Dave Bondy
Politics • Culture • News
News they don't want you to see
Wednesday April 1, 2026
April 01, 2026

 

 

 

 
 

Grand Rapids city manager traveled extensively on taxpayer’s dime

Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington traveled to Belgium and various points in the United States in 2024 at a cost of $21,102, according to credit card receipts Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request.

In 2024 the city’s comptroller flagged some of Washington’s spending as irregular. Shortly thereafter, comptroller Max Frantz alleged in a December 2025 lawsuit, the city stripped him of 13 employees, many of his duties, and $1.3 million in funding.

While in Belgium, Washington stayed at Duke’s Palace, a five-star hotel, to attend the International City/County Management’s Association’s Global Exchange in May 2024. He spent $2,888 on the Belgian trip.

The 8,000-mile-round trip benefited the city, a Grand Rapids spokesman told CapCon. Click here to read more.


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Audit pins $37M in questionable child care payments on weak oversight, missing records

OLYMPIA, Wash. — A day after a state audit estimated $37 million in questionable payments to subsidized child care providers, KOMO News is pressing for answers about which providers triggered the estimate and what happens next.

At the center of the audit is the Department of Children, Youth and Families, which distributes federal funds to child care providers.

The audit marked the first time in five years that state auditors were able to conduct a review using documentation they could track, though they again flagged oversight problems at the agency. Click here to read more.

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Georgia man receives settlement after home was stolen through deed fraud

ATLANTA - An 87-year-old Georgia man will receive settlement payments after his home of more than 50 years was stolen through deed fraud.

Robert Elder lost his late wife, his sight, then his home when someone filed three different deeds on his property in 2023. The first deed was filed in July, then again in August with updated wording labeled “corrective” deed, and once more in September. All three deeds transferred Elder’s house to someone else.

None of the signatures matched the way Elder signed his name in other official documents. The grandfather said he cannot sign his name straight on a signature line.

In a civil lawsuit, Elder accused his former stepson of being involved. In August 2025, the court signed a judgment agreed to by both parties that said the court found “fraud, larceny and malicious injury.” Click here to read more.

 

Senate spending skyrockets by more than 40% in last few years

WASHINGTON D.C. - Spending in U.S. senators’ office accounts spiked by 43% since 2020, with big jumps in 2022 and the last fiscal year for senators to pay their staff, travel and other expenses, an investigation by The Center Square found.

In 2020, the U.S. Senate office account was spending less than half a billion dollars, but that has since increased by nearly $200 million, an analysis of data provided by the American Governance Institute and other online data shows.

Overall Senate spending that includes the office accounts but also expenses for leadership, committees, security and operations was about $1.5 billion, increasing as much as 50% since 2020. Click here to read more.

 

Trump speaks with the family of Sheridan Gorman, college student allegedly slain by illegal immigrant

President Donald Trump has spoken with the family of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old college student who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant in Chicago earlier this month, Fox News has learned.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News on Monday that Trump spoke with Gorman’s family, though did not immediately share details about the conversation the president had with her loved ones.

Gorman, a New York native who was attending Loyola University Chicago, was killed at around 1:06 a.m. on March 19 while with friends near a pier in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.

Officials allege Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, fired one shot at the student, killing her. Click here to read more.

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What’s going on in Genesee County, Michigan?

Over $260 million spent so far and nothing to show for it.

00:01:52
Evacuations happening as floodwaters rise in Indian River, Michigan. flooding

Evacuations happening as floodwaters rise in Indian River, Michigan. #flooding

00:00:22
This is video of one of the meteors taken from a home in Waterford, Michigan. Thanks to John for the video.

This is video of one of the meteors taken from a home in Waterford, Michigan. Thanks to John for the video.

00:00:24
No livestream. No recording. No transparency. So I showed up. St. Charles, Michigan school board. Know a school board or local government keeping meetings off camera? Tell me where to go next.

No livestream. No recording. No transparency. So I showed up. St. Charles, Michigan school board. Know a school board or local government keeping meetings off camera? Tell me where to go next.

