Tag: michigan

FOIA’d Emails Reveal MI AG Nessel Personally Visited Detroit USPS Distribution Center Day Before 2020 Election After Whistleblower Claimed “Thousands of ballots are sitting” Inside Post Office Warehouse

On Monday, November 2, 2020, only one day before a critically important presidential election, Michigan’s Democrat Attorney General was busy investigating a claim by a USPS whistleblower who worked at the Detroit USPS distribution center.

According to FOIA’d documents obtained by independent investigator Yehuda Miller and shared on Twitter,  a postal worker, who asked to remain anonymous, first told MI Rep. Ellissa Slotkin’s office that “thousands of ballots are sitting in the main Detroit postal service distribution center (references their warehouse).” The whistleblower mentioned that “there are boxes and boxes of ballots that have not been counted and the reason being given is because there are not enough sorters.”

The whistleblower complaint was forwarded to MI AG Nessel’s Chief of Staff, Zaineb Hussein.

Good Afternoon Zaineb,

I hope you are safe and well.

Today, our office received a message from another congressional office regarding a postal worker concerned about absentee ballots being held at a local postal distribution facility.

The postal worker reached out to Rep. Slotkin’s office to express concerns about the facility they work at. The postal worker didn’t want to provide a lot of details and wanted to remain anonymous. The worker reported to Slotkin’s office that thousands of ballots are sitting in the main Detroit postal service distribution center (references their warehouse).

The worker mentioned that there are boxes and boxes of ballots that have not been counted and the reason being given is because there are not enough sorters.

We wanted to flag this issue for Secretary Benson’s awareness, but we will also be reaching out to our postal liaison to bring this matter to their attention as well.

Please feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions.

Larissa Richardson | District Director
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, MI-13
O: (313) 463-6217
Personal Pronouns: She, Her, Hers

Instead of contacting the MI AG’s office, Democrat Rep. Ellisa Slotkin’s office contacted Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s office with the complaint.

Keep reading

Michigan Township Bans All Cemeteries To Prevent Family from Starting One

A Michigan couple wanted to start a “green” cemetery, a place where the dead can be buried in a more natural and environmentally friendly manner. Local officials didn’t want that—so they banned all cemeteries within the township.

Instead of pumping bodies full of preservatives like formaldehyde and burying them in wood-and-metal caskets or concrete vaults, green burials involve placing the deceased directly into the ground to decompose naturally into the soil, often in biodegradable wood caskets or cotton shrouds.

Peter Quakenbush tells Reason that he learned about the process while working in wildlife management. “I’ve always been interested in biology and nature, and I have a few degrees in biology,” he says. The idea of preserving a natural green space while simultaneously providing people an environmentally friendly place to be buried—which would, in turn, provide natural nourishment for the forest—struck him as “a really wonderful kind of win-win combo.”

Peter and his wife Annica set about to make the dream a reality. After years of searching, they found a 20-acre parcel of undeveloped land within an hour of Grand Rapids that would make a suitable site. There they planned to establish the West Michigan Burial Forest, developing the land using criteria set out by the Green Burial Council, a private organization that certifies green cemeteries. As of December 2023, the council had certified 333 green cemeteries in the U.S. and Canada.

Keep reading

CATCHING THE FRAUD: Check My Vote Investigators Uncover FAKE MI Addresses On Voter Rolls—One Address Has 19 Registered Voters—8 of Them VOTED In 2020 and 2022 Elections

If you’re someone who’d like to live in a state where lawfare is used against citizens based on political affiliation, statewide voter registration fraud investigations are hidden by elected officials from clerks and citizens, or where the state’s top election official repeatedly lies to the public and has been smacked down in the courts multiple times over rulings or decisions she’s made that are unlawful—then Michigan’s the place for you.

In 2016, Donald J. Trump shocked the nation when he won the state of Michigan, but in 2020, the nation watched his significant lead disappear in the wee hours of the morning on the day after the 2020 election

With 90.9% of the vote accounted for in 2020, Joe Biden went from trailing President Donald J. Trump in Michigan the entire day to suddenly taking an incredible 200,000 vote lead. 

Election-related lawsuits were dismissed by leftist judges across the state of Michigan, the life of the teenage daughter of Monica Palmer, chair of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers was threatened after she refused to vote to certify the Detroit election, where the election results were being called into question. According to official records, key signatures that are reportedly required to certify the 2020 election are STILL missing from the document in Wayne County!

Keep reading

Fifth Michigan City Approves Local Psychedelics Decriminalization Resolution

Another Michigan city has approved a resolution to locally deprioritize enforcement of laws against psychedelic substances, while expressing support for a statewide bill to legalize certain etheogenic plants and fungi.

On Tuesday, the Ypsilanti City Council took testimony from supporters and passed the psychedelics measure in an unanimous 6-0 vote.

The whereas section states that psychedelics can “catalyze profound experiences of personal and spiritual growth, have been shown by scientific and clinical studies and traditional practices to be beneficial to the health and well-being of individuals and communities in addressing” conditions such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

It also points out that the Washtenaw County District Attorney’s office expressed support for a similar resolution that was adopted in Ann Arbor in 2020.

