Free Republic

Scott Webb showed up at the Dec. 15 Algonac City Council meeting with a gun. It was perfectly legal. Webb had a semi-automatic 40-caliber pistol lawfully holstered at his side, while he addressed the council regarding the state gun law. He resides in Clinton Township, but said he has friends in Algonac and frequents the city parks often during summer events. He said one of his friends discovered an ordinance on Algonac's books banning citizens from carrying guns, including concealed weapons. "My friend said, 'I didn't think they could do that,'" said Webb, who carries his gun openly and also...

Some of what I comment on involves responding to "straight news" stories that manifest bias against and ignorance about guns, or to anti-gun editorials that flat-out lie. I rarely spotlight letters to the editor. Today I'm making an exception. From Sherri Masson of Milford, MI in the Detroit Free Press, commenting on the increase in gun sales: What if we raised the tax on guns and ammo even more? ...[L]et's treat guns and ammo like cigarettes, making the taxes so high people might stop buying them. Now that would be a positive effect of higher taxes. The idea is not...

Investigators say they’ve uncovered evidence that a Pittsfield Township homeowner was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot another man outside his home Wednesday morning. Both men were armed when they got into a dispute, police revealed this afternoon. The shooting took place early Wednesday on Rockport Court in the Arbor Creek subdivision. The accused shooter, Adham Mofiid Abu Farha, 34, was released from the Washtenaw County Jail this afternoon as police continue to investigate the shooting outside Farha’s home in the Arbor Creek subdivision. Police say Michael Robert Rajchel, 28, of Van Buren Township, came to Farha’s home at...

Recently Jim Robinson posted two threads declaring Free Republic’s determination to see Conservatives elected and ousting Rino's from government. Jim and a great many Freepers believe that we need to take back control. But the RNC is not hearing us. Activism is called for NOW. 2010 is nearing and we need Conservative candidates to run. The time is ripe and people are ready for another 1994 type election. But we need to make the RNC hear us loud and clear. This is the Rino Free America Project. Get involved. Make them listen. Write a letter and MAIL it. Republican...

Yesterday, the Helpers of God's Precious Infants of Michigan held it's fourth and final prayer vigil of 2009. Holy Mass It began with 7:30am Mass at St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores, celebrated by Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit. The parish children's choir had practiced for weeks to provide the music.  On this Feast of the Presentation of Mary, the archbishop told the roughly 650-700 in attendance that Mary, "stands with us in our work to serve the gospel of life".  At the conclusion of Mass, Archbishop Vigneron told the crowd how proud...

Senators have to find a balance between voting their conscience and voting as their constituents would like. If senators vote their conscience too heavily, constituents tend to get angry. When this happens, constituents may ask for a recall of their U.S. Senator. (The 5 steps are listed in detail) -- The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm told Kent County educators Friday the state's school financing system "clearly is not working" and said lawmakers must agree to both a short-term fix as well as long-term changes by the end of the year. But the gathering of superintendents and school board members also gave Granholm an earful, especially after she said lawmakers are "battle weary." "If elected people are weary, my level of sympathy for them is zilch," Catherine Mueller, Grand Rapids school board president, told Granholm. "They ran for these jobs and put themselves in this situation." Granholm appeared before educators...

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton / Bishop Alexander Sample Marquette, Mich., Oct 15, 2009 / 11:40 pm (CNA).- Bishop of Marquette Alexander K. Sample has commented on his request that Bishop Thomas Gumbleton not come to the diocese. He said it was “unfortunate” that the request has become public, but he explained that Bishop Gumbleton’s position on issues like homosexuality and the ordination of women required it.Bishop Gumbleton, a retired auxiliary bishop of Detroit, had been invited to speak by Marquette Citizens for Peace and Justice at St. Mark's Lutheran Church on the topic "Gospel's Call: Action for Peace." He also...

Bishop-elect Bernard A. Hebda / Pope Benedict XVI Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct 7, 2009 / 11:11 am (CNA).- The Holy Father has appointed a priest from the Diocese of Pittsburgh to become the fourth bishop of Gaylord, Michigan.  Msgr. Bernard A. Hebda, who is a graduate of both Harvard and Columbia University, will succeed Bishop Patrick R. Cooney who submitted his resignation to the Vatican upon reaching the age of 75 in March.Bishop-elect Hebda, who is currently undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts at the Vatican, expressed his excitement for his new position today, saying that...

