Most Recent Opinion Columns by Mike Killbreath

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Saturday, Oct. 25, 2024

 I wrote earlier this week that I was absolutely sickened by all the massive spending on the U.S. Senate race between Holly's Elissa Slotkin and Florida's Mike Rogers. 

Even more sickening? Whoever wins may give their party control of the U.S. Senate.

Rogers, who lived in a $1.6 million mansion in Florida until U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenaw decided to retire, has spent $62 million on the race.

Democrats have poured $80 million into trying to get Slotkin into the Senate.

I can think of so many better ways to spend $142 million. We could start by fixing all the remaining bad pipes from Flint's water crisis of more than 10 years ago.

SORTING OUT THE LIES: The campaign season always brings such a task when evaluating the merits of candidates who want our endorsement for their race. 

But in my now 50 years as journalist, Sloskin and Rogers combine for the worst campaign of distorted claims I've ever seen in a major political campaign outside some local races over the years.

I guess these two have so much money that they seem to be making up lies about each other to try to win votes. Well, not "seem to be" — they are flat out liars. 

Fact checking their commercials gets tiring when discovering that almost every campaign TV spot contains outright lies. Let's just say it was a disheartening experience when finding both are spewing untrue political gobbledey gook.

MOST SCANDALOUS OF ALL? Worst of all for the Slotkin-Rogers race is what they did before going to the U.S. House of Representatives. Slotkin worked for the C.I.A. and the Pentagon before going to Washington D.C. in 2019. Rogers was a special agent for the FBI before serving in Michigan's state legislature launched his 14-year career in the U.S. House until 2015. 

If ever there was to be a clean campaign, you would think it would be between a couple of ex-employees of the C.I.A. and the FBI.

But this is the single worst congressional race in my lifetime for our area.

IF I WERE KING, both Slotkin and Rogers would get prison time for their lying ways.

That's the only way to stop this nonsense called "politics" with a "say anything to get elected" attitude.

 Speaking of prison time, lying in politics may not earn a politician any prison time — but other lies may cost Rogers in this particular race.

SHOCKING HE's NOT INDICTED ALREADY: I'm shocked and surprised that Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel, never one to shy away from using her political power of indictments against Republicans, hasn't already charged Rogers after M.L. Elrick exposed Rogers in the Detroit Free Press for using a fake address to run for office here in Michigan.

For those of you who didn't know, now the Slotkin from Holly and "Rogers from Florida" intros above make sense. Yep, Rogers does not have a legal address here unless he's camping out on a vacant lot in Detroit without any neighbors seeing him. 

Elrick, who won a Pulitzer Prize for stories that led to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick getting 28 years for stealing his city blind, reported two Sundays ago that Rogers picked Florida to live when he retired from the U.S. House, moved into a $1.6 million mansion there, bought a couple expensive yahts and then bought a house in the Detroit area, promptly tore it down, used the empty lot as his new address and voted in the primary to likely cast a vote for himself. Voting here without an address would be a felony. So, too, would be the perjury charges for signing his residency requirement for both a driver's license and to get a spot on the ballot.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024

The Genesee County Election Commission hasn't yet scheduled a hearing date on recall language submitted against Flint's 8th Ward city councilman. I've advised Lisa Pasjberg that her language is dead on arrival to get rid of Dennis Pfeiffer as her representative on the Flint City Council.

Her language says: "Councilman Dennis Pfeiffer was censured by the city council for calling another member a 'fake ass Republican'  another a 'big piece of shit' and told other colleagues to shut up." 

She didn't like it that our front page story revealing her recall effort noted that language must be clear and concise. We quoted two English teachers as saying her language was a "run on sentence" and "completely illiterate."

Not our words. Words of people who specialize in determining "clarity" which also goes to words being spelled incorrectly or a comma being in the wrong place. Blunders that render denials at hearings in front of election commissions tasked with ruling on language submitted in recall attempts anywhere in our state.

So my opinion expressed here today in this space where I spew my opinions is that her recall language is dead on arrival. It must be rejected under state law.

The facts cited in a news story on our front page a few days ago is that two English teachers we consulted say it's not "clear and concise" because it's a "run on sentence" and "completely illiterate."

The last hearing on a recall attempt earlier this month in front of the local election commission was to review eight sets of language submitted to recall Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley. I didn't bother to read any of it because the address of the lady behind the effort lived in Flint Township, not the City of Flint. I said so on the radio the very next day after looking her up because I had never heard of her.

I only exchanged texts with Lisa Pasjberg via Messenger earlier today when inviting her to appear on The Morning Gazette Radio Show to explain why she wants to dump Councilman Pfeiffer. Her profile on Facebook says she works for the Flint Registry and that's all I know about her except that she isn't very good at grammar.

Lisa rejected my interview invitation. 

Probably needs to brush up on her English skills before going public on the radio.

One question I wanted to ask was this: With all our tax dollars being dumped into work being done at the Flint Registry, I'm surprised how the boss there can allow one of the organization's employees to be involved in politics. What do you think? Drop me a message on my Hot Line at (810) 771-8421, find me on Facebook and drop me a note via Messenger or simply e-mail me at morninggazetteradioshow@gmail.com.

How do I know tax dollars are going into the Flint Registry? How about $39 million since 2016?

