Free Republic

The Service Employees International Union will have to pay the second-highest fine in Michigan history for its failed 2012 campaign to preserve forced union dues among home care workers. Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said that the politically powerful union agreed to pay the state nearly $200,000 for failing to properly disclose donors and file timely campaign reports. The union funneled more than $9 million into two 501(c)(4) non-profit groups, Home Care First Inc. and Citizens for Affordable Quality Home Care, which served as the public face of a ballot initiative. “These organizations cannot be used as a means...

Michigan is a crucial piece on the 2014 U.S. Senate chessboard, and Republicans have a good shot at gaining retiring Democrat Carl Levin’s open seat, given Democratic nominee Gary Peters’s unpopular House vote for the Affordable Care Act. Yet Peters has hope. The president’s unilateral delays in Obamacare mandates have eased planned layoffs by local governments and businesses. Moderate GOP governor Rick Snyder supports the ACA’s Medicaid expansion. And the state’s liberal news media have largely ignored the estimated 225,000-plus canceled individual policies and the job losses at medical-device maker Stryker. But Julie Boonstra won’t be ignored. So she must...

On Thursday, March 6th, 2014, we attempted something that hasn’t been done for 40 years: to hike the treacherous ice across the Manitou Passage to the islands 8 miles out... (click the link for commentary and photos of a bold day of hiking)

Two Detroiters targeted by attackers shot and killed those attackers in separate incidents Saturday. It was shortly after midnight when two men approached a woman in the driveway of her home on Abbington Street on Detroit's west side, and attempted to carjack her. The woman, who has a permit to carry, pulled out a gun and fired several shots at the men. One of her would-be carjackers was killed. Neighbor Wala Alshibil said incidents like this make him think about having a gun for protection. "I'm not a big fan of guns but to protect yourself, if you have to...

State Board of Education Encourages Schools to Include Cesar Chavez into Social Studies Curriculum Contact: Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs (517) 241-4395 Agency: Education February 13, 2014 LANSING – The State Board of Education this week unanimously adopted a resolution honoring the late Cesar E. Chavez as an American hero, a civil rights leader, Latino, farm worker, and a labor leader; a religious and spiritual figure; a community servant and social entrepreneur; a crusader for nonviolent social change; and an environmentalist and consumer advocate. State Board member Lupe Ramos-Montigny initiated the resolution to honor the life, legacy...

Apparently it's not enough to use the IRS and FCC to shut down the opposition. What does an aspiring democrat Senator wannabe do when he doesn't like an opposition TV ad? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpjyr1x7mC0Attack the woman cancer victim in the ad, and then threaten to take the station off the air. While Julie Boonstra of Dexter, Mich., struggles to survive leukemia, she now also has to cope with being called a liar by the Democrat who wants to be her next senator. And the campaign of Rep. Gary Peters is also going after television stations airing ads in which her story is...

A mother dog and her six puppies were found abandoned at a mobile home Thursday while Jackson County deputies went to assist with an eviction. All the dogs are at the Jackson County Animal Shelter. “They do not appear to have been mistreated.” The dog and her 10-week-old puppies, which are all a mixed breed, appear to be in healthy condition, having good weight and playful personalities.

BLOOMFIELD TWP. (WWJ) - Police say a home invasion suspect is on the loose after his partner in crime was shot by a quick-thinking homeowner in Oakland County. The situation unfolded around 9:30 p.m. Monday in the 1600 block of Bloomfield Place Drive, near West Square Lake and Telegraph roads in Bloomfield Township. The homeowner told police that two men forced their way inside his home and demanded money. The man told police he agreed to give the intruders all of his money and took one of the suspects into his bedroom. Once in the bedroom, the homeowner grabbed a...

Jose Luis Sanchez-Ronquillo, who entered the country without legal permission, has been an Ann Arbor resident for more than 15 years. The father of two American-born children is scheduled to take an unwanted flight to Mexico Monday. The Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit plans to deport Sanchez-Ronquillo Feb. 10. Sanchez-Ronquillo's family said the ICE unit was alerted to his presence in the community after he was taken into police custody following a verbal argument in public in May 2009.

A Michigan woman was confronted last week by a machete-wielding, ski mask-wearing would-be home invader, forcing her to exercise her Second Amendment rights. As if that’s not scary enough, what alerted her to the intruder is downright terrifying. The suspect, a 15-year-old teen who was also armed with a shotgun, woke up the Michigan woman at around 1:00 a.m. Friday as he repeatedly tried to break into her home. The woman, who asked not to be identified, told WOOD-TV she heard a mysterious tapping noise from the floor below her. “I kept hearing, ‘Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap,’” she...

