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Michigan to add 24% marijuana tax to fix the roads
Buying legal marijuana in Michigan will likely cost about 24% more starting next year, thanks to a tax hike meant to fill potholes.
Michigan’s political leaders have agreed not to shut down the state government over a budget impasse, but not all lawmakers are on board with upcoming tax hikes.
The statement claims that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, and House Speaker Matt Hall have agreed to pass a budget with road funding before Oct. 1.
The leaders agreed to pass the School Aid budget and state budget, including long-term road funding, before the end of the fiscal year.
Michigan Republicans and Democrats agreed to enact a 24% wholesale tax on marijuana. That tax will add to the already 10% excise tax for recreational marijuana and a 6% sales tax. Click here to read more.
Salvage crew finds $1 million treasure on 300-year-old shipwreck
VERO BEACH, Fla. - Over $1 million worth of silver and gold coins have been recovered from the remains of a Spanish fleet that sank off the Florida coast 310 years ago.
M/V Just Right Capt. Levin Shavers and his crew found over 1,000 silver coins, known as reales, and five gold coins, known as escudos, as well as other gold artifacts in the remains of the 1715 Treasure Fleet shipwreck during the summer salvage season.
“The best way I can describe it is if you lose something you really, really like and you’ve almost come to terms with it just never being found again, and then, all of a sudden, it shows up. It’s just such an awesome feeling,” Shavers said. Click here to read more.
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Elon Musk, a man who once quipped that he’s OK with going to Hell because more people will be there, is now encouraging his followers to attend church.
Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, and CEO of the social media platform X, reposted a message from Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk on Sunday, in which she encouraged people to “Go to church.” Musk, who has taken a prominent role in American politics and public discourse since the first assassination attempt on Trump’s life, has identified himself as a “cultural Christian” in the past but has stopped short of fully embracing Christianity.
In a 2024 interviewwith Jordan Peterson, Musk explained, “While I’m not a particularly religious person, I do believe that the teachings of Jesus are good and wise and that there’s tremendous wisdom in turning the other cheek.” He also described himself as a “big believer in the principles of Christianity,” which he praised as “very good.”. Click here to read more.
Trump Uses Reagan-Era Policy to Ban Taxpayer-Funded Gender-Transition Surgeries
resident Donald Trump’s State Department will soon expand the scope of the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars for abortions.
“The department will soon take additional steps to close loopholes that allowed taxpayer funding for promotion of abortion in previous iterations of the Mexico City Policy and expand the scope of the policy to ensure every penny of U.S. foreign assistance prioritizes American values, not the woke agenda,” a senior State Department official told The Daily Signal.
The expanded policy will prohibit U.S. funding for gender ideology, and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. For example, the State Department is ending a $2 million grant to fund gender-affirming operations in Guatemala.
The new provision restricts a broader range of nongovernmental organization programming, such as those for HIV/AIDS, President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), maternal and child health, nutrition, and infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. Click here to read more.
Catholic Families Pledge to Hit the Brakes on Smartphones
For many parents, the dangers and downsides of giving their children smartphones — the time wasted scrolling online, potential exposure to inappropriate content, and the anxiety and depression that can come from social-media addiction — are obvious.
What is far less obvious to many parents, in a society saturated with smartphone use among adults and children alike, is how to say “No” when their son or daughter asks for one.
One Catholic-founded Texas-based group is attempting to offer a solution: banding school parents together under a pledge to keep smartphones and social media out of their kids’ hands, based both on a Catholic vision of the human person as well as scientific evidence about the development of the young brain.
It’s hardly a wonder why parents who decide not to give their children personal, internet-connected devices feel like outliers.
A 2025 study by Common Sense Media (CSM) found that 1 in 4 children in the U.S. are given a smartphone by age 8. A different study surveyed 1,500 kids and found that two-thirds were given their first smartphone when they were 10 or younger. Click here to read more.
