Annabelle, a 6-year-old girl paralyzed in a 2021 car crash, lost her physical therapy in January because State Farm is using a 2019 auto insurance law as a shield to sidestep payments to medical providers.
My latest on Michigan’s reduced access to care:
As of this morning, there are no white men in Michigan's highest-ranking posts in state gov't.
Women hold 5 of the top 7: governor, attorney general, secretary of state, Senate majority leader & Supreme Court chief justice
Black men hold the other two: Lt. Gov & House Speaker
WHOA.
Michigan Supreme Court rules against
@GovWhitmer
's use of 1945 emergency powers law in
#COVID19
pandemic, says 145 law "is in violation of the Constitution of our state because it purports to delegate to the executive branch the legislative powers of state government..."
🚨 In a letter to
@TheAtlantic
, ex-Michigan Congressman Dave Trott, an Oakland County Republican, calls for REMOVAL of
@realDonaldTrump
from office and says he’ll vote for a Democrat to avert nuclear war with Iran.
Trott is a long-time GOP donor and party activist.
(no web link)
Michigan Attorney General's Office confirms that the first and third men (from left) in this April 30 photo of armed men in Senate gallery are among the 13 men charged in a plot to kidnap
@GovWhitmer
.
@SenPolehanki
took this photo.
Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today.
#mileg
Driving home last night from Battle Creek, I kept thinking that at some point, the late
@JohnDingell
, the dean of Twitter, told
@realDonaldTrump
to "go to hell."
It took a little digging through three years of Dingell tweets excoriating Trump, but I found it.
Absentee Ballots are fine. A person has to go through a process to get and use them. Mail-In Voting, on the other hand, will lead to the most corrupt Election is USA history. Bad things happen with Mail-Ins. Just look at Special Election in Patterson, N.J. 19% of Ballots a FRAUD!
Secretary of State
@JocelynBenson
is sending every Michigan voter an absentee ballot APPLICATION, not an actual ballot. The voter will still have to request an absentee ballot to vote by mail, as allowed under a 2018 constitutional amendment that 67% of Michigan voters approved.
🚨🚨🚨
@GovWhitmer
said this morning on
@WWJ950
that vendors "are now being told not to send stuff here to Michigan. It's really concerning. I reached out to the White House last night, ironically at the same time" he was on
@FoxNews
bashing her.
"We need help..."
NEWS: Attorney General
@dananessel
announces forgery and conspiracy charges against Michigan's 16 fake Trump electors.
They include then-
@MIGOP
co-chair
@MeshawnMaddock
and Kathy Berden, Michigan's Republican national committeewoman.
Story coming soon at
BREAKING: Trump, Giuliani and Meadows are "unindicted co-conspirators" in Michigan's 2020 false electors plot, state investigator says in court testimony
via
@CraigDMauger
&
@detroitnews
This is just a general public thank you to all of the U.S. Postal Service workers, UPS and FedEx drivers and Amazon delivery contractors who are hustling today —all day— because a bunch of us made last-minute online Christmas gift orders.
Seriously, thank you for bailing us out.
🚨 Donald Trump recorded pressuring Wayne County canvassers not to certify 2020 vote; RNC’s
@GOPChairwoman
offered legal cover
Bombshell report here from
@CraigDMauger
⬇️
(No paywall)
via
@detroitnews
BREAKING: State Rep. Isaac Robinson died at 11 a.m. this morning at Detroit Receiving Hospital from a suspected
#coronavirus
infection, according to his mother, ex-Rep. Rose Mary Robinson.
STORY:
Michigan’s GOP Legislature never used subpoenas to investigate:
✖️Enbridge oil spill in Kalamazoo River
✖️Unemployment Insurance Agency’s false fraud scandal
✖️Flint water crisis
✖️UIA’s meltdown w/ jobless claims this spring
✖️Campaign finance irregularities of its own members
Breaking news from
@LainaStebbinsMI
: Michigan GOP legislative leaders plan to subpoena the elections director, as Trump and Republicans continue to offer claims of election irregularities without evidence. via
@MichiganAdvance
On
@Morning_Joe
,
@stabenow
says she supports impeaching
@realDonaldTrump
to remove him from office for inciting mob violence and yesterday’s assault on the U.S. Capitol. She also supports Pence invoking 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office before his term ends Jan. 20.