The latest measure specifically says that it is not intended to legalize the commercial sale of psychedelics, but it makes the arrest and investigation of people for psychedelics-related activities such as possession and cultivation “the lowest law enforcement priority for the City of Ypsilanti.”

It also declares that “city funds or resources shall not be used in any investigation, detention, arrest, or prosecution arising out of alleged violations of state and federal law regarding the use of Entheogenic Plants.”

Keep reading

Landmark Case Means Americans Can Now Sue Big Pharma for Vaccine Injuries

Up until now, the drug companies have been shielded from liability for all the COVID vaccine injuries and deaths that they have caused. They’re protected by something called the PREP Act, which stands for Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness. A judge in a landmark Michigan case, however, has now ruled that the PREP Act does not shield the Big Pharma companies from liability if their medicines are contaminated.

That’s it. The floodgates are finally open. If you were hurt by a COVID shot or if one of your loved ones died from it, you can now sue the Big Pharma companies.

The Michigan case was brought by Dan Nowacki, an elderly man who was hospitalized with COVID. Mr. Nowacki was treated with Remdesivir, which is a COVID treatment drug made by pharmaceutical company Gilead. Remdesivir is a relatively new treatment, so it’s shielded under the PREP Act.

Mr. Nowacki was treated with Remdesivir intravenously. His attorneys just proved in court that at least two of the vials that Mr. Nowacki was administered were contaminated with shards of glass. It caused him to have two catastrophic strokes in the hospital. He’s now permanently bedridden. About 55,000 vials of Remdesivir were recalled in November of 2021 due to glass contamination.

The judge ruled that the pharmaceutical companies’ liability shielding does not protect them in the case of contamination. If the Big Pharma companies are being protected from being sued, then they still have to meet basic safety standards. They can’t just inject their medicines into people if they know that those medicines are contaminated with shards of glass, arsenic, or… just to name one possible contaminant off the top of our head… cancer-causing monkey viruses.

Keep reading

Ford E.V. Battery Plant in Michigan Named Worst Economic Development Deal of 2023

Each year since 2018, the Center for Economic Accountability (CEA)—a nonpartisan think tank opposed to corporate welfare—has named its Worst Economic Development Deal of the Year, a dishonor awarded to the most egregious misuse of taxpayer funds nominally intended to spur economic growth.

This year, the ignoble honor goes to Michigan, which has awarded over $1.75 billion to Ford Motor Co. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. (CATL), a Chinese battery manufacturer. The two companies are jointly developing a factory in Marshall, Michigan, that would build lithium iron phosphate batteries for the automaker’s electric vehicle (E.V.) lineup.

In its announcement, the CEA breaks down what the state has pledged so far, which includes $630 million worth of road paving and site development; grants from various state funds of $210 million, $120 million, and $36 million; and a 15-year tax abatement valued at $772 million. Other estimates have put the total amount at $2.2 billion.

Last month, facing strong economic headwinds, Ford announced it was “re-timing and resizing some investments.” While the Michigan plant was originally intended to create 2,500 jobs, Ford changed its pledge to 1,700 jobs and lowered its potential output by 40 percent, estimated to shrink the company’s financial investment by $1 billion or more.

Since Ford originally pledged $3.5 billion, Michigan’s contribution to the project could be nearly as much as what Ford plans to spend on its own factory. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, told reporters that Michigan’s investment may be “resized” as well, and “as Ford has had to make some changes…the state’s role will change as well.”

Of course, the deal’s merits were questionable from the start. When the project was first announced, Whitmer’s office claimed it would have “an employment multiplier of 4.38, which means that an additional 4.38 jobs in Michigan’s economy are anticipated to be created for every new direct job.”

This is a fanciful notion. Tim Bartik of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research has estimated that a more typical multiplier on a local or state level is between 1.5 and 2. Last month, Bartik calculated the estimated benefits of Michigan’s proposed investment; while he was broadly positive, he noted that a 4.38 multiplier was “very high,” and “if the Ford project had a more typical multiplier—2.5 rather than 4.38—the project’s gross benefits would be less than the incentive costs.”

Keep reading

Furious parents, Dan and Jennifer Mead, sue Rockford Public schools in Michigan for using male pronouns for their 8th-grade autistic daughter without their knowledge

Two furious parents are suing a Michigan public school district for using male pronouns for their eighth-grade autistic daughter without their knowledge. 

Dan and Jennifer Mead filed a lawsuit against the Rockford Public School District on Monday after discovering the school had been referring to their child using ‘he/him’ pronouns last year.

The lawsuit alleges the school violated the parents’ First and 14th Amendment rights by using a masculine name and pronouns for their child, as reported by NewsNation. 

According to court documents, the school complied with its policy by using the student’s chosen name and pronouns.

The Meads withdrew their child from the Rockford Public School District, where the child had been attending since kindergarten, and now homeschool their daughter. 

‘No one with the school district told them that the school district had begun to treat her as a boy by calling her a masculine name and by male pronouns,’ Vincent Wagner, who represents the parents, told WOOD-TV.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by the Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the parents, alleges East Rockford Middle School staff referred to their daughter by a male name and pronouns for at least two months. 

