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LANSING, Mich - Government mismanagement to save fish in California is now fueling wildfires that are putting millions at risk, a situation that’s familiar for folks victimized by similar malfeasance in Michigan in 2020.

President-elect Donald Trump placed the blame for at least four wildfires raging across southern California that have claimed the lives of five residents on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, and his decision against shipping water to southern California from the north out of concerns for Delta smelt.

“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Wednesday, deliberately misspelling Newsome’s name. Click here to read more.

 

MOBILE, Ala. - A property manager in Alabama was sentenced for stealing rent money from government-assisted low-income housing tenants, according to authorities.

According to court documents, 48-year-old Shannon Caruso worked as a property manager with two government housing authorities providing affordable housing for low-income Mobile-area residents.

She admitted that while working for both housing authorities, she fraudulently convinced renters to make their checks out to her or to give her their rent checks with the payee lines left blank.

Then, rather than depositing the money with her employers, she stole it for her own use, court records revealed. Click here to read more.

 

BUFFALO, NY - A federal judge in Vermont sentenced Luis Fernando Barragan-Palacios, 29, to 18 months in prison for smuggling nearly 100 migrants across the Canadian border into the United States. Barragan-Palacios, originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, earned approximately $500,000 from the human smuggling operation over a five-month period. He is expected to be deported upon completing his sentence.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New York reported that Barragan-Palacios organized and executed around 30 smuggling trips between August 2023 and January 2024. He transported migrants from the border near Richford, Vermont, to the New York City area. His activities came to an end when Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended him during a high-speed pursuit on icy roads.

Agents attempted to stop Barragan-Palacios while he was driving a rented pickup truck near the Canadian border, but he fled, reaching speeds of 85 mph. Despite dangerous road conditions, he continued evading law enforcement. When stopped, agents discovered six migrants lying unsecured in the truck bed and cab. Click here to read more.

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A bill, SB 196, was filed in the Florida Senate that would deem a drug or food misbranded if it contains vaccines or vaccine materials without appropriate labeling.

The sponsor: Republican Sen. Joe Gruters.

What it does: The legislation would change the definition of “drug” to include food that contains vaccines or vaccine materials.

• It defines “vaccine or vaccine material” as a substance authorized or approved by the FDA to stimulate immunity.

• The bill says a food is deemed to be misbranded if it “contains a vaccine or vaccine material unless its label bears the words ‘contains vaccine or vaccine material’ and specifies that the food is classified as a drug under the Florida Drug and Cosmetic Act.”

Next steps: The bill has not yet been assigned to any committees. A House version of the bill has not yet been filed.

If approved, it would take effect July 1. Click here to read the legislation.

 

DETROIT, Mich - With the turn of the calendar, eggs in Michigan seemed to disappear from the shelves – as if a snowstorm was coming and people were stocking up. At the same time, the price seemed to have soared.

So what caused the vanishing act of the eggs and your money? As with everything, there's not a simple answer – but instead a perfect storm of events that led to, what is hopefully, a temporary shortage.

By the numbers:

The price of a dozen eggs in the United States are up 38% over the past year – with the average price at $3.65 nationwide for a dozen eggs. This is down a bit from January 2023 when a dozen was $4.82 but they're climbing back up again. Click here to read more.

This email is free Monday through Friday! I also produce special investigations and shows on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.

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LANSING, Mich - Two unwieldy laws regarding sick leave and the minimum wage are set to go into effect at the end of February. They are written so poorly that the effects on Michigan workers, businesses and consumers could be massive. Together, they should be referred to as the “jobless bills.”

The history of these proposals is unique, but not in a good way. Michigan law allows citizen’s initiatives, in which groups can gather enough signatures to propose a law to the legislature. Lawmakers then have three options. They can vote to accept that and pass it into law, reject it and let citizens vote on the proposal at the ballot, or propose their own changes to the law.

In this case, out-of-state interests in 2018 bankrolled the gathering of enough signatures to present laws regarding mandatory paid sick leave and a higher minimum wage to the Michigan Legislature. Click here to read more.

 

LAFOURCHE PARISH, LA - Two high school girls in Louisiana were charged with lying to police after they attempted to frame a male teacher they claimed was sending inappropriate messages to a student.

The two girls, who have not been named because they are minors, were charged with one count each of false swearing for the purpose of violating public health or safety (a felony), cyberstalking, and online impersonation, according to a press release from Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff Craig Webre.

“Our juvenile detectives are diligent and take claims of inappropriate behavior very seriously,” Webre said in the press release. “They are, however, equally serious about false claims. Someone’s life can be instantly ruined by a false allegation, and I am proud that our investigators were able to get to the bottom of this. Technology has made it very easy for people to try to manipulate the truth, but technology also makes it easy for investigators to ultimately find the truth.” Click here to read more.

 

LOS ANGELES, CALIF – FOX News Bill Melugin is reporting a man identified as Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, is in custody following a viral incident near the Kenneth Fire in West Hills. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sources, Sierra-Leyva was subdued by residents and arrested by police while allegedly carrying a blowtorch in the area.