To cap an extraordinary day in Michigan politics, a D.C. tipster just sent me photos of the names and images of
@SenMikeShirkey
and
@LeeChatfield
being projected on the side of the
@TrumpDC
International Hotel with the words “VOTERS DECIDED” and “THE WORLD IS WATCHING.”
President Trump appears to be railing against
@Ford
and
@GM
tonight for cutting a deal with California to build cars that get better fuel mileage and emit less harmful pollution that is causing global climate change.
Henry Ford would be very disappointed if he saw his modern-day descendants wanting to build a much more expensive car, that is far less safe and doesn’t work as well, because execs don’t want to fight California regulators. Car companies should know....
Bombshell news in Michigan...
@GovWhitmer
moving to revoke the 67-year-old agreement that’s allowed
@Enbridge
and it’s predecessors to operate twin 20-inch wide oil pipelines running along the lakebed of Lake Michigan in the Straits of Mackinac.
Gov wants
#Line5
off by May 2021
One of the witnesses in Sidney Powell’s new Michigan lawsuit says in a declaration he thinks there’s something fishy about election returns in Edison County, MI. Thing is, there is no Edison County in Michigan.
🚨 Whitmer on Capitol protests: "We know this demonstration is going to come at a cost to people's health."
"That's how COVID-19 spreads. The sad irony here was the protest is they don't like being in this stay at home order and they may have just caused a need to lengthen it."
A road construction worker on the I-96 project in western Oakland County has a “Let’s go Brandon” (bizarre MAGA code for F&$# the president) flag draped over their windshield.
Surprised
@MichiganDOT
allows political messaging on active construction sites.
BREAKING:
@JohnDingell
, the longest ever serving member of Congress, died tonight at age 92, his wife,
@RepDebDingell
, confirms.
“He was my love,” she told me by phone, sobbing.
Ohio is vaccinating disabled adults over age 18 — and
@Kroger
is accepting Michiganians!
So I took my brother Brian to Toledo this afternoon to get the shot — on his 37th bday!
Pre-pandemic, he already lived an isolated life at home. Looking forward to taking him to a movie.
UPDATE: President
@realDonaldTrump
will be required to wear a mask Thursday while touring
@Ford
's ventilator assembly plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., the automaker said.
Trump didn't wear a mask last week in Pa. or when he toured a mask factory in Phoenix.
Update on hand sanitizer production:
Detroit City Distillery produced 340 gallons of bulk sanitizer last week for
@CityofDetroit
, Samaritas, Child & Family Services of Michigan, Rivergate Terrace, Medstar Ambulance & Goodwill Industries.
They're making 1,400 gallons this week.
Here’s an innovative and radical national idea for solving the water crisis in the West:
STOP BUILDING THERE
Ditto, Florida.
Come to Michigan, thirsty western state residents. We’ve got plenty of water.
And we need people, especially young and educated
In Tawas City this morning, there’s a pierogi sale on one side of U.S. 23 and a pasty sale on the other side of the road. Both are causing traffic problems.
I love you, Michigan.
BREAKING:
@dananessel
’s office seeks special prosecutor in election 'conspiracy' probe of Matt DePerno, Dar Leaf, state Rep. Daire Rendon and others who allegedly gained access to voting machines
Huge scoop from
@CraigDMauger
:
via
@detroitnews
Detroit
@MayorMikeDuggan
said Tuesday he will “basically be shutting down city government for two days” in order to place “all city employees at the city clerk’s disposal” to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. via
@AnnaGustafson
@michiganadvance
JUST IN: Michigan
@GovWhitmer
says President
@realDonaldTrump
's called for governors to "dominate" protesters in morning call with governors.
Trump's "dangerous comments ... send a clear signal that this administration is determined to sow the seeds of hatred and division..."
