Michigan

This is not a drill, Peppa!

Motor City Furry Con attendees were forced from their hotel rooms at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Creek just before 9 a.m. on Sunday after a threat forced an evacuation for the second year in a row, according to convention officials.

The Motor City Furry Con, a Michigan convention for those who appreciate the anthropomorphic lifestyle, took to social media on Sunday to announce a full hotel evacuation at 8:49 a.m. The post encouraged attendees to gather in the exterior golf course or leave the premises, but not loiter in vehicles.

Alt link via archive.is

Genetic tests have revealed that an animal killed in a legal coyote hunt in Michigan's Calhoun County was actually a gray wolf, state officials say. But experts don't know how the animal got there in the first place.

Calhoun County is located in the southern half of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, where no gray wolves (Canis lupus) have been sighted for over a century. A population of around 630 gray wolves inhabits the state's Upper Peninsula, 250 miles (400 kilometers) away, and some wolves have occasionally been spotted in the northern half of the Lower Peninsula — roughly 130 miles (200 km) from Calhoun County.

"While rare, instances of wolves traversing large distances have been documented, including signs of wolves in recent decades in Michigan's Lower Peninsula," Brian Roell, a biologist and large carnivore specialist with the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR), said in a statement.

Activist, poet, columnist (or fifth columnist, depending on who you're asking), founder of the White Panther Party, marijuana enthusiast and evangelist, manager of the equally infamous rock group the MC5 (RIP) and all around trouble-maker 😄, John Sinclair passed away last Tuesday, March 2, 2024 of heart failure. Condolences to the surviving family. 😞

Obligatory music, brothers and sisters!…

• John Lennon - John Sinclair
• MC5 - Ramblin' Rose
• John Sinclair & Cary Loren - PeyoteMind (2012)
• Bonus: John Sinclair (1941-2024) & The MC5 - From the Film "MC5 - A True Testimonial" (2002)

The Freep reports on the upcoming memorial services for Sinclair…

A memorial will take place at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), featuring performances by musicians and speakers who were friends of Sinclair — a storied poet, counterculture activist and Detroit music fixture who was embedded in the city’s rock and jazz scenes. […] MOCAD is at 4454 Woodward, Detroit. […] A reception will follow at the Trinosophes café at 1464 Gratiot, Detroit.

From The News…

In a Detroit News interview in 2021, on the 50th anniversary of the freedom rally for Sinclair, the activist said he was surprised it took Michigan so long to legalize marijuana.

"The truth prevailed," he said. "People didn't quit using it, you see? And more and more people got on the side of the felons and pretty soon they had to remove the felony. It just didn't make any sense."

Sinclair had been living in the Cass Corridor in recent years. He was able to see marijuana not only be legalized in his home state, but become so available that dispensaries dot the entire landscape from county to county.

From CBS News…

Sinclair also promoted concerts and festivals and helped to establish the Detroit Artists Workshop and Detroit Jazz Center. He taught blues history at Wayne State University; hosted radio programs in Detroit, New Orleans and Amsterdam; and wrote liner notes for albums by artists including The Isley Brothers and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.

He helped create Hash Bash, a yearly pot celebration at the University of Michigan, and served as state coordinator of the Michigan chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

And finally, from The Metro Times' article…

At the time, cannabis activist Rick Thompson reportedly asked Sinclair, “Things have come full circle, haven’t they, John?” Sinclair retorted, “It would be more full if they came and gave me back the weed that they took.”

More information is available at the Lynch & Sons Funeral Directors website.

Alt links for your convenience:

• The Freep: John Sinclair memorial service and reception set for Tuesday in Detroit
• The News: Marijuana activist and 'Detroit's resident radical' John Sinclair has died at 82

Well, it ain't Cannes or Venezia but…

Central Michigan International Film Festival
April 3 - 7, 2024
Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Check out this year’s film schedule and make plans to join us for our 21st annual festival!
Tickets are on sale NOW. Click here to visit our ticketing site.