A pair of crooks picked the wrong Milford home to break into. They weren't attacked by the family dog or confronted by the police. Instead, they were confronted by a 13-year old boy. Josh Cichy came home Friday night to two men trying to rob his house. That's when the teen went straight for his spotlight, an airsoft pistol and his shotgun to scare them away. Cichy says he first shined the spotlight in their eyes then fired a warning shot. The thieves took off running. Fox 2's Simon Shaykhet spoke with the teen about how he defended his home....

<p>DETROIT (AP) - A retired police officer-turned-pastor shot and wounded a man who broke into his Detroit church, police said Monday.</p> <p>Lawrence Adams went to Westside Bible Church on Sunday evening and found the intruder inside the building, said Detroit police Sgt. Eren Stephens. The man began swinging an object at the retired police lieutenant, who pulled out a handgun and shot him in the abdomen, he said.</p>

TRAVERSE CITY -- An allegedly drunken man who entered a Traverse City home in the middle of the night found himself at gunpoint. Aaron TwoCrow, 24, of Suttons Bay, allegedly entered a home on the 800 block of Fern Street at about 4:20 a.m. Saturday, police said. A female homeowner was up rocking her 15-month-old child in the living room when she heard her kitchen door open and saw a stranger in the home. "She's just sitting there in the dead of night ... and this guy comes in and scares the crap out of her," Traverse City Police Capt....

SODUS NY— The Border Patrol is again being accused of racial profiling in Wayne County, this time at the dawn of the annual apple harvest that brings thousands of migrants to the area. According to Migrant Support Services organizer John Ghertner — who was there taking photos — and Mi Ranchito owner Primitivo Vasquez, Border Patrol agents blocked off the two entrances to Vasquez’s store Aug. 29, demanding identification from customers before allowing them in. Mi Ranchito is a specialty grocery store that sells Mexican foods, calling cards and other items targeted at migrant workers. Vasquez was born in Mexico...

GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY -- Someone walks into your classroom with a gun and threatens to open fire. Your best defense is to try to escape the room or take out your cell phone and call for help, but under a proposed change to Michigan legislation, you may have another option. Sparked by the shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, Michigan Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, has proposed a change to Michigan law to allow permit holders to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. Currently, the open carry of weapons is permitted anywhere, so long as the owner has a license...

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...

STORM LAKE -- A 55-year-old Storm Lake man was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly making terrorist threats to Taco John's employees, according to a written statement from the Storm Lake Police Department today. Roger Crawford entered the Taco John's on East Milwaukee Avenue and threatened to...use mustard gas on the establishment, the statement said. Crawford remained angry when he left the fast food restaurant traveling westbound on Milwaukee Avenue on a bicycle.

The Motherhouse - view from heaven Ann Arbor, Mich., Aug 27, 2009 / 07:07 am (CNA).- Though the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor are celebrating the completion of the construction of their Motherhouse, they are already near capacity, with 17 new sisters entering at the end of this week.  The community has grown from four sisters to 99 in less than 13 years and shows no signs of slowing down. The community of sisters, which has an average age of 26, was founded in 1997 by four Dominican sisters responding to John Paul...

Four independent groups are launching more than $1 million in attack ads Tuesday targeting five House Republicans who voted against energy legislation in June, spokespeople for the groups said. The ads from the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, MoveOn and Americans United for Change, will target Reps. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.), Denny Rehberg (R- Mont.), Roy Blunt (R- Mo.) and two Virginia Republicans, Frank Wolf and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor. The ad casts the members as siding with “big oil and energy interests” and against “the jobs we really need” because they voted against the legislation that would...

Sen. Randy Richardville on Thursday (August 20th) introduced bipartisan legislation that would help make college campuses safer by allowing CCW permit holders to carry a weapon on college campuses. “Crimes occur on college campuses just like any other place,” said Richardville, a Monroe Republican. “Students, faculty and visitors, who have permits and have undergone the proper training and background checks, should have the right to carry a concealed weapon for their protection while on campus.” Senate Bill 747, sponsored by Richardville, would remove college campuses from the no-carry zones for concealed weapons. This would allow individuals with CCW permits to...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A state lawmaker wants to let Michigan residents who have permits to carry concealed weapons take them on university campuses. Legislation announced Thursday by Republican state Sen. Randy Richardville of Monroe would remove college campuses from the list of places where Michigan law does not allow permit holders to carry guns. Richardville says crimes occur on college campuses just like in other places. He argues people with the proper training and background checks to get a permit should be allowed to carry guns for their protection while on campus. The bill will face opposition from groups...

