Court freezes hidden earmarks in major win for Michigan taxpayers
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Claims has granted a preliminary injunction in the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation’s lawsuit challenging unconstitutional earmarks hidden in the state budget process. The preliminary injunction stops further payments from the challenged grant funding until the court reaches a final decision on the merits of the case.
The case, Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, challenges the constitutionality of so-called “community enhancement grants” and other earmarks inserted into state budget bills without the two-thirds supermajority vote required by the Michigan Constitution. Click here to read more.
No state investigation planned nearly six months after questions raised on WA’s daycare subsidies
Nearly six months after The Center Square began investigating inexplicably large taxpayer subsidies to home daycare providers in King County, the state has yet to announce plans to thoroughly audit the Department of Children Youth and Families, or the Department of Commerce, the two agencies responsible for running Washington state’s Working Connections Child Care Subsidy program.
“If your bookkeeper found a $37 million discrepancy in your accounts, wouldn’t you want to get to the bottom of it? Wouldn’t you be the least little bit curious?” questioned Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, in a May 8 press release.
He was referring to an estimated $37 million in questionable payments in 2025 identified by State Auditor Pat McCarthy made to childcare providers by DCYF. Click here to read more.
Blackstone-Owned Data Center Drained 30 Million Gallons Of Water From Atlanta Suburb
A data center campus in north-central Georgia consumed more than 29 million gallons of water without the local utility company initially realizing it, triggering low-pressure water flow to its host community, Politico reported Saturday.
The 615-acre Fayetteville-based data center campus, codenamed “Project Excalibur,” was found to have one water connection installed without the knowledge of the Fayette County water system, and another that was not linked to its developer’s account and therefore was not being billed, according to the outlet.
The amount of water that the campus consumed could fill 44 Olympic-size swimming pools and far exceeds the maximum amount agreed to during the data center planning process, the outlet reported. Click here to read more.
Puppy Love: How Opposition to Animal Testing Is Bridging the Political Divide
Ridglan Farms, a breeder of beagles for scientific experiments, has withstood attacks from the animal rights movement for years. Activists have broken into its buildings to document the conditions inside them, rescued some dogs, and pushed Wisconsin authorities to cite the company for animal abuse.
On April 30, Ridglan finally buckled to the public pressure, handing the movement against animal testing one of its biggest triumphs. Big Dog Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy announced that the groups reached an agreement to purchase 1,500 beagles for an undisclosed amount of money. The dogs are being adopted out to families across the country; the remaining 500 may also be freed at a later date. Click here to read more.
Michigan Senate hopeful El-Sayed calls himself a ‘physician’ but has little history treating patients
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has for years publicly described himself as a physician, but records show no evidence that he has practiced as a licensed medical doctor.
In April, during an interview with a local TV journalist, he referred to himself as a physician multiple times. In March, he told a group of Teamsters nurses he had “been in enough codes to watch who really does the work,” and said on a podcast that “I’ve been a doctor my whole career.”
His LinkedIn profile lists him as a “physician,” and at a Council of Baptist Pastors debate in Detroit last month, he described himself as “a physician and epidemiologist.” Click here to read more.