Tickets cost $8, $5 discounted rate for students and seniors. Tickets available on-line or at the door.

*Special event pricing varies (Opening Night Film & VHS Night at the Broadway)

Join us at Celebration Cinema Wed. April 3 at 6:30pm for our special Opening Night film WICKED LITTLE LETTERS starring Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Crown, Fleabag), & Jessie Buckley (Women Talking, Wild Rose, The Lost Daughter).

From the podcast…

Community colleges were once seen as a stepping stone on your way to a four-year degree. In recent years they are more and more becoming their own educational destination for a degree or a certificate when you're on your way to a better paying job and now there's a plan in the works for every Michigan high school graduate to get two years of tuition-free Community College.

MichMash hosts Shaya Roth and Althia Kasman speak with Brandy Johnson, president of the Michigan Community College Association, about Governor Whitmer's proposal to make higher education more accessible to all Michigan high school graduates.

Like healthcare, this nation of cowboys still insists that, even now in the 21^st^ century, a higher education is difficult-to-inaccessible for many and will put all who enroll in lifelong debt. This is how America treats its future.

I'm dead serious when I say…"Don't Be A Drop-Out."

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/10522838

Walter Reuther was an American visionary so far ahead of his times that although he died a quarter of a century ago, our Nation has yet to catch up to his dreams.

-- President Bill Clinton, in 1995

Walter Reuther is the only man I have ever met who could reminisce about the future.

-- Murray Kempton, journalist and Pulitzer Prize recipient

Walter Reuther is the most dangerous man in Detroit because no one is more skillful in bringing about the revolution without seeming to disrupt the existing forms of society.

-- Governor George Romney

Over at the News, they've posted a selection of their archive photos of activist and former UAW president Walter P. Reuther. Yeah, that's the guy whose name is on the 696. For those who don't know who Reuther was, I highly suggest you read the linked Wikipedia article for starts.

The following legendary exchange is attributed to Reuther and a member of the Ford Motor Company management during a factory tour exalting the new (at the time) technologies and robotics on the assembly line…

Ford Manager: How are you going to collect union dues from these guys [the robots]?

WPR: How are you going to get them to buy Fords?

I can't help drawing parallels between Reuther's assessment and the present—and fast-approaching future—state of AI. Happy Sunday, everybody!

---

Alt link via archive.is

Seagulls are protected under the "Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918". This means that it is illegal to capture, kill, or keep a seagull in your home (unless you have a special permit).

So, no: you cannot go into the Meijer parking lot, yoink a seagull from the flock, and take it home.

This PSA has been brought to you by an argument with my son during a grocery pick-up.

Thank you.

I've been avoiding posting the recent spate of eclipse-eclipse-eclipse articles because, yeah, astronomically-speaking it's not an everyday occurrence but, jeeeez, it's still more than two weeks away! From Michigan's standpoint, it's not even a total eclipse (but pretty close).

But this Wednesday evening, for all you non-scientifically-inclined photographers (mobile phone paparazzi included), The Freep through the USA Network is offering an online webinar on how to properly photograph an eclipse.

These are the facts, Jack…

• Microsoft Teams Webinar is Wednesday, March 27, at 7 p.m.
• Registration is free but mandatory. Sign up here.

The guests:

• Courtney Hergesheimer, photojournalist, The Columbus Dispatch, OH
• Angela Piazza, photojournalist, Caller-Time, TX
• Albert Cesare, photojournalist, Cincinnati Enquirer, OH
• Chris Pietsch, director of photography, Gannett Newspapers, The Register-Guard, Statesman Journal, OR

• Alt link via archive.is

As they say, it's not such much as having laws as enforcing laws.

Some background info before we begin:

• Families of distracted driving victims celebrate new law
• Michigan's "hands-free" law starting June 30

Since the law was enacted [June 30, 2023], the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says a majority of drivers are not abiding.

Ryan Roddie, a Traffic Public Safety Officer, told News Channel 3 he catches drivers on a daily basis with phones in their hands. […] Police bust over half a dozen drivers not abiding by hands free every ten minutes, according to Roddie.

