Author: Jordyn Pair

Michigan Restaurant Owner Loses Franchise with Big Boy for Breaking Pandemic Restrictions

Jordyn Pair

The owner of a restaurant in Sandusky, Michigan, says it is being “forced to terminate” its contract with the Big Boy franchise over its decision to stay open despite pandemic restrictions. 

A recent order from the state of Michigan has closed indoor restaurant dining in the state from November 18 to December 8. It also closed in-person learning for college and high schools, movie theaters, bowling alleys and arcades. The order additionally cancels group fitness classes and organized sports. 

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Greenwald Pushes Back on Claims He Left The Intercept For Money

Jordyn Pair

Glenn Greenwald is pushing back against the idea that he resigned from The Intercept as a marketing ploy, saying he gave up a huge salary, as well as a team of lawyers and a security detail for a legal fight currently ongoing in Brazil.

Greenwald, the co-founder of The Intercept who resigned on Thursday, said he gave up his job in response to censorship by the outlet’s editorial staff about a story critical of Hunter and Joe Biden. In the piece, Greenwald went after both the Biden family and the media, saying the latter refused to ask important questions and seek the truth due an affinity for the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

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Glenn Greenwald Resigns from The Intercept Over Censoring of Biden Piece

Jordyn Pair

Shortly after resigning from The Intercept on Thursday, Glenn Greenwald published the article whose censoring he said caused him to step down in the first place.

Greenwald announced on Thursday that he would be leaving The Intercept, the publication that he co-founded in 2014, due to censorship from editorial staff over a piece critical of Joe and Hunter Biden.

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Whitmer Reportedly Lone Governor Preventing Big 10 Football

Jordyn Pair

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could be a “major roadblock” to the start of the Big 10 football season, according to Ohio State insider Jeff Snook.

The Spun reported that Snook is saying that Whitmer against University of Michigan playing football.

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Detroit Police Chief James Craig Cites Unified City, Not Backing Down for Peaceful City Among Protests

Jordyn Pair

Detroit Police Chief James Craig credited the city’s success in remaining peaceful during nationwide protests and riots with having a city that has stood together and a police force that refuses to give up “the ground to the radicals.”

In an appearance on Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday, Craig told Carlson that “we don’t retreat here in Detroit.”

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Allen West Ousts James Dickey as Texas Republican Party Chair

Jordyn Pair

Allen West clinched the position of party leader for the Texas Republicans early Monday morning, ousting James Dickey, who was first elected to the position in 2017.

Retired Army Lt. Col. West won 22 state Senate districts to Dickey’s four and claimed victory around 3:30 a.m, according to the Statesman News Network. Five districts are yet to report.

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Senate Confirms John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence

Jordyn Pair

The Senate confirmed Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX-04) on Thursday as President Trump’s top intelligence official in a vote straight along party lines.

Ratcliffe became Trump’s second permanent Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in a 49-44 vote, with all Democrats opposed. The vote along party lines was the first since the position was created following the 9/11 attack as generally there are never more than a dozen senators voting against a confirmation for the position, according to CNN.

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Pakistani Doctor Indicted on Charges of Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS

Jordyn Pair

A man in Minnesota has been indicted by a federal grand jury on an attempt to provide a terrorist organization with material support, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Muhammad Masood has been charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Initially, the 28-year-old Pakistani national was charged in a criminal complaint in March, 2020.

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More Than 40,000 File for Unemployment in Minnesota, State Totals Nearly 700,000

Jordyn Pair

More than 40,000 filed for unemployment insurance in Minnesota, bringing the state total to nearly 700,000, according to recent data.

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that 40,427 people filed for unemployment insurance benefits in the week ending May 9. That number is down a little more than 1,000 applicants from the week prior.

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Minnesota Organization for Retired Americans Sue To Keep Voting Rights for Quarantined Residents

Jordyn Pair

The Minnesota Alliance for Retired American Educational Fund, along with three of its members, filed a lawsuit to protect voting rights of those who may be self-quarantining without a legal adult.

The lawsuit alleges that those who are quarantining alone — or without a voting-age member of the household — essentially lose their ability to cast a vote, as mail-in absentee ballots require a witness signature.

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Gov. Tim Walz Signs Six Bills, Skips Mail-in Election Bill

Jordyn Pair

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed six bills into law on Tuesday on legislative topics ranging from health to underage marriage.

One law extends the funding used to increase testing capacity for the coronavirus pandemic, as well as ensure there are hospital beds and personal protective equipment. Another requires drug makers to provide a “detailed rationale to the state” for large price increases for drugs that cost $100 or more for a 30-day supply. A third prohibits marriage by residents in the state under age 18.

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Cherry Health, CBS News Slammed for Adding Staffers to Coronavirus Testing Line

Jordyn Pair

A Michigan health system and CBS News have come under fire after Project Veritas revealed that a line for a COVID-19 testing site was staged for television cameras.

Cherry Health and CBS News denied directing staffers to form a line to appear as patients for a coronavirus testing site before later reversing their statement and saying that the staffers were in line to “provide a visual backdrop.”

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Senators Ask State Department to Monitor Free Speech Violations Concerning Coronavirus in China, Other Countries

Jordyn Pair

Several senators across the United States have called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Kelly Craft to address concerns about free speech violations in several countries around the world.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) submitted the letter on Monday, pointing to crackdown on free speech concerning the coronavirus in China, as well as in Turkey, Bangladesh, Niger and Cambodia, as a reason for concern.

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Delaware Says It Reports Negative Cases to CDC, Will Report to Public

Jordyn Pair

The Delaware Department of Health has confirmed that it is reporting both positive and negative test results of coronavirus testing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite not making that information available to the public.

“Yes, we are reporting both positive and negative results to the CDC,” a spokesperson said in an email to The Michigan Star on Wednesday. “We absolutely understand the interest in knowing the number of negative test results received, as well as the number of positives.”

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Alabama Now Provides Negative Coronavirus Testing Data

Jordyn Pair

Alabama is now providing aggregated data for the coronavirus pandemic, state officials told The Michigan Star earlier this week.

Per Section 1702 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires states to provide “aggregated data on testing and results from State and local public health departments.” Aggregated data includes both positive and negative test results.

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Trump Praises Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act During State of the Union Address

Jordyn Pair

President Trump voiced support during his State of the Union Address earlier this week for the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, which would create a $5 billion annual tax credit for donations to state-based, locally-controlled scholarships. The act aims at giving one million children the opportunity to attend their school of choice.

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Michigan Trump Republicans Hold Rally at Rep. Slotkin Community Conversations Event

Jordyn Pair

Supporters of President Trump held a rally at a “community conversation” event held by U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-8-MI) at Oakland University on Monday. The representative recently published an editorial in the Detroit Free Press voicing her support for the impeachment, as well as a follow up piece defending her decision.

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House Ethics Committee Extends Investigation into Rep. Tlaib Over Misused Campaign Funds

Jordyn Pair

The Ethics Committee from the U.S. House of Representatives released a report on Thursday recommending an extension of the investigation into Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13), saying there is “substantial reason to believe” the representative misused campaign funds.

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Dip in Test Scores Correlates with Enactment of Common Core

Jordyn Pair

Fourth and eighth grade students in the U.S. again showed no to little improvement in their average reading and mathematics scores, according to a report released this week, a decrease that correlates with the enactment of the Common Core.

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