to offend anyone. Orr's office says Bonsall has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an investigation.</p> <p>The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News report the city's recently demoted finance director, Cheryl Johnson, said in a letter to Orr that Bonsall created a hostile work environment - especially for minority women. Bonsall is white and Johnson is black.</p>

<p>DETROIT (WJBK) -- A contractor convicted of tag-teaming with a Detroit mayor to commit corruption worth millions was sentenced Friday to 21 years in federal prison.</p> <p>Bobby Ferguson's punishment was more than double what his attorneys had sought. It came a day after former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years in prison, one of the longest penalties in recent cases of public corruption in the U.S.</p>

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A contracted Grand Rapids Public Schools cafeteria worker is out of a job after admitting she hired two fourth-graders to beat up a fellow student. For everyone, it's one of those head-scratchers -- a just-when-you-think-you've-heard-it-all story. "I didn't believe it. Who would believe something like that?" said the mother of the intended target, who 24 Hour News 8 is not identifying. But when the principal of Campus Elementary School knocked on her door Monday night, he confirmed it. The 9-year-old intended victim, also a fourth-grader, said something he shouldn't have to the woman. The school's...

Kwame M. Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit, stood before a federal judge on Thursday and apologized for putting the people of his city through a corruption scandal so vast that prosecutors say it helped accelerate Detroit’s march toward bankruptcy.

<p>Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in prison for corruption, the apparent last step after a series of scandals destroyed his political career and helped steer a crisis-laden city even deeper into trouble.</p> <p>Kilpatrick, who served as mayor from 2002 until fall 2008, fattened his bank account by tens of thousands of dollars, traveled the country in private planes and even strong-armed his campaign fundraiser for stacks of cash hidden in her bra, according to evidence at trial.</p>

LANSING, Mich., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A proposed law in Michigan is aimed at ensuring beer drinkers who pay for a pint get at least 16 ounces. The measure was introduced in the House last week, MLive.com reported. It would ban what barflies refer to as "cheater glasses" with thick bottoms so they look like they hold a pint but actually take a few ounces less. State Rep. Jim Irwin, a Democrat from the college town of Ann Arbor, said the state regulates meat and other foodstuffs to make sure buyers get what they pay for. Irwin introduced a similar...

Detroiter Sleeps In Liquor Store With Shotgun To Prevent Robberies October 4, 2013 9:43 AM Steve Bahoura said he's been forced to sleep inside his east side Detroit liquor store with his shotgun to make sure he doesn't get robbed. (Credit: Mike Campbell/WWJ Newsradio 950) DETROIT (WWJ) - One Detroit business owner is taking matters into his own hands to make sure thieves leave his liquor store alone. Steve Bahoura, who has owned the Van Dyke Liquor Market since the 90s, said he deals with several break-ins each year and he’s tired of it. Most recently, Bahoura said someone broke...

Detroit's largest public sector union scored a symbolic victory Friday when a Michigan administrative law judge reinstated an extra annual pension check for city workers and retirees, although the judge in the city's bankruptcy case has prohibited enforcement of the ruling.

Our vacation was planned for months. The time was planned to coincide with the maximum autumn colors, and the best weather possible. The planning took place, a vehicle was rented, rooms were reserved, and the weather forecasts were all scanned and showed great autumn forecasts. Congress was the unknown factor. For hundreds of vacationers to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the shutdown of government facilities was something that did not fit into the advanced planning. Dotted with state and federal parks and attractions, the Upper Peninsula has peak fall color in early October. It seemed like the perfect time for us to...

An ambulance was summoned to the Summit Medical Center abortion clinic in Detroit, Michigan, yesterday, and rushed an African-American woman to the hospital. This is the second such incident at this abortion clinic since March. Pro-life activist Emmanuel Lugermo ignored orders by the clinic security guards not to photograph the incident. His pictures show a woman on a gurney in obvious distress. Witnesses on the scene said she was trembling or shaking. Reginald Sharpe, an abortionist with a long and sordid history, was on duty at the time of the emergency. Sharpe was known to have killed a patient in...

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick should be sent to prison for at least 28 years for “astonishing” corruption that enriched him and his family while a desperate city slid toward financial collapse, prosecutors said Thursday. The 51-page filing came a week before Kilpatrick is to be sentenced in federal court for two dozen crimes, including racketeering conspiracy, fraud and tax offenses. The government presented a scathing summary of evidence from his months-long trial and said the corruption tops all recent cases prosecuted elsewhere in federal court. Detroit “desperately needed resolute leadership. Instead it got a mayor looking to cash in...

Democratic Senator Carl Levin says House Republican leaders bowing to the Tea Party is the reason for the federal government shutdown. Levin accuses the Tea Party of doing what the 9/11 terrorists could not: shut down the federal government. “We weren’t shutdown on 9/11. We kept going. There was a physical attack on us,” Levin told reporters on a conference call today, “Now you got people who are doing an economic attack on us, saying they will not allow this government to function unless they get their way on a particular issue.” Republican opposition to the Affordable Care Act is...

