Michigan can’t even give away billions of dollars.

A cash offer of $1.1 billion wasn’t enough to lure a company to a Genesee County location near Flint.

When auto companies chose to spend about $11 billion building plants in the American South in 2021, Michigan, stung by headlines blaming the state for losing this business, gathered a taxpayer-funded honeypot. But years later, that also has failed to attract a buyer.

Michigan gave $259 million in site prep for the Genesee County spot. It offered $6 billion to Western Digital Technologies, according to an August 2024 letter of intent signed by Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Quentin Messer and Dan Steere, Western Digital's senior vice president of corporate development and strategy.

In return, the company would invest $63 billion between 2024 and 2045 and create 9,400 jobs.

Michigan offered:

• $1.175 billion in a cash grant

• $750 million in cash grants

• $416 million in a sales and use tax exemption

Click here to read more.

 

CNN anchor Erin Burnett blasted for describing NYC shooter as 'possibly white'

Authorities have charged at least five suspects in a violent attack that took place in downtown Cincinnati, according to police.

FOX 19 reported that the beating took place on Friday night between Elm and Fourth Streets, with videos going viral on social media.

Video circulating around social media shows two people attacking a man wearing a white T-shirt, who is eventually shoved to the ground. The man wearing a white T-shirt was kicked several times while he was on the ground, but eventually gets up.

A woman was also seen lying unconscious in the street after being punched. Several people can be seen helping her get up, and she eventually regained consciousness. Click here to read more.

 

Middle School Cheerleaders Made a TikTok Video Portraying a School Shooting. They Were Charged With a Crime.

One afternoon in mid-September, a group of middle school girls in rural East Tennessee decided to film a TikTok video while waiting to begin cheerleading practice.

In the 45-second video posted later that day, one girl enters the classroom holding a cellphone. “Put your hands up,” she says, while a classmate flickers the lights on and off. As the camera pans across the classroom, several girls dramatically fall back on a desk or the floor and lie motionless, pretending they were killed.

When another student enters and surveys the bodies on the ground in poorly feigned shock, few manage to suppress their giggles. Throughout the video, which ProPublica obtained, a line of text reads: “To be continued……”

Penny Jackson’s 11-year-old granddaughter was one of the South Greene Middle School cheerleaders who played dead. She said the co-captains told her what to do and she did it, unaware of how it would be used. The next day, she was horrified when the police came to school to question her and her teammates. Click here to read more.

 

Here’s why a school district is telling teachers not to post Amazon Wish Lists

HOHENWALD, Tenn. - A school district in Tennessee is asking teachers not to share personal Amazon Wish Lists.

Lewis County School District asked teachers to refrain from posting their wish lists when using the district’s name, school names or logos.

Director of Schools Tracy McAbee shared the district’s reasoning for the decision in a Facebook post.

McAbee said that when donations are made using the name or brand of a Tennessee public school, “there must be a documented process to verify that items were received, properly inventoried, and used in accordance with public purpose.”

“Currently, there is no consistent way to verify that donations made through individual wish lists were delivered or how those resources were used. This creates the potential for audit findings and concerns about mismanagement, even when the intent is good,” she said. Click here to read more. Click here to read more.

 

Congress wants largest teachers union to pick kids over politics

The National Education Association was given a federal charter to be a professional advocate for teachers and public education, but it has morphed into a hyper-partisan advocacy group.

Spending tens of millions of dollars on campaigns, lobbying and ideology-driven resolutions that have little to do with students has real consequences. It hurts teachers. It politicizes the classroom. It undermines trust in public education. And it’s happening under the recognition of a federal charter, a rare privilege possessed by fewer than 100 national-interest groups, such as the American Legion.

Congress is considering fixing that. The Stopping Teachers Unions from Damaging Education Needs Today Act, would hold the NEA to the same standards of neutrality, transparency and public service expected of any nationally chartered nonprofit. The STUDENT Act is intended to refocus the NEA on education.

NEA is more focused on power than education

In 2024, the NEA spent $23 million on political campaigns and another $3 million lobbying Congress. That same year, just 9% of the NEA’s spending was on representing its members, while the rest went to political causes and other union leadership priorities. Click here to read more.

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Michigan Treasury Accused of Hiding Secret Subsidy Deals

The Michigan Treasury Department is hiding records from the Detroit Free Press about millions of dollars the state paid to a real estate firm as part of a major development in downtown Detroit, and the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation will represent the daily in a lawsuit filed July 22 in the Court of Claims.

The Mackinac Center's lawsuit involves the expansion of the One Campus Martius by Detroit-based Bedrock Management Services LLC.

The project benefits from transformational brownfield plan incentives. The state pays developers with a portion of the taxes generated by their projects — money that would otherwise fund public services like schools and cities.

The Free Press filed a Freedom of Information Act request March 17 seeking key reports used by the state to calculate the value of these payments. Click here to read more.

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Woman brutally attacked in horrific Cincinnati brawl is single mom

Authorities have charged at least five suspects in a violent attack that took place in downtown Cincinnati, according to police.

FOX 19 reported that the beating took place on Friday night between Elm and Fourth Streets, with videos going viral on social media.

Video circulating around social media shows two people attacking a man wearing a white T-shirt, who is eventually shoved to the ground. The man wearing a white T-shirt was kicked several times while he was on the ground, but eventually gets up.

