Michigan medical school suggests using tickborne disease to curb meat eating

A recent study from a medical school affiliated with Western Michigan University promotes spreading a tickborne disease to curb meat eating, a stance that has prompted calls for an end to taxpayer funding for the school.

The WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine received $600,000 in state grants in 2020 and 2025, according to a Michigan Strategic Fund report. The school also received more than $10 million in federal grants from fiscal year 2020 through 2026, according to USA Spending.

But the school is under fire over the 2025 study in the journal “Bioethics” encouraging proliferation of ticks that carry Alpha-gal syndrome, which has the potential to make people allergic to red meat. Click here to read more.

 

Michigan taxpayers are funding the push for higher taxes

When you paid your taxes last month, perhaps you grumbled about the amount. Did you know your tax dollars are used to call for higher taxes?

Local governments use public funds to argue for tax hikes. School districts blanket communities with information about the benefits of millages and other tax measures. Taxpayer-funded bureaucracies hold public town halls and plaster social media with demands for more of your money. Superintendents warn about the dire consequences if the measure fails.

Strictly speaking, Michigan law prohibits using public funds or property for electioneering. Public bodies are free, however, to share factual information. School districts can explain how much money a bond proposal would raise and what projects it would fund. If they stop short of telling people to vote “yes,” they avoid violating the law. Click here to read more.

Mamdani’s thermostat moment draws conservative backlash, flashbacks of Carter’s ‘sweater speech’

ew York democratic-socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdi’s suggestion that city residents turn up their thermostats to 78 degrees during the heatwave this July 4 holiday weekend to help conserve energy has drawn sharp criticism from essentially every corner of the conservative movement – with some members even going so far as to compare the mayor’s comment to Democrat President Jimmy Carter’s 1977 “sweater speech.”

“New York: it’s hot out there, and the power grid is working overtime to keep us cool,” Mamdani wrote Wednesday on the social platform X. “Set your AC to 78 degrees, turn off lights/electronics you’re not using, and unplug what you can.”

He also wrote: “A stable grid means the AC stays on, and lives are saved. Let’s ease demand – and get through the heat – together.” Click here to read more.

 

Bee-wildering scene: Millions of honeybees swarm Texas neighborhood after crash

ORANGE COUNTY, Texas (TNND) — Millions of honeybees got loose in a Texas neighborhood Sunday morning after an 18-wheeler carrying hundreds of beehives overturned, according to officials.

Orange County Emergency Services urged residents to stay indoors because of a “heavy presence of bees in the area.” By Sunday afternoon, crews were still working to safely transfer the hives onto transport trucks before moving them to a local honey farm.

Local beekeepers and volunteers also pitched in to help recover the bees. Christie Ray, owner of Queen Bee Supply, shared photos and videos of the effort on Facebook.

“Not something you ever want to see, but so nice to see beekeepers helping beekeepers,” Ray wrote. “From commercial outfits to backyard beekeepers, grateful for everyone that came out and helped!” Click here to read more.

 

Michigan House passes $75B state budget overnight with no new tax increases

LANSING, Mich. Lawmakers in Lansing have passed a $75 billion state budget with no new tax increases for the fiscal year after an overnight session.

The newly passed budget, estimated to be $10 billion less than last year’s, expands investments in places like education, roads and infrastructure, Medicaid, mental health and public safety, while reducing unnecessary spending, according to House Republicans.

“We didn’t come to Lansing to rubber stamp another spending binge,” said State Rep. Matt Maddock. “We came here to protect taxpayers, expose waste, and hold government accountable. This budget reflects that fight from beginning to end.”

Lawmakers say the budget prevents around $800 million in tax increases while also protecting the state’s ‘Rainy Day’ fund. Click here to read more.

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Michigan spent $1.8B on corporate welfare, got 3% of promised jobs

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer promised that $2.7 billion in corporate welfare would create 20,595 jobs. It has only created 602 jobs so far, according to a new report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The report focuses on eight major projects that were offered $2.7 billion in exchange for the promise of 20,595 jobs. So far, $1.8 billion of the money offered has been spent, but only 602 jobs have been created, according to the report produced by James Hohman, fiscal policy director at the Mackinac Center. That’s 3% of total employment positions announced.

“The money delivered to select companies would have been better left in taxpayers’ pockets,” Hohman said. Click here to read more.

 

How a school district cut chronic absenteeism by 65%

Nearly 1-in-4 students were chronically absent in 2023 at New Trier High School. That dropped by 65% after reforms were implemented.

One of the wealthiest high school districts in Illinois fought a serious attendance problem with a plan that included explicit expectations, intervention procedures and consequences.

In the first 50 days of the 2022-23 school year, just over 24% of students at New Trier High School were chronically absent, defined by state law as missing 10% or more of the school year, including valid and invalid absences.

The school experienced heightened absenteesim after the COVID-19 pandemic and worked actively to keep students in class. After implementing reforms, absenteeism plummeted to about 8.5% in the first 50 days of the next school year, 2023-24. Click here to read more.

 

18-month-old boy chokes to death on popcorn kernel, with mother facing manslaughter charge

Documents filed in Nassau County Supreme Court show a grand jury indicted Olivia Bithorn, also known as Olivia Russell, on one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

The indictment alleged that Bithorn “recklessly caused the death” of Luke Russell Jr. in April.