NEWS: GOP lawmaker bestows tribute to men acquitted in Whitmer kidnapping plot -- and their attorneys
@GovWhitmer
's office called the tribute "disturbing" and said it would "embolden radical extremists."
via
@WordsByJakkar
&
@detroitnews
UPDATE:
@MalloryMcMorrow
’s campaign says it has raised more than $250,000 from 5,500 donors since mid-day Tuesday following her viral floor speech responding to
@LanaTheis
’ unfounded pedophilia groomer accusations against McMorrow.
NEW: Michigan voters want gun-buying waiting period, a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons and limits on magazines, new poll finds.
“It’s time to make some bigger steps,” one voter says.
via
@CraigDMauger
&
@detroitnews
1 million residents to see convictions automatically expunged under Michigan law
Attorney General
@dananessel
says 400,000 Michiganians will be "conviction free" by day's end
via
@detroitnews
After almost being run off the road following the issuance of a mask mandate for K-12 schools, Kent County's health director told county commissioners, "I need help. My team and I are broken. I’m about done." via
@michiganadvance
#FOIA
Some professional news: I am going back to The Detroit News to be the politics editor and a columnist, starting May 23. My last day at Crain’s Detroit Business is May 18. This is a great opportunity to lead one of Michigan’s best teams covering state and federal politics...
🧵
Democratic presidential candidates have spent months debating their health care plans, free college tuition, climate plans, plans to narrow the income inequality gap.
But likely Michigan Dem voters just want a candidate who can beat
@realDonaldTrump
.
New Detroit News/WDIV poll:
NEWS: AG Dana Nessel charging "Lansing powerbrokers" Anne and Rob Minard for embezzling from "numerous" political fundraising funds "to financially enrich themselves not permitted" under state law.
Nessel alleges they embezzled $525,000 from 2018-2020 while holding…
#DetroitLooksLikeThis
:
James Scott Mansion in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood is literally back from the dead.
Seriously.
This may be one of the more remarkable restorations yet.
Photo on left is from 2011.
Photo on right is yesterday
via
@crainsdetroit
Hey
@StellantisNA
, your modified
@Chrysler
Pacifica is an excellent van for transporting individuals in wheelchairs. My parents bought one for my brother.
Could you work with a dealer to donate one to MSU shooting survivor Nate Statly?
Everyone RT this.
BREAKING:
@GovWhitmer
has signed a “Stay Home, Stay Safe" executive order "directing all Michigan businesses and operations to temporarily suspend in-person operations that are not necessary to sustain or protect life," per press release.
I mean, let's just call this what it is:
Xenophobic language about a highly contagious virus that's been here for a year now from a Michigan legislative leader who continues to downplay the seriousness of the public health threat.
Michigan Senate GOP Leader Mike Shirkey with on his bout with COVID-19: “The Chinese flu army sent in one of their best soldiers. His name was Rona. I’m not as young as he used to be, so he and I wrestled for nine days, but I finally pinned him.”
ALERT: Veteran Republican strategists
@jefftimmer
and Bob LaBrant warning of a possible “subversion of democracy” by the GOP-run Legislature to override Biden’s win here and tip Michigan’s 16 electoral votes to Trump
Here’s their op-ed in
@crainsdetroit
:
When and under what circumstances does the Detroit Police Department’s use-of-force policy allow for the use of rubber bullets on civilians?
That’s a question
@ChiefJECraigDPD
and
@MayorMikeDuggan
need to answer today. Why was it necessary last night to disperse crowds?
JUST IN:
@GovWhitmer
working with governors of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kentucky on a Midwest regional plan for reopening the economy.
As first reported Tuesday in
@CrainsChicago
and
@crainsdetroit
:
Brian Woodward, a paralyzed Detroit man, died this morning about 90 minutes before the Michigan Supreme Court ruling restored his home care.
This is his story and the story of thousands of badly injured motorists whose care was upended by the 2019 law:
Detroit and Flint are among 11 U.S. cities that will get a share of 11,000 volunteer poll workers recruited through an initiative backed by basketball superstar
@KingJames
via
@AsteadWesley
NEW: Just a handful of the Michigan Legislature’s 72 Republicans are supporting Donald Trump’s 3rd presidential campaign.