And now, an encapsulation of the lameness you are all guilty of…

The hardest part of the law for Denise Clegg, a Kalamazoo resident, is not changing her navigation while on the road. […] “I was coming down the street on Michigan Avenue, and I needed to call the beauty shop and tell them I was going to be a little late [emphasis mine -- r^2^] looking for a parking spot. Well, when I went to Siri to call them, she gave me everyone but," Clegg said.

I still can't swallow what's going down in the 66^th^ district of the Great State of Michigan (and most likely in other districts as well, but as they say, vermin prefer the darkness and silence). Remember: you of the 66^th^ district voted for this misguided soul and you of the 66^th^ have done nothing in regards to his removal from office. Silentium dat consensum.

After ca. a month of Rep Schriver having his budget and staff stripped for his continued online espousal and propagation of "white-nationalist, far-right conspiracy theory", it took House Minority Leader Matt Hall all that time to finally issue a carefully-worded, no-sharp-edges statement in regards to Rep Schriver's…ermmmm…questionable behaviour…

Hall did not use the word "racist" in describing the "great replacement" post that Schriver shared on the social media platform X, and his comments fell short of the condemnation Democrats have requested. But Hall said lawmakers and other public servants "have to understand how other people feel about the words you use."

On Wednesday, Hall said he's discussed the issue with both Schriver and Tate and has encouraged Schriver to communicate in a more effective, inclusive and sensitive way, though Hall stopped short of saying he had encouraged Schriver to apologize.

Hall said he'd never heard of "replacement theory" before Schriver brought it to his attention.

The entire statement misses the mark by just so much…of course, that's in my less-than-humble opinion.

Alt links and further reading:

• Via archive.is
• Read how tone-deaf DetNews columnist Kaitlyn Buss tries to equate Tlaib's diatribes with Schriver's mere "reposting" as freedom of speech(via archive.is)

This stuff just writes itself…

Incorrect inventory records, improper liquor licenses, and tens of thousands of bottles of alcohol reported as missing are among the deluge of problems found at the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, an audit found.

The 59-page review from the Office of the Auditor General found the MLCC lacking in its oversight over the purchase and sale of spirits in Michigan. At one point, the MLCC's inventory showed a negative inventory of nearly 900,000 bottles. […] In another instance, the state was left with more than 20,000 bottles of booze it could not sell or distribute to retailers.

Meanwhile, Kendall Jenner fans camp out in front of an Allen Park liquor store…? Nobody can ever explain to me why this is a thing, try as some may have.

The first round of water testing returned clean results after this weekend’s water main break in northeast Grand Rapids.

The city says Tuesday’s results are “a positive sign” but the boil-water advisory is still in effect. Visit the CDC’s website for more information.

We’re told the city’s water system has been flushed ahead of a second round of testing.

Stefanie Lambert, a Michigan lawyer who has championed dubious claims of election fraud, was arrested in Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon because of a bench warrant, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service.

The arrest ended an 11-day saga of uncertainty that played out after Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jeffery Matis issued a warrant because Lambert failed to appear for a hearing related to four felony charges she's facing in Michigan.

And in recent GOP style, things just get weirder…

Meanwhile, Lambert has also been representing businessman Patrick Byrne, former chief executive officer of Overstock, in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. There was a hearing in Byrne's case in federal court in Washington, D.C., at 3 p.m. Monday. Lambert attended the hearing despite the warrant.

• Alt link via archive.is
• Further reading: 2,000 pages of 'confidential' Dominion emails dumped on social media via archive.is

A weeklong celebration of live, original music in downtown Ypsilanti. The carefully curated program features the very best of local music and musicians playing across a wide variety of genres.

