Welcome to all my new followers here on Locals! I’m an independent journalist who walked away from 25 years in legacy media as a news anchor and reporter in Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. I left because I was done with the bias and scripted narratives. Now, I report directly to you — bringing real, unfiltered news that the mainstream often ignores.
Michigan to end its biggest business subsidy program
Early reports indicate that lawmakers have a deal to complete the state budget, and that it will include an end to the state’s largest business subsidy program. The state currently earmarks $500 million of the corporate income tax to the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve, which writes big checks to big companies. That earmark would end under the reported budget deal.
It’s a good move. The SOAR program is a waste of money. Lawmakers used the program to propose nine deals that offered $1.45 billion to create 14,779 jobs. However, $720 million has been spent and no jobs have been created, according to the latest state report.
Nor should lawmakers expect that deals deliver on their promises. The major deals that the lawmakers made from 2000 to 2020 produced just 9% of the jobs that were promised. Click here to read more.
Trump Scores $22M Payout After YouTube Settles Lawsuit Over Account Suspension
YouTube reportedly agreed to a $24.5 million settlement over a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the suspension of his account in 2021.
The vast majority of YouTube’s settlement will be directed toward funding construction of a new White House ballroom that Trump is building. Court documents say that $22 million will be given to the Trust for the National Mall, which is “dedicated to restoring, preserving, and elevating the National Mall, to support the construction of the White House State Ballroom,” according to FOX News.
The remaining settlement money, $2.5 million, will go toward other plaintiffs on the case, such as the American Conservative Union, according to the Wall Street Journal. Click here to read more.
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The Chicago Teachers Union honored a convicted murder and wanted terrorist on social media following her death, drawing sharp condemnation from Chicago Alderman and governors from multiple states.
What did the Chicago Teachers Union do?
The Chicago Teachers Union posted on social media honoring the memory of Assata Shakur, a former Black Liberation Army member convicted in the 1973 killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster. CTU’s post quickly drew angry responses from across the nation.
CTU’s post read in part: “Rest in Power, Rest in Peace, Assata Shakur… Today we honor the life and legacy of a revolutionary fighter, a fierce writer, a revered elder of Black liberation, and a leader of freedom whose spirit continues to live in our struggle.” Click here to read more.
Michigan House Passes Pot Tax Hike to Pave the Roads
LANSING, Mich. — Lawmakers want Michigan drivers to dodge potholes with pot money. The state House voted September 25 to slap a new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana, projected to raise $420 million a year for local road repairs and bridge fixes.
The proposal, part of a larger budget framework to avert a government shutdown this week, sailed through the House in a 78–21 vote with bipartisan support. Ten Republicans and 11 Democrats opposed it.
House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said Republicans negotiated Gov. Gretchen Whitmer down from her original ask of a 32% tax.
Still, industry leaders warn even the lower rate could drive customers back to the black market and put smaller dispensaries out of business. “Everyone knows that a large increase in cannabis taxes drives customers straight back to the illicit market,” Robin Schneider of the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association said. Click here to read more.
Secrets of the deep, deep tunnels where nuclear waste is buried
The lift is accelerating into the earth, the geologists and engineers on board stifling groans as their bodies move faster than their stomachs.
“This is the fastest passenger elevator in Europe,” says Pasi Tuohimaa, 64, a spokesman for Posiva, the nuclear disposal company that runs this facility. The lift drops 433 metres in 66 seconds before the passengers, slightly unsteadily, step into a vast network of tunnels excavated below the island of Olkiluoto off Finland’s west coast.
This is likely to be the last group of visitors to make this journey down into the bedrock. Next month Posiva will close the tunnels for a series of tests.
Then, if all goes to plan, spent nuclear fuel will be transported early next year down dedicated lift shafts before robotic machines bury the 24-tonne copper and iron canisters in the rock where they will remain for the rest of time.
This is the world’s first deep geological disposal facility for nuclear fuel, a concept that has been discussed by engineers and politicians for half a century. More than 20 other countries including the UK, US, France and Sweden have plans to follow suit. But the Finns have got there first. Click here to read more.