Authorities have confirmed that Sierra-Leyva has not been charged with arson. He is currently being held on a probation violation as multiple agencies continue interviewing him. Click here for video.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - Chinese officials are mulling a potential option that involves the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to billionaire Elon Musk if the company fails to fend off a potential ban, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Chinese officials prefer that TikTok remain under the control of parent Bytedance, the report said, adding that the company is contesting the ban with an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Under one scenario, Musk's social media platform X would take control of TikTok U.S. and run the business together, the report said, adding that the Chinese officials have yet to reach any firm consensus about how to proceed and their deliberations are still preliminary.

TikTok declined to comment, while Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. X could not immediately be reached for a comment. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - One in every eight Christians around the world faces persecution, ranging from imprisonment and censorship to extra-judicial and government-sanctioned martyrdom, according to a new report.

“Each year, an estimated 300 million Christians around the world are persecuted because of their faith in Jesus. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are beaten, imprisoned, and even killed for their faith,” said the International Christian Concern’s 2025 Global Persecution Index, released last Friday, which documents instances of governments denying rights to a share of the world’s estimated 2.38 billion Christians. “In many countries, it is illegal for them to share the Gospel.”

“The details of persecution you will read in our report are not isolated incidents,” clarified International Christian Concern President Jeff King. These repressive acts represent the reality of “Christians worldwide who face daily threats to their lives and religious freedom.” Click here to read more.

This email is free Monday through Friday! I also produce special investigations and shows on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.

I left a high-paying media job to go independent, and I can’t do it without your support.

Paid subscriptions are just $6/month and keep this work alive. Cancel anytime. Click the red subscribe button to join!

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich - Michigan’s second-largest city wants its residents to drive less, switch to electric vehicles, and use less energy, according to its 95-page draft of a climate action and adaption plan.

The city of Grand Rapids’ climate plan uses the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by municipal operations in 2008 as its benchmark, setting a goal to reduce their emissions by 85% by 2030 and 100% by 2040.

The plan will try to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions by 62.8% per capita by 2030, with 2019 as the benchmark. The plan has six chapters: energy (more solar use), healthy homes (less electric use; income-based electric rates), commercial buildings (less energy use), transportation (more carpooling and cycling, denser developments), natural systems (more trees and rain gardens), and food systems (more urban agriculture and composting, less food in trash). Click here to read more.

 

The $750,000-a-year LA water czar is responsible for a raft of failures that contributed to the devastating Palisades Fire, fire department insiders told DailyMail.com.

On Mayor Karen Bass's orders, the city maxed out its budget to 'attract private-sector talent', hiring Department of Water and Power (LADWP) CEO Janisse Quiñones on a $750,000 salary in May – almost double that of her predecessor.

Now, Quiñones is being blamed by LA Fire Department (LAFD) insiders for leaving a nearby reservoir disconnected and fire hydrants broken for months, DailyMail.com can reveal, leading to firefighters running out of water as they battled the devastating Palisades Fire this week.

And, Daily Mail.com has learned, Quiñones past employer is also linked to fire scandals. She was previously a top executive at electricity company PG&E, which went bankrupt over liability for several massive wildfires in California. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told podcast host Joe Rogan on Friday that officials in President Joe Biden’s administration would yell and hurl profanities at his company’s employees over content censorship.

The Biden administration pushed Facebook to censor posts about COVID-19 that it deemed misinformation, according to documents published by House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan in July 2023. Zuckerberg, on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” revealed that also Meta faced investigations and backlash after Biden accused Facebook of “killing people” in July 2021 for not censoring so-called COVID-19 misinformation.

“Basically, these people from the Biden Administration would call up our team and like scream at them and curse,” Zuckerberg said. “And it’s like these documents are — it’s all kind of out there.”

Rogan asked if Meta had recorded any of the calls, but Zuckerberg said he did not believe so. Click here to read more.

 

MADISON, WIS - A Wisconsin judge granted an early conditional release Thursday to Morgan Geyser, who was convicted of stabbing her childhood friend more than a decade ago.

Geyser, then 12 years old, along with Anissa Weier, stabbed another girl, Payton Leutner, 19 times to appease the fictional horror character Slender Man back in 2014.

The now-22-year-old was originally committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute to a maximum 40 years of state mental health supervision after she was found not guilty by reason of mental disease in 2018.

Geyser was back in court on Thursday, seeking to be released from a state psychiatric hospital after her previous request was denied in April. Geyser's latest petition for release is the fourth time in the past two years she has asked to be let out of the facility, though she withdrew her first two petitions. Click here to read more.

 

An illegal immigrant faces multiple felonies after the Clare County Sheriff’s Office alleges he purchased a vehicle through Facebook Marketplace using fake $100 bills.

Victor Julio Tellaria-Sanchez, 36, purchased the car from a Harrison woman at her residence on New Year’s Day for $3,600, paying in 36 $100 bills, the sheriff’s office alleges in a press release cited by the Clare County Cleaver.

“A short time after the male left with the vehicle, the victim took the bills to a gas station where a counterfeit pen was used on the bills,” the release read. “Several of the bills that were tested showed the bills were fake. Once the victim learned the bills were fake, she attempted to contact the male, however the account of this male had been deactivated.” Click here to read more.