The Obama administration is sending a team to inspect a maximum-security prison in Michigan that could be used to hold terrorism suspects now being held at Guantanamo Bay. Representatives of the Defense, Justice and Homeland Security departments are expected to be along for the tour of the state prison in Standish, about 145 miles north of Detroit. The Standish facility and a military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., are among sites being considered to house detainees if the prison in Cuba is closed by next year, as President Barack Obama has ordered. Guantanamo Bay now holds 229 suspected al-Qaida, Taliban...

DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) -- On a side street in an old industrial neighborhood, a delivery man stacks a dolly of goods outside a store. Ten feet away stands another man clad in military fatigues, combat boots and what appears to be a flak jacket. He looks straight out of Baghdad. But this isn't Iraq. It's southeast Detroit, and he's there to guard the groceries. "No pictures, put the camera down," he yells. My companion and I, on a tour of how people in this city are using urban farms to grow their own food, speed off. [snip] There have been plenty...

DETROIT -- The victim of an armed robbery shot and killed his robber Thursday morning, police said. Police said an armed man attempted to rob a cab driver at the Citgo Gas Station on McNichols Street around 5 a.m. The cab driver pulled out a gun and fired several rounds, striking the thief three times, said police. The man was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he died. Police said the 38-year-old shooter called police to report the shooting. He is now in custody and being questioned. Police said the cab driver had a legitimate license to carry a concealed...

DETROIT, MI - A coach who's in the Michigan Wrestling Association Hall of Fame has filed a federal lawsuit against Dearborn Public Schools and the principal of Fordson High School. Gerald Marszalek claims he was fired after 35 years because of his Christian beliefs. Marszalek says his troubles began in 2005 when a minister lost his job as a volunteer assistant coach after introducing Muslim students to Christianity during a private off-campus wrestling camp. Marszalek, who also is Christian, said his contract wasn't renewed in 2008 because of his religious beliefs and his association with the minister. Dearborn has a...

There was some interesting news breaking when St. Louis got its new archbishop: he announced was bringing along a woman who'd worked with him in Saginaw to be his chancellor. That's not unprecedented -- lay people have been allowed to fill that role since the 1983 revision of the Code of Canon Law -- but it's still out-of-the-ordinary. And the local paper has taken the time to profile the new chancellor-to-be: Nancy J. Werner is the first lay person, as well as first woman, to hold the post in the diocese’s history, which goes back to 1826. Only since 1983...

There were two naked women showering in downtown Lansing Wednesday afternoon — but, to the dismay of many male onlookers, they didn't want to eat any meat. The women, Ashley Kemp, 22, and Lindsay Rajt, 27, were showering on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), as part of the animal rights group’s “Clean Your Conscience” campaign touring the Midwest. The showering was a gimmick to attract attention to the fact that it takes 2,463 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat — the equivalent to about six months of showering. But the anti-meat message...

LANSING- Attorney General Mike Cox today announced he has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the National Rifle Association's (NRA) challenge of a City of Chicago ordinance banning possession of most handguns. Cox joined at least 33 other states in supporting the NRA's request for the court to hear an appeal in National Rifle Association v. City of Chicago, a local case with national implications. "The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental," said Cox. "The Supreme Court recognized this in the Heller case, and I am confident they will protect this right...

TRAVERSE CITY — Around 50 people, many of them men openly carrying loaded handguns, gathered in a local park over the weekend for a cookout billed as educational outreach on gun owners’ rights. Participants in the “Open Carry Picnic” ate hot dogs and chips while wearing holstered hand guns at Sunset Park off the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. As children played on the merry-go-round and tourists cruised the lakefront, the gathering was quiet but showed some signs of tension. One group of men sat around a flag hung upside-down and at half mast. The day after Barack Obama...

KALAMAZOO -- It resembled most any Sunday afternoon picnic in Bronson Park. Except most of the people assembled around tables filled with watermelon and grilled goodies had firearms in holsters strapped to their waists. The Glocks and the Smith & Wessons remained holstered but visible during a three-hour Open Carry Picnic designed to raise public awareness of what organizers called Second Amendment rights in Michigan to openly carry a firearm in most places. They were high school teachers, college students, computer geeks and housewives with one thing in common. Rather than a cell phone, the leather pouch they wore at...

