TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalProPublica posts NYPD disciplinary records despite judge's order
New York – Days after a federal judge paused the public release of New York City police disciplinary records, a news website has published a database containing complaint information for thousands of officers.
ProPublica posted the database Sunday, explaining in a note to readers that it isn’t obligated to comply with Judge Katherine Polk Failla’s temporary restraining order because it is not a party to a union lawsuit challenging the release of such records.
Deputy Managing Editor Eric Umansky said ProPublica requested the information from the city’s police watchdog agency, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, soon after last month’s repeal of state law that for decades had prevented the disclosure of disciplinary records.
Unions representing police officers and other public safety workers sued the city on July 15 to block Mayor Bill de Blasio from making good on a pledge to start posting misconduct complaints on a government website. The unions argue that allowing the public to see unproven or false complaints could sully officers’ reputations and compromise their safety.
Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/26/propublica-posts-nypd-disciplinary-records-judge/112418214/
No, Gov. Whitmer has not defunded the Michigan State Police
File this one under "fake news."
A tweet from a news site called Great Lakes News posted on Wednesday has been making the rounds on social media, claiming that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has defunded Michigan's police.
"BREAKING NEWS: @GovWhitmer has defunded the Michigan State Police and the prisons," the tweet says. "Executive Order 2020-155 slashes tens of millions from the Michigan State Police and Department of Corrections. Developing...."
The tweet has been shared thousands of times. Curiously, it doesn't link to a story, and no such story exists on the Great Lakes News website. (The tagline under the masthead reads: "Honest, Accurate, and Unbiased."
Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2020/07/23/no-gov-whitmer-has-not-defunded-the-michigan-state-police
Detroit Institute of Arts workers demand pay increase to $15 per hour
A group of service workers at the Detroit Institute of Arts is demanding the museum increase their pay to $15 per hour.
The demand was shared in a letter to DIA Staff Action, a group of museum employees who are calling for director Salvador Salort-Pons to be "removed from his role" by Aug. 31, citing recent allegations of racial insensitivity and nepotism in a matter involving the loaning of two paintings to the museum. DIA Staff action shared the letter on their Instagram account on Thursday.
"Our concern is a certain lack of respect by the institution for workers on the 'lower levels,' particularly those who engage and serve (with care for the museum and with the utmost decency) the public," the letter says. "This includes the visitor services department, environmental services, museum shop workers, guest sales, public programming, security staff, maintenance... the list could go on."
The letter writers cited the renewed millage that voters approved in March, which collects property taxes from the tri-county area to support the museum. They also say they deserve more money for working during the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2020/07/24/detroit-institute-of-arts-workers-demand-15-per-hour-pay-increase
President Trump to deploy federal agents in Detroit as part of 'Operation Legend'
Federal agents are coming to Detroit in the next three weeks to combat what the Justice Department called a “sudden surge of violent crime,” the White House announced Wednesday.
The deployment is part of “Operation Legend,” which the Trump administration has billed as a “sustained, systemic and coordinated law enforcement initiative” to aid local police.
The deployment is much different than the one Portland, Oregon, where camouflage-clad federal officers have clashed with protesters and even grabbed demonstrators from the street and stuffed them in unmarked, rented minivans.
Mayor Mike Duggan said he supports the deployment of federal agents, as long as they are not dealing with what have been largely peaceful protests.
Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2020/07/23/president-trump-to-deploy-federal-agents-in-detroit-as-part-of-operation-legend
(Detroit Metro Times)
Michigan confirms 437 new coronavirus cases, decrease in total deaths
Source: Detroit Free Press
The state health department reported an additional 437 coronavirus cases Saturday, bringing the state total to 76,978.
Michigan's COVID-19 death toll actually decreased Saturday. Sixteen previously reported deaths were removed as part of a review by the state, per the Michigan.gov website.
During a data quality assessment review of deaths, manual data entry errors were discovered, leading to a decrease of 16 in the cumulative death total. The errors in death ascertainment occurred during local case investigations and involved mistakenly indicating individuals as being deceased who were not. This adjustment affects the cumulative death totals for impacted counties and statewide. Reviews are being conducted as part of ongoing efforts to ensure data quality and accurate case and death reporting in Michigan.
The new death total of 6,149 includes 14 reported Saturday, 8 of which were not from the last day but found in a review of vital records.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/07/25/michigan-corrects-coronavirus-death-count-new-cases/5510610002/
Michigan Sheriff Used Taxpayer Money To Hunt Down Troll Who Called Him Fat
A sheriff who got a Facebook message calling him "a fat ass who needs to go on a diet" sent his detectives to investigate in a story that we first hoped was satire but unfortunately turned out to be real life in Michigan.