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) - Michigan is losing $18 million a day as a result of the federal government shutdown. The politicians at the state capitol are weighing in on who's to blame in Washington. The blame game is in full bloom in the nation's capitol and the democrats and republicans in this town are joining in the finger pointing. "I think its devastating and the height of irresponsibility," said State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer. "I don't think that the Tea Party is anything that I'm going to criticize," said State Sen. Randy Richardville. State lawmakers are being told by the state...

A House-passed bill to ensure the military gets paid under any government shutdown was approved without dissent in the Senate on Monday — a rare bipartisan agreement as Congress stumbled toward midnight when the fiscal year ends and current appropriations expire. The measure, now on its way to President Barack Obama’s desk, would also ensure continued pay for civilian employees of the Defense Department and Pentagon contractors whom Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel determines “are providing support to members of the Armed Forces.” Put forward by House Republicans, the bill is considered good politics for the GOP, since analysts suggest the...

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopolous” on Sunday, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Syrian and Iranian leaders are behaving “more rationally” than “House Tea Party Republicans.” “It, to me, it is mind blowing this week that we see leaders of our most, biggest global adversaries, Iran, Syria, to your point, acting more rationally than the House Tea Party Republicans,” said Granholm. …

DETROIT, MI -- Members of Congress from Metro Detroit reacted strongly to weekend developments in the budget battle that threatens a Tuesday government shutdown, with U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dearborn) using the harshest words. “This once-deliberative body has been taken over by knaves and know-nothings, content with putting partisan politics ahead of the American people," Dingell said in a statement. The Republican-controlled House approved legislation early Sunday that would fund the government through Dec. 15 while delaying Obamacare for one year. Senate Democrats rejected the proposal before the House even voted and the president has threatened a veto. Without passage...

Top Obama administration officials will head to Detroit on Friday to announce nearly $320 million in federal and private aid as the city grapples with the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. The aid includes money for housing rehabilitation and demolition, some $30 million targeted to fight crime and reduce the city’s notoriously long emergency response times, and millions more to rehabilitate the city’s transportation network. …

State-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr wants to overhaul Detroit’s two pension systems by shutting out new workers and freezing benefits for current members. … In July, Orr made Detroit the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy protection. …

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - A Kalamazoo man opened fire on multiple people who he said were attempting to break into his home. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety was called to the 900 block of Stockbridge Avenue near Portage Street just after 4:20 p.m. Wednesday to reports of gunshots fired. When officers arrived at the scene, a resident told them he had shot one of several intruders.

The Detroit News reported that the State Bureau of Elections began a formal investigation of the Service Employees International Union regarding its financing of a ballot proposal last year. Proposal 4, which would have locked into the state constitution the skimming of millions of dollars each year from the caretakers of disabled people, was defeated by 14 percentage points. Chad Livengood in The News reported: The complaint focuses on a group called Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care and an East Lansing company called Home Care First Inc. Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care sponsored the ballot proposal. In campaign...

Detroit will get some federal help in dealing with the largest municipal bankruptcy in the nation's history. Several Obama administration cabinet secretaries are due in town Friday with more than $300 million in federal aid. But don't call it a bailout. Most of the money is coming from existing federal programs for which Detroit is already eligible. Federal officials are pledging to streamline the flow of money to the cash-strapped city, providing Detroit with some of the resources and assistance they need to access the various programs. They are also helping the city to tap into funds available from private...

(Reuters) - The White House will send a group of top officials to Detroit on Friday to offer millions in assistance for knocking down empty buildings, hiring firefighters and adding buses to the city fleet, as the city struggles after filing for bankruptcy. The federal aid has been tapped from a variety of existing programs and is part of a patchwork of grants complementing investments by the city, state and private foundations. "We're going to continue to support the efforts under way in Detroit and ensure the federal government is an active partner in supporting the revitalization of the city,"...

A man in Crawford County, Mich., was arrested and charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon on Sunday after he called authorities about a trespassing suspect on his property, his wife tells TheBlaze. There are also serious allegations being made about officers demanding that video footage of the incident — taken by the man’s wife — be deleted. Thomas Donald, a military veteran, was reportedly out hunting with his 11-year-old son and armed with an “unloaded” single-shot .410-gauge shotgun (his son chose to use a crossbow instead) when he confronted a man riding a dirt bike on his 10...

Detroit’s municipal pension fund made undisclosed payments for decades to retirees, active workers and others above and beyond normal benefits, costing the struggling city billions of dollars, according to an outside actuary hired to examine the payments. The payments included bonuses to retirees, supplements to workers not yet retired and cash to the families of workers who died too young to get a pension, according to a report by the outside actuary and other sources. How much each person received is not known because payments were not disclosed in the annual reports of the fund. Detroit has nearly 12,000 retired...

Open carry activists in Orion Township, Mich., had the police called on them during their “For Liberty Friday” protest last week. However, they were pleasantly surprised when they were confronted by a sheriff’s deputy who completely supported their demonstration because it is protected under the Second Amendment. “We saw the a [sic] OC Sheriff car pull up so we all took out our camera-phones right away, anticipating trouble,” the video’s description reads. “This officer gets out of his car, waves to us, and walks right over. He shakes all of our hands, introduces himself, and states his purpose for walking...

