MichMan
MichMan's JournalWhitmer signs institutional desecration bills, others
If the amount of destruction or injury is $1,000 to $20,000 or the violator has one or more prior convictions for institutional desecration, they will be guilty of a felony punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, up to a $10,000 fine or three times the amount of destruction caused or both imprisonment and a fine.
If the amount of destruction or injury is more than $20,000 or the violator has two or more prior convictions for institutional desecration, they will be guilty of a felony punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment, up to a $15,000 fine or three times the amount of destruction caused or both imprisonment and a fine.
"Current law conflates attacks on houses of worship, cultural and community centers, minority-owned businesses, and other institutions with petty acts of vandalism—failing to recognize that attacks on our most sacred spaces terrorize and victimize entire communities,” said bill sponsor state Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, in a statement. "The passage of the Institutional Desecration Act marks a historic, long-overdue stride in Michigan’s battle against hate crimes, and I could not be prouder to see this bipartisan legislation become law."
[link:https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/09/whitmer-signs-bills-targeting-vandalism-at-places-of-worship/71851125007/|
Shoplifting suspect arrested during 'Shop with a Cop' event at Livingston Co. Walmart
During the event, store staff informed a trooper about a woman trying to steal $727.86 in merchandise. The trooper had another officer fill in for him in the shopping event and left to investigate, according to authorities.
They said the trooper tracked the suspect to the store's parking lot. It turned out the suspect parked her vehicle next to a row of police patrol cars, officials said.
[link:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/12/05/shoplifting-suspect-arrested-shop-with-cop-livingston-walmart/71809592007/|
12-year-old arrested after stolen forklift pursuit in Washtenaw Co., police say
A 12-year-old is in custody after allegedly stealing a forklift weighing 35,000 pounds and striking nearly 10 vehicles over the weekend, the Ann Arbor Police Department said.The Ann Arbor youth, whose name was not released, was booked at the Washtenaw County Youth Center. No injuries were reported.
Around 6:45 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to Forsyth Middle School at 1655 Newport Road in Ann Arbor on reports of a youth attempting to steal a Genie GTH-636 Telehandler forklift vehicle, police said in a statement on Monday. The vehicle, which did not have its lights on, was spotted moments later headed south on Brooks Street near Pearl Street, prompting a pursuit.
Topping speeds between 15 to 20 mph, Ann Arbor police tried to stop the construction vehicle as it traveled through the Georgetown Boulevard neighborhood, striking approximately 10 parked vehicles, police said.
[link:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/11/27/12-year-old-arrested-after-stolen-forklift-pursuit-in-washtenaw-county-police-say/71724181007/|
Member of Md. hate-crime task force suspended for anti-Israel remarks
Zainab Chaudry, director of the Maryland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), is one of 20 members of the commission, which the state’s top law enforcement officials convened to combat escalating reports of hate crimes. In recent weeks, following a deadly terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas last month and Israel’s retaliatory attacks in Gaza, Chaudry’s scathing social media posts have drawn ire from state officials who see her opinions as extreme and divisive.
“It is profoundly disappointing to see a member of the Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention use their platform to advance inflammatory rhetorics and harmful policies that cause great pain to the Jewish community,” Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery) said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In one post, Chaudry directly compared Israel to Nazi Germany — a juxtaposition widely seen as antisemitic — with the caption “That moment when you become what you hated most.” She said she could have included more context with that imagery, but she did not retract the sentiment.
[link:https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/member-of-md-hate-crime-task-force-suspended-for-anti-israel-remarks/ar-AA1kjCox?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=333e5a8296dd41af8eb01fbfabe20648&ei=19|
Hundreds of Metro Detroit Jews stranded at D.C. airport by 'malicious' bus drivers
Hundreds of members of Detroit's Jewish community flew to Washington, D.C., to march in solidarity with Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday, but some of them say they had trouble participating because of what they said was a "malicious walk-off" by some bus drivers.Local members of the Jewish Federation of Detroit and the Jewish Community Relations Council went to the country's capital to focus the national conversation on freeing the estimated 240 hostages Hamas took from Israel on Oct. 7, said David Kurzmann, senior director of community affairs at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
But some buses that were hired to transport "a significant number" of the groups' participants from Dulles International Airport to the site of the march, according to Kurzmann, failed to appear, which delayed and in some cases prevented their arrival at the event.
"We have learned from the bus company that this was caused by a deliberate and malicious walk-off of drivers. Fortunately, many were able to travel to the march, and we are grateful to the drivers of those buses that arrived," Kurzmann said in a Tuesday statement.
