Free Republic

A “Black Swan Event” is: “An event or occurrence that deviates beyond what is normally expected of a situation and that would be extremely difficult to predict.” In 2016 the defection of Black voters from the Democrats could possibly be called a Black Swan Event but now Democrats are faced with the probability that it was actually a new reality. In 2012 Blacks made up 13% of the electorate and voted 93% for Barack Obama. By 2016 Black participation in the election had slipped to 12% and just 88% had voted for Hillary Clinton. The turnout and voting preference of...

Dive Brief: The Michigan Department of Transportation announced it will take on private-sector partners to finish a $1 billion state highway modernization project in Oakland County, MI. Using the public-private partnership (P3) model to design, build, finance and maintain the remainder of the project, rather than waiting on public funds to become available, could shorten the construction schedule by up to a decade, The Detroit News reported. MDOT will issue requests for qualifications from potential private partners before the end of the year, and it anticipates the selection process will wrap up in the summer and fall of 2018. The...

The Michigan Department of Transportation has begun work on a vehicle-to-infrastructure communications project, in which 3M will provide lane markings, smart sign technology and dedicated short-range communication devices for a three-mile stretch of I-75, according to a report from ITS International. Once these items are installed, the Oakland County stretch of highway will allow the testing of advanced vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. The construction project is expected to take about four months to finish.Michigan is emerging as one of the leaders in V2I and vehicle-to-vehicle communications research and adoption. V2I communications involve the wireless exchange of critical safety and operational data between vehicles...

Ann Arborites often talk about the possibility of commuter rail service between Ann Arbor and Detroit in wistful tones, as if envisioning a beautiful pipe dream. But this November's election will make that vision a very real possibility. The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan (RTA) will put a millage proposal before voters in Washtenaw, Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties this fall to fund its transit master plan for the region. In Washtenaw County, along with bus rapid transit service from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti, that plan includes Detroit-to-Ann Arbor commuter rail making eight round trips a day at speeds...

Chicago (AFP) - A woman who shot at the tires of a fleeing shoplifter in the parking lot of a Home Depot will face criminal charges, US prosecutors said Tuesday. The charges come a day after a customer reportedly opened fire on two shoplifters fleeing a farm supply store in Indiana.

PONTIAC, Mich. — A 25-year-old man told police that he was stabbed after finding his wife in bed with her own father, WWJ reports. It happened just after 3:30 a.m. Saturday when the man arrived at his home on West Rundell Avenue to find his wife, completely naked, in bed with her father, police say. The man then reportedly woke his father-in-law up and the two began to fight. Police say the father-in-law, identified by authorities as Henry Allen Michael of Detroit, allegedly stabbed the younger man in his back with a knife. He then fled the scene in the...

He is a Muslim. He asked his victims if they were Muslim. Then he stabbed them when they say they weren’t. If this isn’t a hate crime, what is? The fact that Terrence Lavaron Thomas has not been charged with a hate crime shows yet again that hate crime laws are political tools in the hands of the powerful, used to menace the powerless groups they dislike. In the Detroit area, the Muslim community is powerful — so this must not be a hate crime. “Detroit Muslim accused of stabbing victims over religion not charged with hate crime,” by Gus...

DETROIT – In a recent Detroit Free Press op-ed, University of California-Berkeley Professor Robert Reich places the blame for the city of Detroit’s bankruptcy on the “mostly white” residents of Oakland County. Detroit-in-ruins-15“But Detroit is really a model for how wealthier and whiter Americans escape the costs of public goods they would otherwise share with poorer and darker Americans,” Reich wrote. “ … But one thing is for certain: A very large and prosperous group close by won’t sacrifice a cent — the mostly white citizens of neighboring Oakland County.” The reaction of one Oakland County official was that Reich,...

<p>DETROIT, MI -- Candidate for governor Mark Schauer plans to announce his running mate in a series of news conferences Thursday.</p> <p>Two Lansing-based news services, Gongwer and MIRS, report that Schauer is expected to name Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown as his candidate for lieutenant governor.</p>

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...

A German shepherd suspected in a series of vicious and unprovoked attacks on people in Pontiac this week died in a face-off with Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies in Auburn Hills early Friday, Eric D. Lawrence reports in the Free Press. The dog was one of two now-dead German shepherds that authorities said had terrorized residents and emergency workers Wednesday and Thursday. In one attack Thursday morning, the dogs bit and dragged a 56-year-old Pontiac woman down a city street. She was rescued by a passing motorist. The Oakland Press reports a sheriff’s deputy shot one of the dogs when both...