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🚨 BREAKING: Level 3 evacuation ordered in Newaygo County Residents in the Muskegon River floodplain below Croton are being told to evacuate immediately as water levels rapidly rise. Officials say conditions are dangerous and worsening.
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Water levels at the Cheboygan Dam are still just inches from the top, but crews are working nonstop with high - capacity pumps to keep things under control. The dam is holding for now, but officials say the next 24 to 48 hours - and any additional rain -

Water levels at the Cheboygan Dam are still just inches from the top, but crews are working nonstop with high - capacity pumps to keep things under control. The dam is holding for now, but officials say the next 24 to 48 hours - and any additional rain - will be critical. Thanks to Johanna for the pic.

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News they don't want you to see
Friday April 24, 2026

Thank-you for being here. M to F I send out this morning email. The stories they don’t want you to see.

 
 

SOS Benson’s Past Ties to SPLC Draw Scrutiny Amid Federal Investigation Allegations

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat who is running for governor, isn’t shy about her longtime ties to the now federally-indicted Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The left-leaning SPLC is under a U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation, and faces 11 counts related to wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. It centers on the SPLC paying people to infiltrate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazi organizations in order to incite racial unrest. These are the very groups the SPLC said they fought against.

The Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) stressed that Benson’s affiliation with the SPLC wasn’t “peripheral.” It said, “By her own account, [Benson] worked at the organization as an undercover operative in the late 1990s, going so far as to pose as a freelance journalist to gain access to neo-Nazi leaders and white supremacist groups.” Click here to read more.


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FBI looks into dead or missing nuclear and space defense scientists tied to NASA, Blue Origin, and SpaceX

Almost a dozen scientists related to nuclear and space defense programs tied to NASA, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are dead or missing in cases as far back as 2022, and they’ve gone largely unnoticed by authorities and the public—until now.

The House Oversight Committee formally demanded answers from four federal agencies Monday on the deaths and disappearances of at least 11 American scientists and researchers with ties to NASA, nuclear research, and classified defense programs—several of them directly connected to the space defense technologies now being commercialized by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), the chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs, sent letters to FBI Director Kash Patel, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, requesting staff-level briefings no later than April 27. Click here to read more.

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Alabama boy’s secret Facebook post asking for cancer drug grabs national attention

RALPH, Ala. - An Alabama teenager took a chance on Wednesday, filming a two-minute video on his mom’s Facebook page without his parents knowing.

He didn’t expect what happened next.

Will Roberts, 15, lives in Ralph, an unincorporated community in Tuscaloosa County. He’s fighting for his life against stage 4 bone cancer, called osteosarcoma, which has spread throughout his body.

“From a parent’s aspect, you’re just getting by day to day in hopes that this miraculous treatment is advanced in the time that you’re allowed to fight every day,” said Will’s mother, Brittney. Click here to read more.

 

Appeals court keeps Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ open

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the immigration detention facility in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” can continue operating, overturning a lower court’s order that had required it to begin winding down.

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the state-run center did not trigger requirements for a federal environmental review. The majority said Florida officials built and control the facility on state land, without sufficient federal involvement to invoke the National Environmental Policy Act.

“Florida, not the federal government, controls the site and bore the full cost of construction,” the opinion stated. At the time of the district court’s injunction last August, no federal reimbursement had been provided, the panel noted. Click here to read more.

 

Fairfax Schools’ ‘Equity’ Calendar and Its Classroom Consequences

In January 2022, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) adopted a calendar containing fewer five-day school weeks and more early release days with the explicitly stated goals of “equity and inclusion.”

At that time, the 12 Democratic-endorsed school board members also voted to decouple spring break from Easter—a terrible idea that lasted only a year—as part of broader efforts to create a more “equitable” school calendar.

FCPS’s updated calendar further recognizes several religious and cultural holidays, including Eid al-Adha, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Bodhi Day, Three Kings Day/Epiphany, Orthodox Christmas, Orthodox Epiphany, Lunar New Year, Ramadan, Good Friday, Theravada, Orthodox Good Friday/Last Night of Passover and Eid al-Fitr. Click here to read more.

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I Walked Away From a Six Figure Job. This Is Why It Matters Now.
Together, we can expose what others won’t and hold power accountable.