Musical Lineups:

…courtesy of AnnArbor.org…yeah, I know…go figure

• Tuesday 3/19 7:30-10:30 PM:
  • Cedar Bend (alternative rock)
  • Premium Rat (alternative rock)
  • Cat Lung (prog/art rock)
    [I hope the last two bands don't fight -- pacifist r^2^]

• Wednesday 3/20 7:30-10:30 PM:
  • Kevin Brown (Americana)
  • John Finan (folk rock)
  • The Dan Cafferty Band (rock/jazz/folk)

• Thursday 3/21 7:30-10:30 PM:
  • Dani Darling (indie soul)
  • Nadim Azzam (alternative/hip-hop)

• Friday 3/22 7:30-10:30 PM:
  • Heat Above (alt/pop rock)
  • KILLER DILLER (SKA)

• Saturday 3/23 2:00-11 PM:
  • Ypsilanti Youth Choir (acapella/choral)
  • Mister Tim (live-loop/indie/beatbox)
  • Nobody's Business (bluesabilly/roots rock)
  • Mike Ward: Psychosongs (folk)
  • Maddy Ringo, with Little Pete and the Losers (folk/Americana)
  • Judy Banker Band (Americana)

For tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/roof-top-arts-inc-60918876863
More info: https://www.facebook.com/FunkyRivertownFest/

People in Grand Rapids are being asked to boil their water and take other measures after a water main break Sunday afternoon.

Loss of pressure during a water main break can allow bacteria to enter a system. […] “When there's a loss of pressure in the system, there's a chance that harmful, harmful things from the ground can end back up in the water system," said [Grand Rapids water system manager Wayne] Jernberg. "If you boil it, you're essentially killing off any pathogens.”

The affected area spans east of the Grand River; north of Hall Street between Fuller and Ionia Avenues; and north of Fulton Street until Four Mile Road.

“If you're in that zone, … boil your water, be safe, don't take any chances,” said Jernberg. “Those outside of that region, there are no issues; the water is completely safe.”

I was going to to link to MLive's coverage but the article was blocked by a ill-placed, totally "tone-deaf" paywall…regarding a municipal emergency? Go figure.

In any case, dear Grand Rapids-area readers, be safe! Pretend you're all in Mexico and drink cerveza instead.

Following up on last week's post (Interlochen Public Radio: Tribes urge U.S. to weigh in on Line 5 case as appeal sits in court), while the US government has yet to opine on the matter, filmmaker Mary Mazzio's latest documentary, Bad River: A Story of Defiance opened Friday, March 15. Featuring narrators Quannah Chasinghorse and Edward Norton, Mazzio's Bad River recounts of the indigenous Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, including their history of standing up to those who would deprive them of their rights.

According to Mazzio, the documentary came about through happenstance when she was introduced to Mike Wiggins in 2020. At the time, Wiggins was serving as the tribe’s chairman, and held that position through the duration of the project.

“So few people know who the Bad River people are, that the Bad River Band exists and how hard they’re fighting to protect Lake Superior,” Mazzio said.

“This is really a story about sovereignty,” Mazzio said. […] “This is not a film about the case, right? This is a film about the people. And this case, this struggle is only one chapter of many,” Mazzio said.

While the film documents the Enbridge case, it also spotlights the tribe’s fight against the Gogebic Taconite mine proposed in the headwaters of the Bad River, members’ involvement in the American Indian Movement, and the “Walleye Wars” of the 1980s and ‘90s, where sports fishermen and anti-treaty groups clashed with native fishermen in Wisconsin over their rights to hunt and gather in ceded territory.

I read that DTE offers an EV rate with a dedicated meter. If you go this route are you able to view usage on the second meter in the DTE insight app?

Thanks!

Not a huge surprise.

Her new lawyer says it's all a misunderstanding.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
…
Sorry, I had to change my pants from laughing so hard.

[Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jeffery S.] Matis issued the warrant for Lambert Junttila on Friday [March 8, 2024] after she did not appear at a March 7 show cause hearing and did not turn herself in within 24 hours as directed by the court.

In case you forgot…

Lambert Junttila is one of three individuals indicted as part of a probe into alleged tampering with voting tabulators following the 2020 election where President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump. Attorney and former Republican attorney general nominee Matthew DePerno and former state Rep. Daire Rendon (R-Lake City) were also indicted.