SOUTHFIELD– A Southfield teen is dead after being shot by an undercover officer with the Oakland County Sheriff’s office. Officials say it happened Tuesday afternoon during a drug investigation at Cornerstone Condos near Greenfield and 9 Mile Road in Southfield. Police say during the investigation, the suspect pointed his weapon at one of the undercover agents with the Narcotics Enforcement Team. That’s when police say the officer shot the suspect. The 17-year-old was pronounced dead at a local hospital. No one else was injured.

Highland hero — Boy Scout, 14, receives rare honor

Oakland County officials may be visiting your home early this week in an effort to ensure residents are better prepared in the event of a disaster. The Oakland County Health Division is teaming up with the Michigan Deapartment of Community Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in conducting Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response surveys. Visits to select residents will take place, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 3 and 8 p.m. Surveyors will wear fluorescent yellow vests and ID badges. The health department hopes to better understand how residents have prepared for emergencies and possibly provide...

It’s been called the Woodward Loop and Wide Track Drive. It’s also been cited as the reason for downtown Pontiac’s struggle to survive, circling traffic around local merchants and restaurants. Oakland County planners are trying to figure out ways to attract traffic into downtown Pontiac, rather than have traffic diverted around the downtown district. The public is invited to attend a meeting with local government officials, planners, residents and business owners to discuss how to fix what many argue has become a barrier for the neighborhoods and surrounding communities. Funding for the effort was through a $300,000 Sustainable Communities Challenge...

According to The Detroit News, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm made a deal with a group of wealthy and politically connected individuals in Oakland County to use state pension funds to guarantee $18 million they borrowed to set up a film studio in Pontiac, essentially making the pension fund the “co-signer” on the loan. The “business model” for this studio was completely dependent on another of Gov. Granholm’s corporate welfare schemes, a subsidy program that paid up to 42 percent of film producers’ Michigan expenses. No reputable economist has ever defended these subsidies, which are pure “political development” programs, not economic...

Five people were cited for trespassing after they refused to leave a local political party office during a protest believed to be tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Police were called Monday afternoon when 50 to 75 protesters filled the lobby of the Oakland County Republican Party offices on Woodward Avenue in Bloomfield Township. Five protesters who refused to leave after police arrived — Detroit residents Tyrann Chauncey, 39, Tinia Fleming, 22, Earraina Jones, 48, Jaylen Jordan, 18, and Darryl Alston, 54 — were arrested. Bloomfield Township Police Capt. Scott McCanham said all five were issued citations for trespassing,...

Two charged with election fraud for fake Tea Party filings by CHARLES CRUMM and DAVE PHILLIPS March 16,2011 Two former Oakland County Democratic Party workers face felony charges from a six-month grand jury investigation into allegations of election fraud. Jason Bauer, the former political director for the county party, and Mike McGuinness, the former county party chairman, were arraigned Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court before Judge James Alexander. They were each charged with three counts of uttering and publishing and perjury, while Bauer also faces three counts of a violation of the Michigan Notary Act. The charges range from...

Republican challenger Rocky Raczkowski has the lead over first-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Gary Peters in the 9th congressional district, an independent weekly tracking poll released Wednesday indicates. The automated poll conducted Sept. 13 of 300 likely voters in the 9th congressional district and 400 likely voters statewide has Raczkowski at 45 percent and Peters at 40.7 percent with 10.3 percent undecided. The poll was conducted by The Rossman Group in partnership with Team TelCom. Kelly Rossman, CEO and founder of the Lansing-based Rossman Group, says Raczkowski is benefiting from the sour mood of voters towards Congress. "It's no secret that...

If the rumors are true, MTV's popular reality show, "The Real World," could be taking up residence in Royal Oak. The rumor has been circulating for months, but there is one thing that is for sure: Viacom, the owners of MTV: Music Television, have made a big real estate deal for a loft that is very similiar to others used for the show. Local 4 obtained a press release put out by Southfield real estate company, Signature Associates-ONCOR International, which stated that Viacom Inc. leased 8,812 square feet of space for MTV in downtown Royal Oak. "There was a lease...