Author name: Victor Skinner

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration has leveraged a state business incentive program to offer more than $1 billion each to eight different companies since it was created in 2021. Records obtained by The Detroit News through “a protracted, 10-month public records process” revealed only two of the eight companies ultimately took the bait, while offers to the other five were either rejected or are still pending.

Both of the accepted $1 billion-plus deals are now in limbo, with a Ford battery plant in Marshall downsized and delayed, and a Gotion battery parts plant near Big Rapids that remains tied up in litigation and public opposition over environmental concerns and links to the Chinese Communist Party. The other billion-dollar deals involved Volkswagen AG, Stellantis, Samsung SDI America, Scout Motors, and Micron Technologies.

Officials at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, meanwhile, are defending the deals, which they said go through business, financial and legal reviews before they’re approved by lawmakers. “We have been focused on making sure that we are growing the economy where we can utilize our competitive strengths that we have in the state in terms of advanced manufacturing, mobility and our clean energy opportunities,” said Josh Hundt, MEDC’s chief projects officer. “These and all the companies that we’ve made offers to under the SOAR program have fit within one of those areas.” Michigan taxpayers will have to take Hundt’s word for it, as 100 pages of nearly 550 produced in response to The News’ records request were redacted.

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is fighting against porch pirates with Christmas lights and holiday music. The top cop in the Great Lakes State offered advice to Michiganders on Wednesday to help them avoid package thefts in the leadup to Christmas, one element of a Holiday Scams Campaign run by her Consumer Protection Team that launched on Black Friday.

“Whether it’s a package or a piece of mail, unattended deliveries are easy targets for porch pirates,” Nessel said in a statement. “By planning ahead and taking security measures, you can make sure your sell-deserved gifts and packages reach you safely while keeping thieves from stealing your holiday cheer.”

Much of the advice from the AG includes obvious anti-theft measures, such as shipping packages to secure locations like Amazon Lockers, FedEx offices, and workplaces. Porch cameras, motion detectors, and keeping porches well lit are also good ideas, according to Nessel’s office. But there’s also nuggets of sage advice that will help residents “create the illusion of presence.” “Even when you’re not home, make it look like someone is present by leaving lights or music on,” the AG suggests.

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In a surprise to nobody, a new poll reveals what the public thinks about the government coerced transition to electric vehicles: most don’t like it.  Napolitan News Service this week posed a couple simple questions to 1,000 registered voters with the polling help of Scott Rasmussen. “Should the federal government encourage people to buy electric vehicles rather than gas powered vehicles by using regulations and financial incentives? Or, should the government simply let consumers decide what cars best meet their needs?” the online survey read.

Just 26% backed the government incentives, while 67% opposed, preferring instead to allow customers to decide. Another 7% said they’re not sure.

“Currently, the federal government provides a $7,500 subsidy for those purchasing Electric Vehicles,” the news service reports. “Sixty-one percent (61%) of voters favor a proposal to eliminate those subsidies. That support comes from 76% of Republicans and 53% of Democrats.”
The results, while not shocking, are bad news for Democratic lawmakers in both Washington DC and Lansing, both of whom are staking the future on an electric vehicle industry that’s growing far slower than many had hoped. The survey comes as sources close to Trump’s transition team contend the 47th POTUS is crafting plans to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for EVs as part of a broader tax reform package, a move backed by the world’s largest EV producer, Reuters reports.

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Teri Singleton is still waiting for answers. It’s been nearly three weeks since her husband, beloved 72-year-old Detroit-area pastor Stephen Singleton, was struck and killed by an illegal immigrant motorist as he crossed Rochester Road in Rochester Hills. A “gravely injured” Singleton, who was wearing a lighted reflective vest and using a crosswalk at the time, was rushed to the hospital. The illegal immigrant behind the wheel of the 2013 Ford Focus that sent him there was questioned by police, then released. “I had to sit and watch my husband of 53 years die in front of me and then to know that the person who did this is walking around is very difficult to deal with,” Teri Singleton told WJBK.

For several days, the Singleton family was left with little more than time to reflect on the pastor’s dedication to serving his community and others in need. Among the memories are the former medic’s efforts to search for survivors and offer spiritual guidance in New York City in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, mission trips to Africa, and driving supplies to survivors of Hurricane Katrina and a deadly Alabama tornado.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office told WXYZ the driver of the vehicle is an illegal immigrant from Columbia who held a valid foreign driver’s license that’s recognized in Michigan. Officials did not release the immigrant’s name, but said neither speed nor alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash, which occurred in a commercial area with a 45 mph speed limit. U.S. Customs and Border Protection confirmed the 28-year-old driver is in the country illegally, and is now free while awaiting a federal court date, WJBK reports. “He’s dead and they’re walking around,” Teri Singleton said. “That’s bothering me.”

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The Michigan Supreme Court expanded its liberal majority in 2024, with the help of massive cash infusions from billionaires including George Soros, dark money groups, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Dark money groups not required to disclose donors contributed more than $5 million to help elect incumbent Justice Kyra Harris Bolden and law professor Kimberly Ann Thomas to the state’s highest court, an amount that exceeds the total raised by all four candidates for the two seats by more than $1 million, Bridge Michigan reports. The donations included nearly $4.4 million through mid-October from a shady Massachusetts-based nonprofit called The Justice Project Action, the largest donor to Supreme Court candidates this year.

Those donations went to a Justice For All super PAC backing Bolden and Thomas that has spent nearly $10.7 million on Democratic nominees to the high court since 2020. In 2024, $5.25 million out of $7.9 million raised by Justice For All came from dark money groups, which also included the Michigan Civic Action Fund and the Strategic Victory Fund. Other funding included $1 million from former billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and $560,000 from the George Soros funded super PAC State Victory Action, according to Bridge’s review of campaign finance records through mid-October.

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