Michigan clerks struggle with expanded voting requirements

Michigan township clerks say that expanded voting requirements adopted in recent years have increased election costs and staffing demands, with the burden falling most heavily on lower-population townships.

Michigan voters approved constitutional amendments in 2018 and 2022 that expanded absentee voting, added same-day registration and required at least nine days of early in-person voting for statewide and federal elections.

Local election officials say those changes have shifted elections from a single-day operation into a weels-long administrative process that requires additional staffing and planning regardless of turnout. Click here to read more.

 

Kids on ‘lifesaving’ cross-sex hormones skyrocket in Oregon, but no corresponding suicide decline

As medicalized gender transitions become more difficult for minors to obtain in red and even some blue jurisdictions, due to federal pressure, state bans and increasing malpractice risk, some states are emerging as havens for cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers.

A study of nearly 900,000 adolescents ages 8-17 in Oregon, based on a database representing about 80% of insured Oregonians, found nearly 1% of them were diagnosed with gender dysphoria from 2016 to 2023, three-quarters of those girls.

About 22% of gender-confused girls and 28% of gender-confused boys, a much smaller population, went on blockers or hormones, with boys three times more likely to go on blockers (17%). The sexes were closer together on taking hormones, 19% of girls and 22% of boys, based on the Comagine Health mult-ipayer claims database. Click here to read more.

 

DoorDash to Stop Blacklisting Conservative Nonprofits in Employee Giving Program

The delivery marketplace company DoorDash has begun the process of allowing employees to donate to conservative nonprofits, even if they appear on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “hate map.”

The conservative Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, working with the Catholic financial advisory firm IWP Capital, urged DoorDash to reconsider its reliance on the SPLC, which critics accuse of putting mainstream conservative and Christian nonprofits on a “hate map” with chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

DoorDash uses the impact platform Deed to facilitate employees’ charitable giving and volunteering. DoorDash has formally requested that Deed allow DoorDash employees to connect with nonprofits, even if they appear on the SPLC’s map.

“ADF, IWP Capital, we believe this is a great win for shareholders and employees, and we’re very happy with the result,” Noah Nash, legal counsel for ADF’s Corporate Engagement Team, told the Daily Signal in an interview Thursday. “It sets an excellent example for other companies to follow.” Click here to read more.

 

Michigan lawmakers need to understand economics

In Michigan, you need a license to cut hair, roof a house or operate a polygraph machine. But you need no training at all to write the laws that govern those professions.

Elected officials make important decisions for their constituents, appropriating billions of dollars of taxpayer money and designing state programs that affect millions of people. Lawmakers would do well to learn and remember basic economics.

Most people are familiar with the laws of supply and demand. If you lower the price of bread, sales will likely go up. If demand for a product exceeds the supply, prices will likely rise. Remember the toilet paper craze during the Covid-19 lockdowns? Prices rose, stores began rationing purchases and the state warned against stockpiling. Click here to read more.

 

Illinois gas tax set to increase every year—without a vote

Illinois’ state gas tax is slated to go up every year without lawmakers ever voting on the increases.

The state went almost 30 years without raising the tax, which was 19 cents a gallon from 1990 to 2019.

That year, as part of his “Rebuild Illinois” infrastructure program, Pritzker doubled the tax to 38 cents a gallon.

More consequentially, the law created automatic yearly increases linked to inflation. Because of that, Illinois drivers will likely pay more in state gas taxes each year for the foreseeable future unless lawmakers take action, as there’s no expiration date on the annual adjustments. Click here to read more.

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Michigan school bond approval rates fall

Voters in towns around Michigan are saying no to school bond initiatives at an increasing rate. That hasn’t stopped school districts from asking again — in one case, coming back with an even higher request.

Bridge Michigan analyzed bond data provided by Gongwer News Service in 2024.

About 75% of the 170 bonds put on ballots statewide were approved from 2018 to 2020.

That rate has dropped substantially after that. MIRS News reports that 45.5% of school bond questions passed in 2025 — a decline of 29.5 percentage points. Click here to read more.

 

Popular lake closes after dam release kills ‘approximately 100% of fish population’

PERIDOT, Ariz. (WKRC) - A popular lake closed after a dam release killed “approximately 100% of the fish population.”

San Carlos Lake has been closed to the public until further notice after a significant fish kill wiped out nearly the entire fish population, according to the San Carlose Recreation and WIldlife Department,

Department officials announced the closure in a public notice, citing health and safety concerns associated with decomposing fish in and around the lake.

Recent drought conditions, combined with water releases from the dam, resulted in a fish kill affecting approximately 100% of the lake’s fish population, the department said.

As a result, fishing, harvesting or possessing fish from the lake, and any recreational activities associated with fishing are prohibited until further notice. Click here to read more.

