WASHINGTON D.C. - The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced a further wave of contract terminations late Saturday, noting that they also identified thousands of cases where more than $300 million in loans were granted to children.
DOGE said it identified that the Small Business Association (SBA) granted nearly 5,600 loans for $312 million to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old or younger at the time of the loan. The loans were issued in 2020 and 2021 – while the world struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic – and it is unclear what they were used for.
“While it is possible to have business arrangements where this is legal, that is highly unlikely for these 5,593 loans, as they all also used an SSN with the incorrect name,” the agency wrote.
PPP and EIDL Too
When making the announcement, DOGE shared a post on X from Tuesday when it also revealed that in 2020 and 2021 the SBA issued 3,095 loans for $333 million to borrowers over 115 years old. Click here to read more.
LANSING, Mich - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned the use of motorized boats during the pandemic. | Shutterstock | John McCormick
Michiganders are marking a grim anniversary this March 18. Five years ago, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer locked down the state in response to the COVID-19 emergency, shuttering most of the economy in a shock from which Michigan businesses have yet to recover.
Whitmer issued nearly 200 executive orders, many of them baffling. The governor deemed liquor stores, casinos, and cannabis dispensaries essential — allowing them to remain open — but ordered greenhouses to close.
Yet at the time, Whitmer was considered one of the most trusted sources of information about COVID-19.
“She has repeatedly emphasized that she is guided by science,”said Marianne Udow-Phillips, founding executive director of the Center for Health and Research Transformation, a nonprofit health policy center at the University of Michigan. Click here to read more.
GLASGOW, Ky. (WBKO/Gray News) – The family of a Kentucky high school student is mourning the sudden loss of their loved one as both federal and local authorities investigate his tragic death.
Officials say Elijah Heacock, 16, died on Feb. 28 from a gunshot wound.
Photographs on Elijah’s phone suggest he may have been targeted in a sextortion scheme, Shannon Heacock, Elijah’s mother said. It’s this discovery that led law enforcement to investigate the circumstances leading to Elijah’s death.
“I don’t want another mother to ever face this, another sibling, another father to face this,” Shannon Heacock said. “I don’t want another school district to face this like we have.” Click here to read more.
GRAND BLANC, Mich - Grand Blanc students caught fighting at school will pay the price.
It’s $200 for a first offense, $500 for repeat violations.
“We’re not looking to ruin kids’ lives,” Grand Blanc Police Lt. Bryan Byarski told WNEM. “We want kids to understand that, hey, school is for, you know, kids to go there and learn and enjoy their school experience, not to have to deal with these fights.”
And there’s been a lot of fights in Grand Blanc schools.
Grand Blanc Police Chief Brian Lipe told MLIVE there were 82 on school property in the 2023-24 school year, while another 81 altercations were broken up before a brawl broke out.
So far this year, there’s been 33 more fights, and 47 broken up.
The situation prompted city police to propose fines for fighting that were approved by the Grand Blanc City Council last week and go into effect on April 2. Click here to read more. Click here to read more.
CHICAGO, IL - Each Chicago taxpayer is on the hook for $40,600 in city debt today, the second most among major U.S. cities. Add in the debt Illinois state leaders grew last year, and Chicago taxpayers owe nearly $80,000.
Chicago ranked as the nation’s second-worst sinkhole city again in 2025, with Chicagoans shouldering the second-largest taxpayer burden among major cities, according to a new report.
Every taxpayer in Chicago would need to contribute $40,600 to pay down the city’s total debt, according to Truth in Accounting’s 2025 State of the Cities report. That is the second most among taxpayers in the 75 most-populous U.S. cities, behind only New York.
It’s also more than the next two highest-ranked major U.S. cities, Portland and New Orleans, combined. Click here to read more.
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