WWMT learned of Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller's hunt through a Freedom of Information Act request. The full message reportedly said, "Your a fat a-- who needs to go on a diet. Stop us from living. Come get me if you want me tubby as fat b----".
The report showed on April 6, 2020, two Kalamazoo County detectives questioned a man at his home in Richland. The report said the 48-year-old denied writing the post and claimed his Facebook account had been hacked.
Read more: https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/25833/michigan_sheriff_used_taxpayer_money_to_hunt_down_troll_who_called_him_fat
The Gettin's Good For Michigan Billionaires, Pandemic And All
Five of Michigan’s eight billionaires saw their net worth grow as the state's plebs reckoned with historic levels of unemployment, MLive finds in a new analysis from the Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness.
The two nonprofits are advocating for Congress to pass another coronavirus relief bill while repealing breaks that benefit the country's wealthiest.
MLive reports the Covid-time winners include Dan Gilbert, whose net worth grew $1.1 billion from mid-March to mid-June, an increase of 17.5 percent over the $6.5 billion he had at the start of the pandemic.
Ronda Stryker, who runs medical equipment company Stryker Corp., had $4.3 billion at the start of the pandemic and now has $5.5 billion.
Read more: https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/25837/the_gettin_s_good_for_michigan_billionaires_pandemic_and_all
Prominent Developers, Pro-Israel Lobby Fund Brenda Jones' Bid To Oust Tlaib
A group of prominent Detroit real-estate developers, pro-Israel super PACs and wealthy Trump supporters are financially backing Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones’ campaign against Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Deadline Detroit analysis of federal campaign finance records and Facebook documents found.
The records also reveal that downtown Detroit’s big-ticket developers appear to be rewarding Jones for her support. In recent years, she’s voted to approve at least $350 million worth of tax breaks that diverted money from Detroit schools and the city to largely suburban developers.
Deadline Detroit found those same developers have given collectively about $28,000 in direct donations to Jones’ Congressional campaign.
Her campaign has reported about $135,000 in total direct donations, which means developers who received tax breaks account for over 18% of her haul. Developers contributed another $60,000 in “independent expenditures” for mailers attacking Tlaib, though that spending isn’t coordinated with her campaign.
Read more: https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/25840/prominent_developers_pro-israel_lobby_fund_brenda_jones_bid_to_oust_tlaib
Fact Squad: No, Michigan Gov. Whitmer did not 'defund the police'
LANSING — Conservative “news” outlets, Republican activists and a GOP super PAC this week falsely accused Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of attempting to “defund the police” by executive order.
The misinformation began spreading Wednesday as Whitmer and GOP legislative leaders rolled out details of a deal to close a $2.2 billion hole in the current-year state budget caused by COVID-19, forced business closures and the economic lockdown.
That deal included several spending cuts, but it did not slash funding for state police and prisons in dramatic fashion, as critics claimed. Even Republican lawmakers, who have feuded with Whitmer over her response to the coronavirus pandemic, rose to her defense.
The claims
“BREAKING NEWS: .@GovWhitmer has defunded the Michigan State Police and the prisons,” Great Lakes News wrote Wednesday afternoon on Twitter. “Executive order 2020-155 slashes tens of millions from the Michigan State Police and Department of Corrections.”
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/fact-squad-no-michigan-gov-whitmer-did-not-defund-police
Anatomy of a super spreader: Harper's outbreak a caution for college bars
As Michigan State University students return to campus this fall, a popular East Lansing restaurant, bar and club hopes to reopen after closing them last month following a COVID-19 outbreak linked to 188 infections.
But Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub owners promise things will look very different: No more dancing, loud music or bar service. Instead, masks will be mandatory, doors hands-free, social distancing enhanced and lines managed by an app that will include contact tracing features to help public health officials track the virus in the event of another exposure event.
“If you get up” from a table to go anywhere other than the bathroom or to leave, “you’re going to be escorted out of the building,” owner Pat Riley told the Michigan Liquor Control Commission on Thursday during a remote meeting by Zoom. “It’s just going to be that simple.”
Commissioners, who have the power to revoke Harper’s liquor license, grilled Pat and Tricia Riley for more than two hours in what could be a test case for how the state treats bars and restaurants that fail to adhere to new COVID-19 safety rules.
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/anatomy-super-spreader-harpers-outbreak-caution-college-bars
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
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Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
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