<p>TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Gun advocates have a bang-up idea for a picnic in Traverse City.</p> <p>A group called Michigan Open Carry Inc. plans to host a gun-toting picnic at Sunset Park on Saturday.</p> <p>It's part of the nonprofit's ongoing effort to promote the legal, open carry of firearms and the Second Amendment to the Constitution.</p>

Tensions are high on a Saginaw street where the neighborhood watch president shot and killed his neighbor's dog. Jose Barajas, Southwest Saginaw Neighborhood Association president, told police he shot Onyx, a 50-plus-pound pit bull and shar-pei mix, with a 40-caliber Glock after the dog broke its chain and charged him at 1223 Maple on June 18. Barajas said he was working outside the house next door when he heard a resident crying for help. Diana M. Fick, 52, said she was mowing her backyard about 7:30 p.m. when neighbor Samantha A. Griffus' dog lunged at her. Fick said Onyx perched...

JUNE 17, 2009 Should Witnesses be Allowed to Wear Niqabs While Testifying? By Ashby Jones In our opinion, the best legal controversies arise when two compelling principles smack headlong into each other. Here’s one: should a devout Muslim woman be required to lift her veil when testifying in court? The issue pits two cherished American values: the desire to let people practice their religions freely against the desire for transparency and integrity within our justice system. The issue has been kicking around courts in Michigan for some time, as it turns out. And the Michigan Supreme Court made a bit...

There are still lots of FReepers who have not chosen to fly their flag. You don't have to provide any additional information, although lots of FReepers have provide pictures, e-mail addresses, and the like, you don't have to! It would be nice if you would at least "fly your flag".This allows other FReepers in your state to FReepmail you to let you know about local FR events - rallies, chapter meetings, and other activist events. Even if you don't plan to participate, it'll keep you informed of what is happening in your state. Now, FLY YOUR FLAGS! Even if you...

KALAMAZOO -- It resembled most any Sunday afternoon picnic in Bronson Park. Except most of the people assembled around tables filled with watermelon and grilled goodies had firearms in holsters strapped to their waists. The Glocks and the Smith & Wessons remained holstered but visible during a three-hour Open Carry Picnic designed to raise public awareness of what organizers called Second Amendment rights in Michigan to openly carry a firearm in most places. They were high school teachers, college students, computer geeks and housewives with one thing in common. Rather than a cell phone, the leather pouch they wore at...

The Law Offices of Steven W. Dulan, PLC announces federal civil rights suit against City of Grand Haven and Ottawa County over open-carry ordinance. The suit, brought under Title 42, Section 1983 of the U.S. Code, was filed on behalf of Christopher Fetters, an off-duty Air Force Security Officer who was attending the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven last year. Mr. Fetters was openly carrying a holstered pistol, which is legal under Michigan law, as in most states. He was arrested and detained and charged with a violation of a Grand Haven city ordinance prohibiting open carry of firearms....

Bishop Joseph R. Cistone / Cardinal Justin Rigali Saginaw, Mich., May 20, 2009 / 10:32 am (CNA).- The newly appointed Bishop of Saginaw, Bishop Joseph R. Cistone, who has spent the last five years as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, said today that he is excited to lead the Michigan diocese and emphasized the importance of Eucharistic Adoration. “Today, I commit myself to you, the faithful of the Diocese of Saginaw, to shepherd you in faith and love. I fully trust in the providence of God and I know it is the hand of God which...

The Law Offices of Steven W. Dulan, PLC announces federal civil rights suit against City of Grand Haven and Ottawa County over open-carry ordinance. The suit, brought under Title 42, Section 1983 of the U.S. Code, was filed on behalf of Christopher Fetters, an off-duty Air Force Security Officer who was attending the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven last year. Mr. Fetters was openly carrying a holstered pistol, which is legal under Michigan law, as in most states. He was arrested and detained and charged with a violation of a Grand Haven city ordinance prohibiting open carry of firearms....

The Steel City'll weep today: the Pope has named Bishop Paul Bradley, the beloved auxiliary of Pittsburgh, to lead the diocese of Kalamazoo. At the helm of the Michigan church of 110,000, the 63 year-old prelate succeeds Bishop James Murray, who reached the retirement age of 75 in July 2007. A veteran pastor named vicar-general to then-Bishop Donald Wuerl in 2003 and his auxiliary two years later, Bradley scored high marks for his 17-month stint as administrator of the 850,000-member Pittsburgh church between Wuerl's 2006 appointment to Washington and Bishop David Zubik's 2007 homecoming, when a prolonged, priest-led standing...

It’s official: Rep. Peter Hoekstra declared he is running for governor of Michigan today, entering a crowded field for the GOP nomination. He made his announcement on a Detroit radio station this morning, and will be kicking off his campaign with stops across the state, including in Detroit and Lansing and his hometown of Holland. Hoekstra will have plenty of company in vying for the GOP nomination, Already Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, businessman Rick Snyder and state senator Tom George have announced their candidacies. Two other high-profile Republicans are considering campaigns – Domino’s...