25 are backing
@RonDeSantis
.
“(If) we keep talking about 2020, we lose. It’s that simple,” said Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen.
“If Amazon is willing to call the police on congresswomen it invited to tour its facility, we can only imagine the harassment and intimidation Amazon workers have faced for speaking out,”
@RepDebDingell
&
@RashidaTlaib
said in about
@Amazon
’s Romulus fulfillment center.
THEY PLOTTED ON CAPITOL GROUNDS: On June 18, some militia members charged today in a plot to kidnap
@GovWhitmer
met at a Second Amendment rally at the Capitol, the FBI says.
Lansing Pulse headline that day: "Protesters from the left and right mix peacefully at the Capitol"
HOT CAPITOL NEWS: Amber McCann, deputy chief of staff and spokesperson for GOP Senate Majority Leader
@SenMikeShirkey
, is leaving the Senate Republicans to become Special Projects Director for Democratic Attorney General
@dananessel
, AG's office confirms.
I’m beyond honored to win a
@LoebAwards
national business journalism for my columns at
@crainsdetroit
on the impact of auto insurance reform on injured Michigan motorists.
#loebawards
Big brewing story in
@GongwerMichigan
with an ominous headline that might be getting lost today:
Biden is up 27 percentage points (63-36) in Oakland County Exec
@davidwcoulter
's campaign polling.
Republican polling has Biden up 18 points against Trump.
Michigan Republican Party chairman Ron Weiser doesn't resign for saying the "three witches"
@GovWhitmer
,
@dananessel
and
@JocelynBenson
should be burned "at the stake."
But his executive director Jason Roe has to go for saying the 2020 election "wasn’t stolen.”
Got it.
CHAOS: James Craig attempted to start his gubernatorial campaign press conference in Detroit and was shouted down by protesters. He stood at the podium momentarily and then took off. His entourage just drove off on Belle Isle.
After seven years of writing about roads and road-funding in Michigan, I've come to a rather novel conclusion: We've built a state we can no longer afford to maintain with the current levels of taxpayer support.
And, yet, we're still building new roads.
SUNDAY MORNING SHOT: In northern Macomb County, $9.7M being spent this summer to widen a 1.3-mile stretch of 23 Mile Rd. for suburban sprawl.
CHASER: Elsewhere in Macomb, there are 800 lane-miles of roads rated in poor condition and no money to fix them.
UPDATE: Trump did NOT speak to the family of slain Grand Rapids woman Ruby Garcia, according to her sister.
“He did not speak with any of us, so it was kind of shocking seeing that he had said that he had spoke with us, and misinforming people on live TV,” Mavi Garcia told…
@MikeRogersForMI
@FOX17
Trump says he has spoken with members of Ruby Garcia's family.
He repeatedly describes illegal immigrants as "animals."
"They're not humans. They're animals," he said.
Detroit is turning water service back on for residents who have been living without drinking water for unpaid bills.
It took the
#CoronavirusOutbreak
to get the city to reverse its water shutoff policy (with assistance from the state).
We deeply appreciate
@GovWhitmer
’s support and leadership on this issue. As long as COVID-19 remains a health concern, no Detroit resident should have concerns about whether their water service will be interrupted.
Father of a Oxford High School shooting victim:
"We can put people on the moon, we can build skyscrapers, huge monuments like the Hoover dam and we can't keep our kids safe in schools. People just need to wake up and take action. Stop accepting the excuses. Stop buying the…
So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly......
Hospital bed occupancies as of Monday:
Saginaw Covenant: 100% full
Lakeland in St. Joe 100%
Saginaw St. Mary's 99%
McLaren Port Huron 99%
DMC Detroit Receiving 99%
Bronson Battle Creek 97%
McLaren Lansing 96%
McLaren & Hurley in Flint 96%
Henry Ford Macomb 96%
Mercy Muskegon 93%
I just got off the phone with
@RepDebDingell
, who said she's gotten an outpouring of supportive comments from Republican members.
"(Trump has) actually, in some ways, united the House in what could have been an awkward day," she told me. "That's John Dingell working from above."