A woman was also seen lying unconscious in the street after being punched. Several people can be seen helping her get up, and she eventually regained consciousness. Click here to read more.

 

Michigan schools should go back to basics

LANSING, Mich - Michigan schools began the 21st century close to the top of national rankings, regularly posting results that were better than scores in most other states, especially those in the south. But the state has endured a long slide from the mid-1990s to today. Michigan’s math achievement ranking declined from 14th to 36th, based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Over the same time frame, Michigan’s reading score ranking declined from 20th to 42nd on the NAEP.

Michigan student school performance ranks 44th in the nation. How can that be?

Clearly, we need to reverse this downward trend. I am not heartened, however, by the calls for action coming from political advocates and interest groups. Our education plan brings to mind a saying often attributed to Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Click here to read more.

 

Self-deportations. Factory layoffs. Military zones. How Trump is transforming the U.S.-Mexico border.

Juan Ortíz trudged through 100-degree heat along the U.S.-Mexico border, weighed down by a backpack full of water bottles that he planned to leave for migrants trying to cross this rugged terrain.

Only there hadn't been many migrants of late.

When Ortíz started water drops in this especially dangerous stretch of desert near El Paso nearly two years ago, he sometimes encountered dozens of people trying to reach the U.S. in a single afternoon. Now he rarely sees any. Border crossings began falling during the final months of President Biden’s term, and have plunged to their lowest levels in decades under President Trump. Click here to read more.

 

Public School Report Cards Deserve a Failing Grade

For decades, American education reformers have promised that technocratic accountability systems would transform our schools. We’ve spent billions implementing standardized tests, creating elaborate school-rating systems, and demanding “data-driven” improvements.

Yet two new reports reveal an uncomfortable truth: These government accountability systems aren’t just ineffective—they’re actively misleading parents and policymakers while failing the students they claim to serve.

A revealing new study published in Education Sciences examined how parents use and perceive the A-F school rating systems in 15 states. Researchers conducted focus groups with 44 parents across Arizona, North Carolina, and Texas—three states with established letter-grade accountability systems. Click here to read more.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Authorities say Bradford James Gille, the 42‑year‑old suspect in the mass stabbing at a Traverse City Walmart, was actively sought by police in Emmet County less than 24 hours before the rampage.

According to UpNorthLive, Emmet County deputies received a court order from probate court on Friday afternoon directing them to place Gille into protective custody for mental health evaluation. Officers had encountered him on Thursday evening during loitering complaints in Petoskey but found no legal grounds to detain him. Despite “diligent efforts,” deputies were unable to locate him before the attack unfolded the next day in Grand Traverse County.

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On Saturday, Gille allegedly entered the Walmart and stabbed 11 people with a folding knife. The victims ranged in age from 29 to 84. No fatalities have been reported. Most were treated at Munson Medical Center and released or remain in fair condition, with a few in serious condition — but all are expected to survive.

Bystanders, including a Marine veteran armed with a concealed handgun, helped subdue Gille in the parking lot before law enforcement arrived.

Court appearance and charges

Monday in 86th District Court, Gille was formally arraigned on 11 counts of assault with intent to murder and a rarely used terrorism charge under Michigan law, which prosecutors say reflects the attack’s goal to intimidate the broader community. Bond was set at $100,000 cash or surety, with conditions barring him from Walmart locations, weapons, alcohol, or drugs.

Assistant Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg described Gille as “a threat to public safety” given his criminal record — including past assaults, drug possession, and a 2016 cemetery desecration case in which he was deemed not guilty by reason of insanity — along with documented mental illness and prolonged homelessness.

During the hearing, Gille frequently appeared confused and at one point interrupted proceedings, saying:

“You’re selling cigarettes with fiberglass and chemicals in ’em just to kill off this population. You can’t really accuse me of anything if you’re doing that.”

The judge muted Gille’s microphone after warning him not to make statements that could be used against him.

Court-appointed counsel entered a not‑guilty plea on his behalf. Gille told the court he has no fixed address, minimal family connections, no significant income or assets, and will rely on Social Security for support.

Background and next steps

According to the Detroit Free Press, records show Gille has a long history of mental health struggles, including diagnoses of bipolar disorder with psychotic features and schizophrenia. He has been hospitalized involuntarily multiple times and appeared in news archives as far back as 2007 when family members raised concerns about his condition.

In 2016, court documents indicate Gille was charged with desecrating graves in Greenwood Cemetery, removing dirt from a burial vault he believed contained someone buried alive. He was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.

At Monday’s arraignment, Grand Traverse County Magistrate Tammi Rodgers set a probable cause hearing for August 6, followed by a preliminary exam on August 12 at 11 a.m.

Impact and response

The attack has shaken the local community of around 16,000 people along Lake Michigan. Local officials praised the intervention by bystanders and first responders, noting that footage and accounts show Gille appeared to act randomly, moving swiftly through the store before striking victims without warning.

Law enforcement continues to seek digital or video evidence of the incident and encourages anyone with relevant material to come forward.

Timeline

• Thursday, July 24: Gille contacted by Petoskey police for loitering; appeared calm; no detention.

• Friday, July 25: Probate court issues protective custody order; deputies and Petoskey officers search but do not locate him.

• Saturday, July 26: Gille allegedly attacks shoppers at Traverse City Walmart, injuring 11; subdued by bystanders and arrested minutes later.

• Monday, July 28: Arraigned on terrorism and attempted murder charges; bond set; hearings scheduled.