Sen. Rand Paul decisively won a straw poll held over the weekend in Michigan at a bi-annual gathering of Republicans, earning more than double the votes of rival New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Paul, the libertarian-leaning Republican from Kentucky, won 188 votes, or 36 percent, in the 2016 Mackinac Presidential Straw Poll. Christie came in at second with 82 votes, or 16 percent, in the poll. “It’s always exciting to place first in anything,” Paul told The Daily Caller in a phone interview Sunday morning from Mackinac Island after the results were announced. He noted that the Island is “overrun...

Sen. Rand Paul conceded Saturday that congressional Republicans have little chance of stopping Obamacare. “We probably can’t defeat or get rid of Obamacare,” the Kentucky senator told reporters at a gathering of Michigan Republicans, according to the Associated Press. Paul acknowledged that time is running out for Congress to pass a government funding bill, however he said House Republicans’ efforts to defund Obamacare in its government funding bill could lead to a compromise. ~~snip~~ Reid has said any bill defunding Obamacare would be dead on arrival, and Sen. John McCain said Thursday that it was “not rational” to think the...

WARREN (WWJ) – Two people are hospitalized following an exchange of gunfire in a Warren home. A photo of a note taken into evidence at the scene. (credit: Warren Police) Police said the shooting took place following an attempted robbery Tuesday afternoon on Norma Street, in the area of I-696 and Hoover Road.The victim, a man in his 60s, and his brother sell gold and jewelry out of the home, according to police.Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green said a prospective customer came knocking, but, once inside, pulled out a handgun.A note taken into evidence by police at the scene reads: “Do...

Three men in Grand Rapids, Michigan, worked as a team to restrain a female purse-snatching suspect while waiting for police to arrive. The men wrestled the suspect to the ground and held her there while good Samaritans comforted the injured victim. In an attempt to free herself, the suspect appears to bite one of the men restraining her, prompting him to hit her. The suspect was stopped by a Jimmy John’s delivery worker, and the men in the video helped detain the suspect. Meanwhile, a group of people came to the aid of the 75-year-old victim, Evelyn Searl, who had...

<p>One week ago, some neighbors and a construction crew spotted a young man breaking into cars near Joy and Birwood early in the morning. They say he was stealing the batteries and cutting cables.</p>

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Members of the Michigan State Conference NAACP are gathering in Kalamazoo this weekend to consider how to address the "mass movement to subvert democracy" in the United States, convention speakers said. "The will of voters is being completely overtaken" on several fronts, including efforts to overturn the federal Affordable Care Act, restrict voter registration and access to the polls, and, in Michigan, the use of emergency managers in financially stressed cities, said Derrick Miller, president of the Mississippi State Conference NAACP, and the Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III, national NAACP vice president of stakeholder relations. Rivers and...

Witnesses say the driver of the following car fired shots, and the first driver returned fire. Both drivers were shot and killed. Authorities say both men, ages 43 and 56, had licenses to carry concealed weapons.

LANSING (WWJ) - Could this mean the end of welfare as we know it? A bill has passed in the Michigan Senate that would require those receiving public assistance to do some “volunteer” work. Another bill, which passed the House Commerce Committee, requires drug testing, revoking benefits for welfare recipients who refuse the test or who test positive. “What [the legislation] does, it says, in order for your to receive your cash assistance, your welfare check, you must provide some kind of community service to the community,” said the volunteer work bill’s sponsor, State Senator Joe Hune, who represents Livingston...

Flint Mayor Dayne Walling will join survivors of gun violence, victims’ families, other politicians, law enforcement, gun owners and faith leaders in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 19. Walling will be there as a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns during a news conference at 10:30 a.m. at the U.S. Capitol. “We’re asking lawmakers to support common sense gun safety – including universal background checks,” Walling told The Flint Journal. The “No More Names” tour has been in 25 states in the last 100 days, urging elected officials to reconsider bipartisan gun background check legislation that enjoys overwhelming public support...

HAMTRAMCK, MI — A complaint by former Hamtramck Councilwoman Cathie Gordon may have helped expose election fraud in Hamtrmack's August primary. Gordon, who placed fourth among four primary candidates running for mayor with 12 percent of the vote, says that might not be the last of it. The findings come weeks after Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Cathy Square the city's new emergency manager tasked with elevating the city of near 22,000 toward fiscal stability. State Attorney General Bill Schuette on Wednesday charged three Hamtramck men with a total of 41 counts among them of improper possession or return of an...

Video Linky Here Purse snatcher got more than she bargained for....Happened in Grand Rapids...

In 2012, residents of at least five Michigan cities had 50-to-1 odds or better of citizens becoming victims of violent crime, according to data released this week. The Saginaw News compiled a map of data released by the Federal Bureau of Investigations that shows the rate of violent crime in 2012 across reporting police agencies. Flint, Saginaw and Detroit were listed among the highest per capita violent crime rates in the country. Using FBI crime data and population estimates, in 2012, citizens had varying odds of becoming crime victims. Here's a look: Flint: 1 in 37 chance of being a...