Dave Bondy
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Monday February 10, 2025
February 10, 2025

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WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered all federal departments and agencies to provide lists of employees who are underperforming, as it seeks to shrink the workforce and awaits a court ruling related to its deferred resignation offers.

A memo sent by the Office of Personnel Management on Thursday directs the agencies to submit names of every employee who has received less than a “fully successful” performance rating in the past three years and to note whether the workers have been on performance plans.

The memo, which was viewed by The Associated Press, also emphasized that the agencies report any obstacles to making sure they have “the ability to swiftly terminate poor performing employees who cannot or will not improve.”

The memo seeks the employee’s name, job title, pay plan and other details, as well as whether that employee is “under or successfully completed a performance improvement plan within the last 12 months.”

The office also is asking if an agency has proposed or issued a decision in such cases, and whether any action is being appealed or challenged, as well as any outcome.

The data is due by March 7. Click here to read more.

 

The House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump on December 18, 2019, after a White House whistleblower went public with evidence that Trump abused his powers by withholding military aid to Ukraine in order to dig up dirt on his rival, Joe Biden. In the complaint, the whistleblower claimed to have heard from White House staff that Trump had, on a phone call, directed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to work with his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. The whistleblower who triggered the impeachment was a CIA analyst who was first brought into the White House by the Obama administration.

Reporting by Drop Site News last year revealed that the CIA analyst relied on reporting by a supposedly independent investigative news organization called the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which appears to have effectively operated as an arm of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which President Trump has just shut down. Click here to read more.

 

CHICAGO, IL - The Chicago Teachers Union rejected recommendations from a neutral factfinder. The union will be free to strike after the report is public for 30 days and the union gives 10 days’ notice of striking.

The Chicago Teachers Union may soon be going on strike against the mayor it bankrolled into office.

The union announced it rejected recommendations from a neutral third-party “fact finder” in its latest phase of negotiations with Chicago Public Schools. That moves the teachers union one step closer to going on strike against CPS and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who gained control of City Hall after CTU funneled $2.3 million into his campaign coffers.

The union thought having Johnson in office would facilitate negotiations this time around. “This year’s CTU contract negotiations will be different than any other,” CTU wrote in an April 2024 bulletin. Click here to read more.

 

LANSING, Mich - Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall is cutting off taxpayer funds for municipalities that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

The Richland Township Republican on Thursday introduced House Resolution 19 to block state appropriations for local governments that shield illegal immigrants from federal immigration enforcement.

“I would like to see us use funding as a way to punish these sanctuary jurisdictions,” Hall told reporters Thursday. “Let me say it differently: I think it should be an incentive – increased funding beyond what’s constitutionally required is an incentive for things like working to have safer communities through complying with ICE and working and partnering with ICE.” Click here to read more.

 

SAULT ST. MARIE, Mich- U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week arrested a member of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Sault Ste. Marie as he tried to cross into the U.S. from Canada.

“Violent criminal organizations and transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua are a plague upon our communities that rely on fear and violence to reign terror on hardworking and law-abiding residents,” Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Travis Pickard said in a statement cited by MLive.

“By coming together as a law enforcement community to successfully locate and arrest these fugitives across state lines, we have sent a resounding message that we are united in our efforts to dismantle these violent criminal networks and put an end to the lawlessness they spread.” Click here to read more. Click here to read more.

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October 22, 2026
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Who Is Lady Budgetdown? The Mystery Account Raising Eyebrows and Uncovering School Finances
The anonymous figure behind a growing school transparency website says the project is run by one person, has faced threats of legal action and is expanding its reach across Michigan.

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.

 

“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.

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October 22, 2026
News they don't want you to see
Thursday October 22, 2026

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Michigan school funding tops inflation since before the pandemic

Funding for public schools in Michigan has grown faster than inflation since before the pandemic.

Yet some school teachers, like Amanda Walker of Bay City Schools, have said that schools are being defunded. Walker is vice president of her district’s chapter of the Michigan Education Association.