~A~ ~scene~ ~from~ ~the~ ~upcoming~ ~"Minions~ ~III"...wait~ ~a~ ~minute...~

[Attorney Dan] Hartman said he has been retained due to a “breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” between Lambert Juntilla and her previous attorney, [Michael J.] Smith. Smith had sought to subpoena Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who are both Democrats, to appear and testify at Lambert Junttila’s trial, with legal counsel for both officials filing a motion to quash the subpoena.

Hartman said he could present evidence that Lambert Junttila was confused about the date and time of last week’s hearing due to the miscommunication with Smith [emphasis mine -- r^2^]. […] “We can present evidence that her non-appearance was not a willful disregard of the court order and that she was in fact confused and by the time the communication came to her it was too late to remedy and cure that.”

Adding to the election-tampering dumpster fire…

[Judge] Matis denied a motion by Rendon to dismiss one of the charges against her. […] “I do believe the statute gives a person of ordinary intelligence reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited or required,” he said in reference to defense arguments that the law was vague as to what constitutes “undue possession” of a voting machine [emphasis mine -- r^2^].

I can't help think how this'll affect your Memorial Day weekend.

“The abuse of nitrous oxide ‘whip-its’ continues to be a problem in Detroit and around the state, leading to serious health impacts, in part because of how widely accessible the canisters and crackers are," said SB 57 sponsor Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, in a statement. "With the governor’s signature today, we have taken another important step to prevent nitrous oxide abuse and keep whip-it paraphernalia off shelves and out of people’s hands."

Studies show recreational whippet use can lead to adverse health outcomes, like vitamin B12 inactivation and deficiency. Vitamin B12 inactivation can lead to weakness, paresthesia or pins-and-needles sensation in the hands, and spinal cord degeneration, Dr. Varun Vorha, director of the Michigan Poison and Drug Information Center, said during committee testimony on the bills.

Well, y'know…there are worse things to inhale.

Alt. link via archive.is

Passed by voters in 1976, the state’s bottle return law for decades prompted high recycling rates, hitting 89% in 2019. Rates dropped during a complete system shutdown at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and haven’t recovered, falling to 75.6% in 2022.

“This is a real concern…where stores will sell you products, but they will not take them back,” Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit, said Tuesday during a House Regulatory Reform Committee hearing. “It started with COVID, but now we’ve ballooned to a ridiculous amount of folks that will not take them back.”

Industry statistics indicate that Michigan’s redemption rate exceeds most states with deposit laws, with 70% of cans being returned in California and New York and just 38% in Massachusetts.

Now, see! There's something positive about ingrained Michigan culture! Three-quarters of us give a rat's ass and don't litter the great state of Michigan with cans and bottles!

Jerry Griffin, vice president of government affairs for the Midwest Independent Retailers Association, told lawmakers that consumers may simply be tired of carting bottles and cans to the store, advocating for a one-size-fits-all recycling program encouraging people to put their returnables in the recycling bin. […] “There is a lot of fatigue out there,” Griffin said. “To suggest that that's only because a certain handful of small business retailers are limiting hours for people to bring things back, I think, is ignoring a larger question at hand.”

Oh, please. Fatigue. That's like the nine-year-old crabbing about having to make their bed: "Awwww, I'm just gonna sleep in it tonight anywaaaaaay." Sounds like it's the retailers that Señor Griffin represents that just don't feel like keeping up their end of the bargain…

Rep. Julie Rogers, a Kalamazoo Democrat and the bill’s sponsor, said the state needs a statewide standard. […] During spot checks in her district, Rogers said she found retailers who don’t accept returns on Sundays, long-broken machines, limits on total returnables and short time windows for returns.

Most of the people I know are already carting around USD$5 worth of empty cans and bottles rollin' around in their cars already. Too bad there's no deposit on fast food packaging, bubble packs or potato chip bags.

The Bad River Band sued [Canadian multinational pipeline and energy company] Enbridge in 2019, saying it was trespassing and that the pipeline was at risk of rupture, posing an imminent threat to the watershed and threatening sources of food and water, as well as their ways of life.