(CNN) -- The White House has secured commitments from some of the nation's largest companies for a plan to boost hiring of the long-term unemployed. "What we have done is to gather together 300 companies, just to start with, including, some of the top 50 companies in the country, companies like Walmart, and Apple, Ford and others, to say let's establish best practices," President Barack Obama told CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper in an exclusive interview. "Because they've been unemployed ... so long, folks are looking at that gap in the resume and they're weeding them out before these...

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) -- A man who tried to rob someone with a fake gun is in the hospital after he was shot by his intended victim (snip) But as he did, the suspect began yelling and aimed the gun at the car. The driver, who has a concealed weapons permit, pulled his gun and fired at the suspect, hitting him once in the chest.

A new bill would lift Michigan's cap on electric market choice. Proponents of the bill say the current cap prevents most of Michigan customers from using competition to lower their electric rates, which are the highest in the region and well above the national average. House Bill 5184 is sponsored by Rep. Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake. The state's current electric competition cap was established in 2008 when Public Act 295, the "Clean, Renewable and Efficient Energy Act," was signed into law. Under the act, Michigan's two largest electric utilities, Consumers Energy and Detroit Edition, were returned to a quasi-monopolistic status. It...

Yesterday I posted the story where mlive.com had obtained the dashcam video of the incident where Grand Rapids police Officer Moe drew his firearm and aimed it at Johann Deffert, who was walking on a sidewalk from a local restaurant to his home about noon of March 3rd, 2013.   Mr. Deffert and his attorney have filed a lawsuit against Grand Rapids for violation of his rights. In the video that was edited by mlive.com, it seemed that Mr. Deffert was confirming that he had been talking to himself as he walked down the sidewalk.  Mlive.com reporter John Agar reported that...

In a previous article, the issue of whether Grand Rapids police were harassing a person openly carrying a holstered handgun, or if the police were justified in their actions, was discussed.   Much depended on what was shown in the dashcam video, which at least one city supporter questioned the existence of.  From the mlive.com article comments: The city supporter wrote: "Umm, no one is taking Tim's comments as to a secret video that only he has seen seriously." From my reading of the comments, Tim Beahan, who used his real name, never said the video was secret or that...

Open carrier in Arizona at Political Rally I have often made the case that openly carrying guns is political speech of the first order.   Criminals almost never openly carry, because they do not want to draw attention to themselves.   Police virtually always know that open carriers are engaged in political activism.  An open carrier who had a loaded gun pointed at him by Grand Rapids Police, when the police knew that he was not breaking any law, has filed a lawsuit charging violation of his rights on first, second,  and fourth amendment grounds.  From the complaint:  38. Plaintiff's act of...

Open Carrier With Revolver Johann Deffert is suing the Grand Rapids Police for their treatment when he was stopped while openly carrying a handgun.  Now, two versions of events are being put forward.   In the official police version, as reported in mlive.com: “Deffert was alone, and was loudly talking to himself,” Moe wrote. “Based on the area, and Deffert’s unusual behavior, R/O (responding officer) was concerned Deffert may have mental issues and was about to commit a violent crime. The responding officer then elaborates: He secured Deffert in handcuffs. He then secured a .40- or .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol with...

In an article from wnem.com, when a school volunteer asked if she could open carry a handgun at the school, the school was put into "Modified Lockdown".  The article does not say that she was openly carrying a handgun or if she was carrying concealed, either of which were likely legal (depending on the intricacies of Michigan law) only that she asked that the school allow her to do so.  The video with the story claims that she had a loaded handgun.  The article and the video are vague enough that she might have had a gun in her...

CADL enacted a firearms ban in 2011 at its branches only to have the Michigan Court of Appeals strike it down last year. Public libraries are not included in Michigan's "gun-free zones," and both concealed and open firearms are allowed.

KINGSLEY -- The number of people applying for concealed pistol licenses has taken off in the past few years, and many of those who are arming themselves are women. Thousands of women in Michigan are choosing to carry a firearm. You would never know Tracy Romzek from Buckley grew up afraid of guns, but she confessed it was a fear of the unknown. “I was scared of them! I was very scared of guns,” explained Romzek. “Guns kill. That's kind of the mindset I had before. I think it's really important. There are so many of us that are afraid...