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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.
