Dave Bondy
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Monday February 3, 2025
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and ten others spent $69,203 on a five-day trip to Spain in November.

The Michigan Enjoyer first reported the details, which it obtained through a records request.

Here’s the breakdown: airfare, $36,562.75; hotel, $14,901.61; miscellaneous, $14,179.36; food, $2,984.99; and entertainment, $574.32.

The trip itinerary lists 11 names: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Lluisa Oliveras, director of the Trade Commission of Spain in that country’s consulate in Chicago; Quentin Messer Jr., CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Zack Pohl, the governor’s principal deputy chief of staff; Christina Grossi, the governor’s chief legal counsel; Vlatko Tomic-Bobas, MEDC investment director; and Maci Gilmore, the MEDC assistant chief of protocol. Click here to read more.

 

NASHVILLE, TN - During a legislative special session on Thursday, the Tennessee Senate passed the Education Freedom Act of 2025 by a vote of 20 to 13. The bill had passed the House 54 to 44 earlier in the day. It now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature. With the stroke of Gov. Bill Lee’s pen, Tennessee will become the 13th state in the nation to enact universal (or near-universal) school choice.

While it’s not official yet, there is no question regarding whether Gov. Lee will sign the bill into law. He has been an enthusiastic education freedom champion and called the Tennessee General Assembly for a special session with the purpose of passing the Education Freedom Act. Last month, Gov. Lee said, “When it comes to education, more freedom is what our children need to succeed. That means empowering parents with school choice…. that’s why we need to pass the Education Freedom Act in Tennessee.” Click here to read more.

 

ASTFORD, CT. - A woman in Connecticut is accused of attaching GPS trackers on a teddy bear and the victim’s vehicle.

Police said they started their investigation on July 29, 2024 after they received a report from a victim that a tracking device was found on a vehicle.

In August 2024, they said they responded to another call from the victim. This time, a tracker was found on a stuffed teddy bear.

The victim told troopers that he believed 36-year-old Jessica Benoit was responsible for the trackers.

Troopers learned that Benoit had been previously in a relationship with the victim.

According to the arrest warrant, she used the name of another person when she went online to register the tracking devices.

By Oct. 16, search warrant was obtained to gain account information about the tracker in the bear, state police said. Click here to read more.

 

SPRINGFIELD, VA - A Virginia school district has reinstated a substitute teacher after initially removing her upon discovering her Christian views on gender ideology.

The teacher, identified by The Daily Signal as Lindsay Rich, was restored this week after an intervention by the Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit Christian legal group.

School officials escorted the teacher from an assignment in September 2024 only two hours after she arrived, and the school board met in a closed session that day to take her off the list, the Liberty Counsel said.

The substitute teacher said her religious views informed her belief that God created humans as male and female, and opposed male students being allowed to enter facilities reserved for female students. Click here to read more.

 

NEW YORK, NY - CBS says it will turn over an unedited transcript of its October interview with Kamala Harris to the Federal Communications Commission, part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing fight with the network over how it handled a story about his opponent.

Trump sued CBS for $10 million over the “60 Minutes” interview, claiming it was deceptively edited to make Harris look good. Published reports said that CBS’ parent company, Paramount, has been talking to Trump’s lawyers about a settlement.

The network said Friday that it was compelled by Brendan Carr, Trump’s appointee as FCC chairman, to turn over the transcripts and camera feeds of the interview for a parallel investigation by the commission. “60 Minutes” has resisted releasing transcripts for this and all of its interviews, to avoid second-guessing of its editing process. Click here to read more.

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Minneapolis Might Bring Back Bathhouses As Spaces for Sex and Queer Community

The Minneapolis City Council is considering a proposal to bring back bathhouses where people can have sex. And it’s provoking a wider conversation around stigma, criminalization, and community.

The proposal involves four related measures, introduced on March 26. They include plans to amend regulations for places “where sexual activity between consenting adults may be facilitated” and to update “provisions pertaining to indecent conduct and disorderly houses, adding exceptions for licensed establishments where sexual activity between consenting adults may be facilitated.”

“The council is expected to take up the ordinance discussion again on Thursday,” part KSTP TV, a local ABC affiliate. Click here to read more.


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Government-Funded Censor Told State Dept. Its Testing Wouldn’t Focus On U.S. Audiences — It Then Targeted The Blaze

Staff with the Global Engagement Center (“GEC”) told a State Department official that its testbed platform “will NOT focus on US audiences,” but then proceeded to fund a trial targeting The Blaze — a Texas-based media outlet. The Federalist uncovered this detail during discovery in its lawsuit against the State Department and the GEC, which the plaintiffs settled last week after the Defendants agreed to detailed prophylactic measures to prevent similar violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights.

The Federalist, along with The Daily Wire, sued the State Department and GEC in December of 2023, after learning that the defendants had funded the testing, development, and promotion of censorship technologies that demonetized, denigrated, and limited the reach of the media plaintiffs’ speech. The complaint alleged both a First Amendment claim and a claim that the defendants exceeded their statutory authority, which was limited to managing foreign affairs.

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Mamdani’s plan for free buses in NYC hits pothole, told by Albany ‘just not financially feasible’

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is not pushing for free buses in the city this year.

Mamdani’s three campaign promises were freeze the rent, universal daycare, and fast, free buses. As city and state budgets are tight, and disagreement among Democrats blocks Mamdani’s plan, he does not appear to be pushing for free buses to be implemented this year, Politico reported.