The parents found out in October 2022 when a school psychologist inadvertently included the child’s masculine name in one section of a report that was sent home.

The eight-grader’s name had been changed back to the birth name in the rest of the document, according to the lawsuit. 

‘At first, the Meads thought this was a mistake — that another child’s information had been included in their daughter’s documents,’ said the Alliance Defending Freedom in a statement. 

‘When the Meads asked district employees to refrain from using the masculine name and male pronouns, the district refused to comply with their wishes,’ the lawsuit claims. 

‘They weren’t able to help her in a difficult time in her life,’ Wagner said. ‘So it prevented them from helping her and that denied them their constitutional rights. Schools shouldn’t keep information like that from parents.’ 

The lawsuit alleges the school’s policy violated the parents’ First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and their 14th Amendment rights to parental rights. 

The Meads are also seeking an unspecified amount in compensatory damages, saying that homeschooling has caused the couple to lose income, as reported by the Washington Times. 

‘Homeschooling has required Mr. Mead to remain out of the workforce, which has caused the Meads to lose his income,’ said the complaint. 

‘These and other damages were caused by the District’s actions treating G.M. as a boy named F.M. while concealing those actions from the Meads.’

Keep reading

Former Michigan GOP House speaker surrenders to serve marijuana bribery sentence

Former Michigan House Speaker Rick Johnson has surrendered at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Minnesota to serve a 55-month sentence for pocketing bribes and corrupting the state’s marijuana industry, according to an inmate database updated Saturday.

The database shows Johnson, 70, among the 433 inmates at FPC Duluth near the western edge of Lake Superior. The prison is about 700 miles northwest of Lansing where Johnson was one of the most powerful Republican lawmakers in the state before becoming a lobbyist and chief regulator of Michigan’s marijuana industry.

That career ended in scandal after the politician from LeRoy received more than $110,000 in bribes from marijuana lobbyists and a businessman while serving as chairman of the medical marijuana licensing board from May 2017-April 2019. The illegal payoffs included repeated trysts with a sex worker who called him “Batman.”

Johnson had been ordered to surrender by Saturday after losing a last-ditch attempt to shorten his time behind bars and serve part of the sentence under house arrest as he recuperates from heart bypass surgery.

Keep reading

Mystery as body is found in ventilation system of Michigan community college’s performing arts center after students complained of a ‘foul odor’

A month-long search for a missing father of two is over after his decomposing body was found inside the ventilation system of a Michigan community college theatre.

Police were called to Macomb Community College in Detroit after staff realized the odor permeating the school’s performing arts center might have a sinister cause.

They traced the smell to a vent where they found the body of Jason Thompson, 36, who had vanished from his sister Shelby’s apartment less than a mile away on October 25.

His family had plastered the city’s Clinton Township district with fliers appealing for information before the grisly discovery on Sunday night.

‘Jason was loved by many people and his family have been through a lot over the past month while he has been missing,’ wrote his cousin Carissa Thompson on a Gofundme page.

‘Jason was a father to two beautiful children, Killian and Kiara. He was a son, uncle, brother, cousin but most important he was loved by his family and friends and will be missed.’

A security camera in Shelby’s apartment caught the moment he disappeared, stepping out in Sterling Heights wearing black pants, adidas shoes and a hoodie.

His family reported him missing on November 1 and began a series of daily calls to hospitals, the medical examiner’s office, jails and police departments in a bid to find him.

‘Never in his life has he ever gone without contact with our family for more than 24 hours, not once,’ wrote Shelby on Facebook.

‘This is completely unusual for my brother, someone knows something- what will it take for you to speak?’

College police are awaiting a cause of death from the Macomb County medical examiner, but Macomb College Police Chief William Leavens said there was ‘no reason to suspect foul play’.

Keep reading

Michigan Takes Step To Punish Salon Owner Who Said She’ll Only Serve Men And Women

Michigan officials have charged a salon owner with discrimination after she said she would not serve people who identify as anything other than a man or woman.

The Michigan Department of Civil Rights on Nov. 15 charged Christine Geiger and her salon, Studio 8 Hair Lab, with discrimination after investigating complaints that were filed over Ms. Geiger’s comments.

“The truth is, based on a thorough investigation, that Studio 8 and its owner Christine Geiger, openly and repeatedly violated the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act,” John Johnson Jr., the department’s executive director, told reporters in a briefing.

The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of certain characteristics, including religion. Implemented in 1977, it was expanded in 2023 by the state legislature and Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to cover gender identity, enshrining a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court interpretation.

Ms. Geiger posted in July on Facebook: “If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman please seek services at a local pet groomer. You are not welcome at this salon. Period.”

She also said that salon workers might refer to people as “hey you” if they requested a particular pronoun.

In another post, Ms. Geiger said that “LGB are more than welcome” but transgender people were not.

“This stance was taken to insure that clients have the best experience and I am admitting that since I am not willing to play the pronoun game or cater to requests outside of what I perceive as normal this probably isn’t the best option for that type of client,” she said.

In a third post, Ms. Geiger said there were only two genders and said “anything else is a mental health issue.”

Keep reading