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Ann Arbor pours millions into 262-home neighborhood to go ‘carbon neutral’

The city of Ann Arbor has set a goal to have the first neighborhood in the country to be carbon neutral, meaning the neighborhood won’t produce in aggregate greenhouse gas emissions.

Ann Arbor is committing millions of dollars in federal, state and local tax funding to transform its Bryant neighborhood. City officials hope it will become one of the nation’s first carbon-neutral neighborhoods.

The Bryant neighborhood sits in a floodplain bordered by a landfill and I-94.

Public funding includes nearly $10.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for geothermal heating and cooling, a $3.1 million Michigan grant to improve 50 homes, and a separate $5 million state award supporting a solar power pilot and the city’s Sustainable Energy Utility. Local property taxes will fund neighborhood outreach. Click here to read more.

 

The Anti-Capitalist System Keeping Americans From Reading Books

“In 1939,” writes Ned Rust for Bhaskar Sunkara’s socialist magazine, “the 25¢ paperback made America a nation of readers, delivering thrillers, classics, and Pulitzer-winning books. So why did the Big Five publishers just kill the mass market paperback?”

Just last year, the Big Five publishing houses (Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster) collectively ended mass-market paperback distribution, a compact book format popularized in 1939 that dominated the literary market in the 20th century. At their peak, writes Rust, these books sold close to “one hundred thousand units each, with a population a little over a third the size of today’s United States.” Today, however, Rust continues, “corporate consolidation” has “enshittified the product to the point where it has abetted the decline in consumer demand.” Click here to read more.

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UC Berkeley Professor Abandons Grading Students’ Homework Due to Overuse of AI

A UC Berkeley professor has reportedly abandoned grading assignments after noticing that his students have been abusing AI to secure top scores.

“Student use of AI for homework is now widespread,” Richard Borcherds told the California Post. “Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty.”

Borcherds — a renowned mathematician who received the prestigious Fields Medal in 1998 — added that there is “no point” in paying to have students’ work evaluated for artificial intelligence, calling it a waste of time and money. Click here to read more.

 

Not even 19% of CTU spending in 2026 went to teacher representation

The Chicago Teachers Union’s recent federal filing shows it does not prioritize its members in its spending.

The union just filed its annual LM-2, which details its receipts and disbursements from its 2026 fiscal year. What it reveals:

• Less than 19% of CTU’s spending was on “representational activities.”

• CTU spent more running its internal operations than on representing teachers.

• CTU spent nearly $2.6 million on politics.

• Stacy Davis Gates gave herself a 7.5% raise, bringing her total compensation to more than $310,000. (That includes her pay from the Illinois Federation of Teachers, where she also is president.)

• More than 50 CTU employees made over $100,000.

With CTU members paying more than $1,500 a year in union dues, they may question whether they are getting a good return on their money. Click here to read more.

 

Armed Citizens Stopped 36.6 Percent of ‘Active Shooter Incidents’ From 2014 Through 2025

A report by Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) president John Lott shows armed citizens stopped a third of all “active shooter incidents” from 2014 through 2025.

Lott then presented the CPRC data as a correction to FBI reports which claim armed citizens only topped 3.9 percent of the incidents.

He noted that during his time in the Department of Justice during President Trump’s first term, his duties “included evaluating the FBI’s active-shooter reports.” In so doing, he “discovered that the reports omitted or misclassified numerous cases in which armed civilians stopped attacks.” Click here to read more.

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Prop 2 could face same constitutional problem that sank 2016 ballot-speech law

When the Michigan government tried in 2016 to restrict what school districts could say about local ballot questions, a federal district court granted a preliminary injunction that described the idea as “unconstitutionally vague.”

If voters pass Prop 2 on Nov. 3, the ballot proposal could face the same fate because of vague, undefined rules.

The vagueness doctrine requires that laws be written clearly so ordinary people can understand what they mean, as a shield against arbitrary or discriminatory enforcement. The doctrine is derived from the due process clause of the Fifth and 14th amendments, according to Cornell Law School. Click here to read more.

 

Michigan woman with no internet credited with MORE ActBlue donations — including 65 in one day!

An 88-year-old Michigan woman previously linked to thousands of questionable ActBlue donations was credited with hundreds of additional contributions, including four recorded on a day when she demonstrably had no internet access.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Charlie LeDuff reported Wednesday that federal campaign finance records attributed another 562 transactions totaling nearly $4,500 to Elizabeth Waffle over six weeks.

Four of those transactions, totaling $22, were recorded on the day LeDuff first visited Waffle at her rural Michigan trailer, where she had no electricity, running water or internet access.

During the initial visit, LeDuff and Waffle attempted to make an online donation but could not connect to the internet, according to their follow-up interview. Click here to read more.

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‘His wheels weren’t hot enough’: California police bust $54,000 Hot Wheels thief

COLTON, Calif. — Colton police arrested a man Thursday suspected of stealing $54,000 worth of Hot Wheels cars from a freight train, according to authorities.

The Colton Police Department responded about 3 a.m. to reports of a train burglary near Mason Street, according to video posted on the Police Department’s Facebook page.

“Yeah, they’re robbing the trains down here at the end of Maple Street,” an unknown caller reported to the police in the video.

An officer was near the intersection of 7th Street and La Cadena Drive and then followed a man in a black Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, according to the video. The officer then pulled the driver over and took him into custody.

The man was booked into the West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of burglary, possession of stolen property and grand theft, according to the Police Department post. Click here to read more.

 

Suspect Arrested in ICE Office Firebombing Attempt Case: ‘Despicable, Terroristic Crime’

A 31-year-old man was arrested Friday and accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday.

The suspect was identified as Inique Hinton of Douglasville who was arrested in Cobb County and is now facing federal charges in the case, WSB-TV reported Friday.

Hinton was allegedly caught on camera walking near the ICE building at 180 Ted Turner Drive when he allegedly ignited an object and threw it toward the building. The object hit the fence and burst into flames. Investigators found burned cloth, lighter fluid, a glass bottle, and a lighter when they arrived at the scene. Click here to read more.

 

Deleting Evidence? Ilhan Omar Scrubs Post That Links Marriage To Her Immediate Family

Embattled Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar scrubbed a post from her social media that identifies her father, a key piece of evidence tpwards the claim that she married her brother.

Omar deleted a 2013 post that said, “Happy Father’s Day to my aabo Nur Said, I am forever grateful to Allah for giving me the best father,” according to the New York Post. “Aabo” is the word for father in Somali, Omar’s native language.

The post shows that her father’s name closely matches the name of her ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, who is alleged to be related to Omar. Federal investigators say that Omar’s real name is, in fact, Ilhan Nur Said Elmi. Click here to rea

MICHIGAN — Who is Lady Budgetdown?

It’s a question that has circulated among Michigan educators, school administrators, taxpayers and social media users as a mysterious online watchdog continues digging into school district finances, superintendent salaries, bond proposals and public spending.

Now, the person behind the increasingly visible project is revealing new details about its origins, operations and future — while refusing to disclose their identity.

In an exclusive written interview, Lady Budgetdown confirmed the operation is run by a single individual, not a larger organization or political group.

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“It started with just me, and it currently is only me,” Lady Budgetdown said.

The anonymous researcher said the project receives technical assistance with website development but independently oversees the research, reviews public records, creates content and determines what information gets published.