Prosecutors also alleged Bithorn knowingly acted “in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare” of the toddler, as well as another child, Ruby Russell.

The boy choked on an unpopped popcorn kernel after he and his 3-year-old sister were allegedly left unattended while Bithorn drank alcohol in another room, according to 12 News Long Island. Click here to read more.

 

DOJ Investigates Gallego For Alleged Campaign Finance Violations

The Justice Department (DOJ) launched an investigation into Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego on Monday for alleged campaign finance violations, reports show.

A source familiar said the federal probe originated from a “whistleblower complaint” out of Southern California, according to Axios. This comes after a Senate Ethics Committee misconduct complaint against Gallego was dismissed Monday.

Gallego used funds from a political action committee, or PAC, for personal leisure, including family trips to Miami, Chicago, Disneyland and Disney World, Politico previously reported, citing campaign finance documents and an individual familiar with the lawmaker’s spending.

Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna alleged Gallego was responsible for sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations in April, leading to months of investigation before the committee concluded there was no evidence to support Luna’s claims. Click here to read more.

 

Trump signs memorandum expanding ‘Freedom to Fix’ vehicles to lower repair costs

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum Monday directing the Environmental Protection Agency to expand Americans’ ability to repair their own vehicles, aiming to lower costs by reducing regulatory barriers on aftermarket parts and “tampering” enforcement.

The action targets what the administration calls lingering uncertainty under the Clean Air Act that has driven up repair expenses and limited consumer choices. It builds on Trump’s broader deregulatory efforts, including rescinding greenhouse gas emissions rules for vehicles and affirming rights to repair agricultural equipment.

“We are not going to be going after people who are fixing their own vehicle like past Administrations have,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in remarks accompanying the signing. Click here to read more.

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Michigan spends $37.5M to lower SNAP payment error rate

The state of Michigan is spending $37.5 million in an effort to reduce its payment error rate for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Michigan’s payment error rate for fiscal year 2024 is about 9.53%, which could trigger a $300 million fine from the federal government in fiscal year 2028. That error rate increased to 9.89% in fiscal year 2025, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on June 24.

The federal government wants states to target a six percent payment error rate to avoid absorbing a larger share of the costs. The Department of Agriculture wants the state to pay the mistake costs because the state administers the program. Click here to read more.

 

Mars to introduce M&M’s with natural dyes in August, minus blue and brown until 2028

WASHINGTON — Mars will introduce M&M’s with natural dyes in August, but without the blue and brown colors until 2028.

The company will mark M&M’s 85th anniversary this summer by introducing a version of the candies without artificial dyes, according to reports.

Mars told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month that the blue and brown colors could not be recreated with natural ingredients at a reasonable cost.

A company spokesperson told news outlets that blue and brown M&M’s are expected to be available in the natural dye option by 2028.

“It was a daunting situation,” Anton Vincent, president of Mars Snacking, North America and Global Ice Cream, told the Journal. “You’re messing with an 85-year-old icon.” Click here to read more.

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July 4: Illinois 1 of only 3 states that bans fireworks

Passed in 1942, the Illinois Pyrotechnic Act bans the use, transportation and sale of fireworks, allowing only small novelties such as sparklers. Violating the Illinois law is a Class A misdemeanor, with possible fines up to $2,500 and jail time.

The Illinois sales ban directly benefits neighboring states. Indiana brings in an estimated $2.5 million a year in tax revenue from fireworks.

The Illinois ban seeks to protect people from injury, but as firework sales have increased, the injury rate has significantly decreased.

In 2000, when 152.6 million pounds of fireworks were sold, there were 7.2 injuries for every 100,000 pounds sold, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. In 2025, sales were more than double, at 322.4 million pounds, while the injury rate was sharply lower, at 3.8 per 100,000 pounds. Click here to read more.

 

GLP-1 drugs linked to low blood pressure risk, Northwestern study finds

A study presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting links GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, to an increased risk of low blood pressure events.

The Northwestern University study analyzed data from 42,000 adults already taking at least two types of blood pressure medication, according to a release from the school. Researchers tracked patients for six, 12 and 24 months after they began taking GLP-1s and found the drugs were associated with higher rates of low blood pressure events, including dizziness and fainting.

The rate of such events increased from 8.7% to 10.2% within six months and remained elevated after 12, according to the release. Adults aged 65 and over and people with diabetes were the most at risk.

A secondary analysis found that “weight loss alone did not explain the increased risk,” the release said, “suggesting other mechanisms of action may be at play.” Click here to read more.

 

Springfield, Ohio, Citizens Celebrate Trump’s Haitian Policy: ‘America Is a Nation of Laws’

Fairness and the law won once the federal government decided to end Temporary Protected Status for 350,000 Haitian migrants, says the citizens’ group that led the opposition to the Haitian influx into Springfield, Ohio.

The message was posted at the group’s Facebook site, “Stop the influx into Springfield, Ohio” by one of the group’s leaders, Tammie Poe:

Nearly 5,000 members share one common belief: America is a nation of laws, and those laws matter.

We welcome the DHS [Department of Homeland Security] decision to end Temporary Protected Status because we believe it is a step toward restoring respect for our immigration laws after years of policies that many felt ignored or bypassed them. Click here to read more.

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