 

Court throws out conviction of man accused of secondary role in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot

DETROIT — The Michigan Court of Appeals on Tuesday threw out the conviction of a man who was found guilty of a secondary role in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

Joe Morrison was convicted of providing material support for an act of terrorism and other charges. In a 3-0 ruling, the appeals court reversed the results on technical grounds, saying kidnapping is not an underlying violent felony that can support a conviction under Michigan’s terrorism law.

Morrison, 32, has been in prison since 2022. He was given a minimum sentence of 10 years for three crimes, but the length was subsequently reduced to six years. Click here to read more.

 

New Jersey man charged with attempting to aid ISIS terrorists in U.S. attack plots

NEWARK, N.J. — A 22-year-old Wayne, New Jersey, man was charged Monday with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), federal authorities announced.

Mohamed Sagha faces one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Newark. He made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda D. Wettre and was ordered detained.

“As alleged, the defendant sought to support ISIS and expressed interest in violence directed at targets within the United States, including places of worship,” U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer said in a statement. “Those who seek to advance the objectives of foreign terrorist organizations should expect a swift and coordinated response from federal law enforcement.” Click here to read more.

 

Socialist Seattle Mayor Debuts Tiny Homes for Homeless, Says Sobriety Not Required

Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson debuted 50 of 1000 planned tiny homes for homeless residents on Sunday, as the city works to manage its homelessness problem ahead of the World Cup.

Twenty-five more are expected to be completed by the end of the month. Wilson said homeless people will not be required to be sober or undergo addiction or recovery treatment to live there, KOMO reported.

“The process of recovery is really complicated and difficult, and so we’re not demanding that people be abstinent when they enter this village,” the 43-year-old mayor said: Wilson admitted that the city had failed to reach her goal of building 500 units ahead of the World Cup, which is beginning on Thursday. Click here to read more.

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Michigan school board opposes help for private and public school students

The Michigan Board of Education approved a resolution in May to oppose a federal tax credit that would help public and private school students with supplies, tutoring, tuition and special needs intervention.

The state board approved, by a 5-2 vote, a resolution citing a section of the Michigan Constitution prohibiting public money from being used for private schools.

The May 12 vote came five days after a bipartisan poll showed that 72% of Michigan voters support the credit. A separate, smaller poll said 61% of respondents think Michigan should opt out of the program. Click here to read more.

 

Nearly 9 in 10 kids use AI; report flags concerns over educational, emotional dependencies

A new report examining artificial intelligence usage among children and teenagers should serve as a “pretty big wake-up call” for parents, educators and policymakers, said Common Sense Media Founder and CEO Jim Steyer.

“AI’s takeover of childhood has happened in just three years, about twice as fast as social media took to take hold,” Steyer said.

AI is spreading like wildfire in digital products kids use in and out of school, and efforts to protect kids just aren’t keeping up with the risks, he said. Click here to read more.

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HelloFresh faces backlash for sexually suggestive promotion during Pride Month

HelloFresh is facing mixed reactions over a Pride Month social media statement: some call it inappropriate and insensitive, while others applaud the company for LGBTQ-themed humor.

“We know eating isn’t always a top priority this month. We respect that. But for those of you who are … prepping … we have an extensive lineup of high-fiber recipes available. Happy Pride,” the statement, posted on June 5, says.

Hello Fresh is a multinational meal kit company that delivers portioned ingredients and recipes to customers’ homes. Click here to read more.

 

Illegal Alien Who Tried to Flee U.S. Before Sentencing for Repeatedly Raping Middle-School Girl Is Found, Gets 100 Years in Prison

An illegal alien who tried to flee the United States before being sentenced for repeatedly raping a preteen girl over the course of three years has been found and sentenced to 100 years in prison.

Jorge Alberto Campos, a 42-year-old illegal alien, was handed a 100-year prison sentence for sexually abusing his girlfriend’s 11-year-old daughter at their residence in Castle Rock over the course of three years.

As Breitbart News reported, Campos was convicted of five counts of sexual assault of a child.

Campos, though, did not show up to hear the verdict and police found his ankle monitor, which was placed on him as part of his pre-trial release from jail, in a dumpster near his residence. Click here to read more.

 

New Jersey Republicans Find Hundreds of Noncitizens on Voter Rolls: ‘It’s Really Eye-Opening’

Republican leaders in New Jersey have reportedly found hundreds of noncitizens listed on voter rolls, and some of them had a voting record.

The New Jersey Republican Party (NJGOP) and the Republican National Committee (RNC) uncovered the information when they asked for the voter rolls from all 21 counties, Fox News reported Monday.

Those individuals were reportedly seeking naturalization and wanted their names removed. Many of them were registered as Democrats but claimed they did not know they had been registered and were concerned it might disqualify them from becoming citizens.

The news came after New Jersey GOP Chairwoman Christine Giordano Hanlon said in May the state party was launching an Election Integrity Task Force, the New Jersey Globe reported at the time. Click here to read more.

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