Mamdani told the news outlet on Tuesday that he is “absolutely committed to making buses fast and free.”

He has touted a universal daycare pilot as a win.

Meanwhile, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul support an expansion of a discount program for low-income subway and bus riders called Fair Fares.

While Mamdani has supported expanding the program, in 2024, he singled out Fair Fares as a “means-tested program [that] will never reach everyone they’re meant to.” Click here to read more.

 

USC Bans Men from Parts of Gyms to Make Women, Non-Binary Students Feel Comfortable

A California college has banned men from using certain areas in its gyms to make non-binary students and women more comfortable.

The University of Southern California has adopted a policy suggested by a radical LGBTQ+ activist group to institute the ban, according to the New York Post.

The activist group Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment (SAGE) demanded the new rule for the school’s Lyon Center. SAGE describes itself as a “programming assembly and intersectional feminist organization under the student government, committed to uplifting all voices oppressed by the patriarchy.”

Student Mengze Wu praised the move to ban men from certain workout areas on Mondays and Wednesdays as a way to stop the facility from being too “male-dominated.” Click here to read more.

 

Suspect attacks, repeatedly stabs Calif. sheriff’s office K-9 after slow pursuit

SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — A high-risk pursuit along Interstate 80 from Dixon to Fairfield early Tuesday escalated into a violent confrontation that left a Solano County Sheriff’s K-9 seriously wounded and a suspect in custody, authorities said.

According to the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began when deputies spotted a vehicle moving at an unusually slow speed on the freeway in Dixon, which they said was creating a dangerous situation for surrounding drivers during the morning commute. When a K-9 sheriff’s deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop, the driver failed to yield, triggering a pursuit that stretched along the busy corridor.

The chase continued until officers, working alongside the California Highway Patrol, brought it to a controlled end. A spike strip was deployed, disabling the vehicle near Interstate 80 and Travis Boulevard in Fairfield. Even after the vehicle came to a stop, though, officials said the situation remained tense and unpredictable. Click here to read more.

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Michigan school, streets might change names after New York Times report on Cesar E. Chavez

The names of some Michigan streets and a school might change after a recent New York Times story alleged that Cesar E. Chavez abused young girls.

Five streets and a school in Michigan are named after the American labor union and political activist who co-founded United Farm Workers in 1962. Chavez died in 1993, but a March 18 news article named two women and alluded to several others who have come forward to allege he sexually abused them.

The city of Lansing is having conversations about renaming its street in Old Town, Scott Bean, director of communications and senior advisor to Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email that outlined Lansing’s street-naming policy. Click here to read more.


 

14-year-old girl with ‘lengthy’ criminal history strikes police vehicle in stolen vehicle

BALTIMORE — A stolen car slammed into a Baltimore police patrol vehicle during a chase in West Baltimore around 1 a.m. on April Fool’s Day, then crashed again at a dead end as officers tried to stop it.

Audio from the scene captured an officer describing the initial impact: “That vehicle did sideswipe the front of my vehicle when I saw it.”

Police said the stolen car didn’t get far before ending at a dead end and hitting the patrol vehicle again. One suspect got away, with an officer reporting, “The passenger ran on foot going northbound on Ashburton.” Click here to read more.

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Michigan Attorney General calls for action as Consumers Energy seeks another rate increase

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is continuing to question Michigan’s energy companies, as Consumers Energy, one of the largest utilities in the state, seeks yet another increase to its electrical rates.

The Department of Attorney General released a statement on Monday, reaffirming Nessel’s commitment to intervening in all major rate cases before state energy regulators, slamming Consumers Energy for filing a new rate case within seven days of the Michigan Public Service Commission approving its last increase.

“The rate hike just approved by the MPSC hasn’t even taken effect yet, and Consumers Energy is already gearing up to reach back into the pockets of Michigan families,” Nessel said. “Ratepayers don’t have a choice in who they buy their energy from, yet our utility companies still choose to make these relentless and unsustainable rate hike demands year after year. Announcing plans to file what we expect to be a new multi-hundred-million-dollar request just seven days after securing a nearly $280 million hike proves how truly broken this system has become.” Click here to read more.

 

Services Demand Surges to Three-Year High Despite Rising Energy Costs

New orders for services rose to their highest level in more than three years in March, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday, as strong demand across the economy proved resilient to the spike in energy prices driven by the U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran.

The ISM index for the services sector registered 54 percent, down from 56.1 percent in February but still comfortably in expansion territory for the 21st consecutive month. The slight pullback in the headline number masked what was arguably the most important signal in the report: the barometer of new order surged to its highest reading since February 2023. Click here to read more.

 

Mom accused of faking 3-year-old’s illnesses, leading to unnecessary medical treatments

GLEN ROSE, Texas - A Texas mother accused of child medical abuse is facing multiple charges.

In an 18-page arrest affidavit, Tarrant County investigators said 31-year-old Kaitlyn Laura subjected her 3-year-old son to severe and ongoing medical abuse.

Detectives said for months, Laura claimed her son had serious conditions, such as stomach issues, trouble walking and even cerebral palsy.

For years, he was fed through a tube and kept in a wheelchair, but doctors never diagnosed any of it.

Investigators said, at one point, the child was on 17 different medications, eating less than 1,000 calories a day and consuming dog food. Click here to read more.

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