Three years ago, I walked away from a six-figure job in mainstream media.

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Just a belief that people deserve the truth.

Since then, I’ve built this from the ground up. No corporate bosses. No newsroom telling me what I can and can’t say. No pressure to follow a narrative. Just me, a camera, and a commitment to bring you stories that matter.

I need your support to keep this work going. Become a paid subscriber for less than $1 per week. Click button below.

 

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There are so many stories the media is ignoring.

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News they don't want you to see
Thursday April 16, 2026

Thanks for being here. I send this email out Monday thru Friday at 7 a.m. EST. It’s the top stories the mainstream media doesn’t want you to see.

 

 

 
 

60% of Americans Agree Taxes Are Too High. Here Are 4 Other Reasons To Hate the Tax System.

Happy Tax Day, if such a thing can exist. Today marks the last day that most Americans can file their taxes with Uncle Sam or else face financial consequences.

For most people, tax filing is stressful and messy. And even though average refunds are expected to significantly jump thanks to the GOP’s sprawling tax bill from last year, nearly 60 percent of Americans say taxes are still too high, according to a new Gallup poll.

But the burden of paying taxes is more than monetary. Here are four other reasons to loathe tax season.Happy Tax Day, if such a thing can exist. Today marks the last day that most Americans can file their taxes with Uncle Sam or else face financial consequences. Click here to read more.

 

Michigan Should Follow Mississippi’s Lead on Reading

MIDLAND, Mich. — Nearly two-thirds of Michigan students cannot read proficiently, and the state now ranks in the bottom 10 nationally for literacy. A new Mackinac Center report shows how Mississippi reversed a similar crisis — and how Michigan lawmakers can do the same.

The report, “Mississippi Learning: Lessons on Literacy Laws for Michigan Lawmakers,” details how the Magnolia State climbed from 49th in fourth grade reading in 2013 to ninth in 2024. Mississippi lawmakers established a strong literacy law, and school officials faithfully implemented it. The law required early screening, evidence-based instruction and third grade retention policies tied to reading proficiency.

“Mississippi’s success wasn’t a miracle — it was the result of clear expectations, early intervention and accountability,” said Molly Macek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and author of the study. “If Michigan wants better results, it must follow through with implementation and ensure all students can read before they leave third grade.” Click here to read more.

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‘Look These Mothers in the Eyes’: Families of Victims Killed by Illegal Aliens to Testify Before Congress

Two mothers who lost their sons and another whose daughter remains permanently injured will testify before Congress on Thursday about how these tragedies—each involving illegal aliens—could have been prevented through stricter enforcement of immigration law.

This forum could be uncomfortable for House Democrats who oppose enforcing immigration laws, said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, which is holding the hearing.

“People keep arguing the legal loopholes and technicalities. I want members of this committee who don’t believe in enforcement to look these mothers in the eyes,” Van Drew told The Daily Signal. “We are not going to have lawyers, not analysts, but real people.” Click here to read more.

 

Kid Rock, Jason Aldean headlining Michigan ‘Rock the Country’ stop as fest hits small towns

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida officials on Wednesday announced a new statewide task force aimed at cracking down on fraud in public assistance programs, warning that those who exploit benefits meant for vulnerable residents will be aggressively prosecuted.

Attorney General James Uthmeier joined agency leaders to unveil the Public Assistance Fraud Protection Task Force, which will coordinate investigations across state agencies and take a more proactive approach to identifying fraud.

“We’re going to make some examples,” Uthmeier said. “If you’re out there and you’re thinking about stealing from the government through one of these programs, you better think again.” Click here to read more.

 

How Pro-Abortion Doctors are Evading Louisiana’s Pro-Life Law

For pro-lifers, few days were more monumental than when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in 2022. That ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, empowering states to protect women and their babies.

Naturally, there were some states that embraced this. States like Texas and Louisiana, just to name a couple, passed laws protecting unborn life. Other states—like New York and California— continued to sanction #WeCount states, abortion rates have only increased following the overturn of Roe v. Wade—even in states with the strongest pro-life protections. Click here to read more.

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