“I do think there’s been a concerted effort to dismantle public education by defunding, by diverting funds to private schools, by tearing down teachers and accusing them of all sorts of nonsense. People see it, and they feel it, and they don’t like it,” Walker told an MEA news publication recently.

It can feel that way at school districts such as Bay City, where the student count dropped 16% between 2018-19 and 2025-26, according to MiSchoolData.org. Fewer students means less in per-pupil funding. Click here to read more.


 

Data centers become midterm minefield as candidates scramble to answer voter backlash

President Donald Trump has made no secret of his support for building new data centers across the country, but candidates in both parties are trying to show voters they are listening to growing concerns about the technology. With the midterms two weeks away, the issue could help decide who voters ultimately choose.

The debate is playing out in city halls nationwide. In Memphis, Tennessee, the city council voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have halted new data center development for a year, following a heated meeting. “We demand a healthy environment, clean air, clean water, which we have a human right to. We also demand representation that chooses us, the people, over the profits of a billionaire’s experiment,” said KeShaun Pearson, who attended the meeting. Click here to read more.

Stay in contact with family with push to talk nationwide waterproof walkie talkies. Click here to learn more and get an extra 10% off.

 

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The debate is playing out in city halls nationwide. In Memphis, Tennessee, the city council voted down a proposal Tuesday that would have halted new data center development for a year, following a heated meeting. “We demand a healthy environment, clean air, clean water, which we have a human right to. We also demand representation that chooses us, the people, over the profits of a billionaire’s experiment,” said KeShaun Pearson, who attended the meeting.

In Hermantown, Minnesota, a rural community of about 10,000 people in the northeastern part of the state, the city council moved closer to approving a new Google data center. Some residents said officials haven’t pushed hard enough. Click here to read more.

 

Consumers Energy’s rate hike request comes days after $139M increase approved

Consumers Energy is looking for a rate hike on natural gas prices less than a week after the public service commission approved a $139 million increase.

The utility provider filed its notice of intent with regulators on Monday, which is required before it can submit its rate request.

The previous rate hike came out to about a 4.3% bump in monthly payments for natural gas.

Big picture view:

Consumers Energy has not said how much more it is asking for it its latest failing, but did say the new rate would last 12 months, ending Oct. 31, 2028.

Utility companies cannot set rates themselves. Instead, they submit a request to increase rates for either natural gas or electricity with the Michigan Public Service Commission.

After making the request, both parties and any other stakeholders weigh in on the case.

The Michigan Attorney General frequently intervenes in these cases. Click here to read more.

 

Trump and Vance announce $25M whistleblower program to encourage public to report alleged fraud

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday announced a $25 million program to encourage the public to blow the whistle on suspected fraud in the U.S. government as they ramp up efforts to end the abuse of federal programs and dollars.

The White House said that under the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program, anyone who submits a tip that leads to a fraud conviction or a significant federal enforcement action is eligible to receive up to $30,000, and that the Justice Department will administer the program.

During the announcement, Trump said payments will amount to a 1% commission on the amount of fraud the tip helps uncover. Trump also said he will decide who gets reward money in cases where more than one person claims to have provided the tip.

“I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” Trump in the Oval Office with Vance and other administration officials standing behind him. “It’ll be a binding arbitration.”

Trump said journalists could participate in the program. Click here to read more.

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October 20, 2026
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Michigan Audit Raises Questions About Medical Procedures Performed on Children in State Care
State auditors also identified problems with adoption approvals, oversight of children under state guardianship and security of confidential records.

LANSING, Mich. — Children under Michigan's guardianship underwent medical procedures without required consent or documentation, while thousands of others were not being consistently tracked by the state agency responsible for them, according to a new audit.

The Michigan Office of the Auditor General released a 40-page report Oct. 15 identifying significant deficiencies within the Michigan Children's Institute, which operates under the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The institute serves as the legal guardian for children whose parental rights have been terminated.

Auditors concluded that the institute's selected guardianship activities were not sufficient, identifying problems with

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