[link:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/11/14/hundreds-of-metro-detroit-jews-stranded-at-d-c-airport-by-absent-bus-drivers/71582002007/|
UAW members reject tentative agreement with Mack Trucks, prep for strike Monday
The UAW announced late Sunday that 4,000 UAW members at Mack Trucks in three states have voted to reject their tentative agreement, and will strike at 7 a.m. Monday.
"I'm inspired to see UAW members at Mack holding out for a better deal, and ready to stand up and walk off the job to win it," UAW President Shawn Fain said @UAW on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
The letter said the union voted the tentative agreement down by a 73% no vote, but did not provide the number of votes cast.
"The members have spoken and as the highest authority in our union, they have the final word," said the letter signed by Fain.
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2023/10/08/uaw-members-reject-tentative-agreement-with-mack-trucks-to-strike/71115000007/
ILWU Dockworkers Union Files for Bankruptcy to Weather Port Lawsuit
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union filed for chapter 11 protection in a San Francisco court to halt litigation brought by a former terminal operator of the Port of Portland that threatened to deplete the labor union’s cash reserves.
The ILWU, which represents dockworkers at major U.S. ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, Calif., is fresh off ratifying a new, six-year contract for about 22,000 workers at 29 ports from California to Washington state to end a period of labor uncertainty for some of the nation’s busiest ports.
A federal judge has ruled that the union owes ICTSI “the lost profits, lower operating costs, or both that would be reasonably anticipated ‘but for’ ILWU’s unlawful labor practices.” In court papers filed Friday, ICTSI placed its damages at between $42 million and $142 million, which the union disputes.
[link:https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/west-coast-dockworkers-union-files-for-bankruptcy-to-weather-port-lawsuit/ar-AA1hwkjB?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=a1820cdd39bd4d19b4dc135838576c13&ei=21|
Ford to immediately pause work on massive, controversial Marshall project
“We’re pausing work and limiting spending on construction on the Marshall site, effective today, until we’re confident about our ability to competitively operate the plant," Ford spokesman T.R. Reid told the Detroit Free Press on Monday.
"We haven’t made any final decision about the planned investment there."
Last year, Whitmer and Ford CEO Jim Farley announced a plan to invest $3.5 billion and create 2,500 jobs at the site, located just outside Marshall, a town a few miles east of Battle Creek. As part of the deal, Whitmer, state lawmakers and local officials agreed to provide the automaker a combined $1.7 billion in public subsidies.
[link:https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2023/09/25/ford-marshall-project/70964122007/|
Biden Pulls Energy Department Nominee After Gas Stove Spat With Manchin
(Bloomberg) -- The White House withdrew its nominee for an Energy Department posting, ending a months-long standoff and handing a win to Senator Joe Manchin, who has protested the agency’s plans to regulate gas stoves.
Jeff Marootian’s nomination to be assistant secretary of the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy had been stalled since May, when Manchin, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, scrubbed a committee vote. At the time, Manchin argued he was “not comfortable moving forward” with Marootian, who had been tapped to lead the Energy Department division spearheading the stove energy-efficiency rule that the senator opposed.
https://news.yahoo.com/biden-pulls-energy-department-nominee-220252685.html
Detroit school names 8 time felon as principal
Protecting our tax dollars is a priority at MacDowell Preparatory Academy, or so says school board chairwoman Nicole Wells Stallworth, who mentioned fiscal responsibility at least eight times in a June commentary under the headline "Michigan charter school boards ensure financial accountability."
That's what makes it so hard to understand why board members at the Detroit charter school hired a principal who has been convicted of eight felonies for ripping people off; who has a history of being evicted and refusing to pay his bills; who has failed to report money his charity collected; who owes thousands of dollars in fines for violating Michigan campaign finance regulations; and who, at the time he was hired, was being dogged by a legal firm that specializes in debt collection.
Only 7% of MacDowell's students were proficient in all subjects on state tests in 2021-22, according to the most recent state data available. The state average was 37%. The school also lagged well behind the state average in the percent of students making progress toward proficiency or increasing their proficiency in all subjects. At MacDowell, 21% of students were making progress in 2021-22. The state average was 40%. The numbers for the previous school year were about the same.
Banks had been trying to get back into elected office since he resigned as a state representative in 2017 as part of a plea deal that allowed him to avoid up to 14 years in prison for defrauding a credit union. He ran for state Senate in 2018, but failed to win the Democratic nomination. On Aug. 2, 2022, he was defeated in his bid to be the Democratic nominee for the Wayne County Commission's 1st District. Ten days later, on Aug. 12, 2022, Banks applied for a school administrator certificate, according to the Michigan Department of Education.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/ml-elrick/2023/08/27/detroit-school-former-felon-as-principal/70669868007/
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