In the fall of 2022, U.S. District Judge William Conley agreed that Enbridge was trespassing. But he didn't order a shutdown, referring to economic concerns and the implications doing so would have on public policy and trade between the U.S. and Canada.

Enbridge has argued that it’s not trespassing, that it needs more time to move the pipeline outside of the reservation before shutting down that section, and that the court's decision would not be in the public interest. […] Enbridge and the Government of Canada say shutting down the pipeline before relocating it would also violate a 1977 treaty between the U.S. and Canada.

Tribes across the Great Lakes are asking the federal government to weigh in on this case — among them, the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. […] “If the United States doesn't weigh in, what they are risking is that states, tribes, and even the federal government could be subject to trespass by a corporation for the rest of time,” said Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“Whatever decision this court makes will have an impact not only on the Bad River Band, but also on every single tribal nation in the United States,” she said. “And the determinations made will either continue to support tribal sovereignty, or it will undercut tribal sovereignty and allow foreign corporations to trespass on tribal land without any ramifications.”

[…] can you promise me you won’t send the police to my house and have me arrested? […] I got kids. I don’t want them to see that.

Touching, isn't it?

Refusing to submit "fingerprints and a DNA sample as required by law," not appearing at her court date on March 7, 2024, alleged election tamperer and Trump minion, attorney Stefanie Lambert Juntilla is thumbing her nose at everybody. Even her LinkedIn photo is, euphemistically, misrepresentative…

~Photo:~ ~LinkedIn.~

~Photo:~ ~Dieu-Nalio~ ~Chery/Reuters~

Lambert Junttila did not appear at the Thursday show cause hearing and will have 24 hours to turn herself in, with prosecutor Tim Maat requesting that the warrant not be executed until 5 p.m. Friday in line with a previous agreement he had made with Lambert Junttila, where she asked that Maat not send officers to her home to arrest her.

The court had issued multiple orders for Lambert Junttila to have her fingerprints and a DNA sample taken, as is required by law. Matis noted the initial order requesting fingerprints and DNA sampling was issued on Aug. 4, 2023, with a deadline of Aug. 10, 2023.

“I did order the defendant to be present. Candidly, if she had shown up with proof she had done it that would have been fine. But obviously she’s not present,” [Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jeffery S.] Matis said.

And with that, Judge Matis issued a bench warrant for Attorney Lambert Junttila's arrest. Enough's enough, n'est-ce pas?

Further reading…

• From MLive: Bench warrant issued for attorney charged in Michigan tabulator probe

• Previous Leon c/detroit: How Michigan lawyer Stephanie Lambert ascended on unproven claims of voter fraud

It should be no surprise: Flint councilman Eric Mays is as controversial in his passing as he was in life.

The siblings of deceased Flint Councilman Eric Mays cannot move forward with a funeral for their brother this week amid a lawsuit over who has the rights to his remains, a judge ruled Thursday.

The lawsuit [filed by Mays' son, Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays] accuses Mays’s four siblings of conspiring to unlawfully seize control of the former councilman’s remains and profit from “their fraudulent scheme” by soliciting donations from the community for funeral services.

Mays, a passionate and combative councilman and TikTok sensation, died at his home on Feb. 24 but didn’t leave behind a will, according to the suit, which claims only his son has next-of-kin rights to handle the remains.

The suit alleges that two of Mays’s siblings lied to the Genesee County Medical Examiner’s Office and said that Mays had no children. A third sibling, who is an employee of the funeral home, falsely claimed that he had legal authority to authorize the release of the body, the suit claims. […] Now the funeral home is refusing to turn over Mays’s body to his son, even though Eric Mays provided the company with the required documentation to release the remains to him, according to the suit.

Further reading…

• The Freep's take: Flint councilman's funeral, life insurance money prompt fight, lawsuit asking for millions (via archive.is)
• And from The News: Late Flint councilman's son claims in lawsuit relatives are 'holding his body hostage' (via archive.is)