Federal regulators are about to approve preliminary permits, which would give the go ahead.(snip)"The EPA says these injection wells will last…for 10,000 years. This injection well didn’t last 10 months,"(snip)Should the deal go through, tankers from Canada full of hazardous waste would be transported on I-94.

On Thursday, the DELEG released the jobless rates for the state's 83 counties, and the numbers continue to shoot higher and higher. The unemployment rate increased in every county in the state.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- A dog has died after being drenched with toxic household cleaners by a burglar in Michigan. Nancy Sheppard was at work Tuesday when someone entered her home in Kalamazoo and poured the liquids over her dachshund mix Lucky.

Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Allen Henry Vigneron to succeed Cardinal Adam Maida.  Maida submitted his resignation nearly four years ago when he turned 75 but stayed on at the Pope's request while a search for a successor was conducted.  The 60-year old Vigneron, currently working with the Diocese in Oakland, California, will officially take over as archbishop January 28th, and in a written statement expressed his gratitude to Pope Benedict, acknowledged Cardinal Maida’s welcome home, and addressed southeast Michigan’s economic struggle.  “I recognize that this challenge for our civic community is – as all societal problems are – a pastoral challenge as...

Despite just receiving $13.4 billion in government loans, General Motors (GM) hopes to make another federal cash withdrawal, probably in early 2009. GM spokesman Greg Martin noted the automaker had originally requested $18 billion in "bridge loans" and revolving credit from the government in late November to help survive the recession. Instead, talks stalled in Congress and the Bush administration acted on its own to approve $17.4 billion in loans, with $4 billion going to Chrysler.

The House passed a $14-billion, stopgap bailout of the automotive industry on Wednesday night. But in the Senate, Republicans have the votes to prevent it. And despite urging from the exiting Bush administration, they appear poised to do so. This is big. Normally, lame-duck congresses concern themselves with far less consequential matters. The addition of seven or eight more Democrats in the next Congress may come weeks too late to prevent the bankruptcy (or, in the worst case, failure) of General Motors. In the hours leading up to the critical votes, NRO spoke with Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), a...

It’s time for new leadership in the pro-life movement and, thankfully, that leadership is now beginning to rise up all across America. This is happening under the banner of the Personhood Movement, which recognizes the personhood of all unborn children and the fact that they are therefore protected by the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment. For more than three decades, the existing leadership of the pro-life movement has pursued a strategy of regulating abortion rather than ending it. Instead of insisting on our nation’s most important founding principle of the protection of the unalienable God-given right to life for all,...

Suppose you were sitting in church one Sunday peacefully minding your own business, praying that God grant our new president the wisdom to do what is right when suddenly, the sanctity of the church is violated in the most horrific way by vandals, thugs, and screaming lunatics. This is what happened at a small church in Lansing, MI called Mount Hope. From the blog Right Michigan: Mount Hope, for the record, is an evangelical, bible believing church whose members provide free 24 hour counseling, prayer lines, catastrophic care for families dealing with medical emergencies, support groups for men, women and...

ABC News Reporter Jake Tapper's Political Punch Blog has a report on Sen. Barack Obama's push-back on John McCain's description of his tax policies, Tapper begins with a quote from Obama in Florida, here is the whole report: "The reason that we want to do this, change our tax code, is not because I have anything against the rich," Obama said in Sarasota, Fla., yesterday. "I love rich people! I want all of you to be rich. Go for it. That's the American dream, that's the American way, that's terrific.

Lansing, Mich., Oct 30, 2008 / 03:35 am (CNA).- Bishop of Lansing Earl Boyea has rebuked Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s Sunday endorsement of a ballot proposal which would remove many restrictions on destructive human embryo research. He described as “shocking” her mention of her Catholic faith to justify her endorsement. Speaking at a political rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Granholm endorsed Proposal 2, which would loosen restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and allow surplus embryos from state fertility clinics to be destroyed for research purposes."As a Catholic, I can say to be pro-cure is to be pro-life," she said,...

As the Winona diocesan website says - "click here for all the details": His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, has named Bishop John Michael Quinn, former Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Winona. The announcement was made October 15 by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States. Bishop Quinn will serve with and then succeed Bishop Bernard Harrington, who, upon reaching the age of 75 in September, submitted his request for retirement to the Vatican. When Bishop Harrington’s retirement is accepted, Bishop Quinn will relinquish the title of Coadjutor and...