I'd like a report on what they've done with all that cash. I do know they are certainly not teaching any English classes to the employees.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Wednesday, Oct 23, 2024

Anybody seen Eric Mays lately? The man I consider the most popular city councilman in Flint history has been gone 8 months and Flint City Council meetings are still utter chaos. 

You would think they can't blame Mays for it.

He's watching from Heaven, yet several of our current cast of "Eric Mays-ists" as he once tabbed them on The Morning Gazette Radio Show — they have actually said all the current mess is his fault for setting all this divisiveness into motion. They have Facebook friends filling social media with the blame game directed squarely at Mr. Mays, too.

I guess that's part of the plot at Flint City Hall to control millions of tax dollars. The way I see it, Commissioner Delrico Lloyd's well written scolding of city leaders last week (See Related Story in Today's Metro Section) needs to be taken to another level. He should use his influence at the UAW International office where he works in Detroit to get his city help from the Governor.

Gretchen Whitmer yelled and screamed about how bad an insurrection in Washington D.C. was on January 6th when Donald Trump didn't want to transfer power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden, and it was truly a terrible day in American history. It's shameful how Trump's supporters destroyed property and attacked police.

Yet, nobody in the angry mob there pulled out a gun. Still, police shot at one of them who was unarmed and killed her.

Right here in Big Gretch's own backyard 53 miles east of her office in Lansing, a gun was pulled out in what at least one Flint City Council member calls a "insurrection" on Flint's elected leaders. She says she was a target. So, too, was a lady who led a recall against the 3rd Ward councilman named Quincy Murphy who recently died. The recall lady (Beverly Biggs-Leavy) was lucky her daughter was there to pull out a gun and stop the mob coming at her.

My prediction in typical Flint fashion is that the daughter will be the only person charged despite clearly acting in self defense to protect her mom. 

Oddly, Flint police didn't take anybody to jail on the night of the "insurrection" in the city council chambers on the 3rd floor of Flint City Hall. Others who disrupt meetings or talk too long at he public speaker podium have been hauled out in handcuffs. Yet, never has a mob stormed a council meeting from the back of the room after an hour of taunts and wisecracks until the rush up front to stop the proceedings.

They were yelling obscenities and screaming threats as they suddenly bolted forward out of their seats. Multiple videos also reveal that at least the City Council President allegedly knew about it and invited them to come cause trouble. That's what a few of them said anyway. It seemed almost on que that the angry mob descended on the front of the room in a scary scene that I rank as the all-time low in the fall of a once great American city  we call Flint.

The folks next door in Flint Township are so sick of being lumped in with "Flint" that they got a state law changed to hopefully fix their name some day and rid themselves of their ties to the "Flint" identity forever.

But back to the Prez for a minute. She likes to be called doctor, by the way.

Her critics say she went to school too long and got too many degrees on our dime. Listening to her babble at council meetings can quickly confirm she's not very smart. Dr. Ladel Lewis is her name. She demands to be called by her educational title and scolds those who call her "Ladel" instead of "Dr. Lawis." No real jobs on her resume, mind you. Some say she was chased out of Maryland where she got herself elected to office prior to running for the 2nd Ward seat in Flint. Sadly, Yours Truly endorsed her. I didn't know about all the stories of how she acted in Maryland. I had no clue she had ever been in Kalamazoo, let alone chased out of town there, too, by many accounts regarding alleged shady behavior.

Who would think she would set up a non-profit for Sarvis Park in Flint and steer thousands of city dollars there from federal ARPA funds and from one developer her and four council friends gave millions to in hopes they build something at the old Buick City site?

I'd invite her on my radio show to defend herself but she hasn't taken my calls since the campaign three years ago. I once corrected her on false information she was spewing on a Facebook group page and she promptly unfriended  me. Probably just a coincidence but a fake person then popped up to pretend to be a former sales rep for my company who said I never paid him what he was owed. A deep dive into company records confirmed that nobody with his name ever was employed by us or even filed an application.

Dr. Ladel has also been accused by colleagues on the council of making up fake people on Facebook to go after political enemies while handing out compliments for her. She has denied it was her behind the alleged fake people who did that. An attorney on my case, however, tracked the fake person to an IP address used at a Flint church.

It's a two-year felony in Michigan to make up a fake name on social media to bully someone, and I indeed felt very bullied.

My friend Eric Mays said at the time that Mayor Neeley's Flint police obviously don't investigate those with the power to fire them. It's unfortunate that State Police were also not interested in being bothered with what a desk sergeant there called a "Facebook spat" and advised me to stay off social media to avoid crazy people who probably don't have jobs while they focus on catching real bad guys with guns. The church wasn't worth much money and my attorney figured it would be bad PR to padlock a church and sell it to collect on a libel judgment.

It's absolutely shameful how there's enough evidence on my desk for the FBI to make dozens of arrests at Flint City Hall. As a side note here,  I've sent copies of important documents to various high profile journalist friends around the USA for safekeeping in case anybody wants to break windows on my office as they've done on one individual challenging for a city council seat in the 1st Ward. A fire was set at her place, too.

All the documents are tied to cases we've talked about on the radio or in this space. Journalists are not given subpoena powers to finish building iron clad cases. All we can do is plead to the Governor to bring justice to the people of Flint.

Oh wait, she couldn't even do that when politics played a major role in how an entire city was poisoned just over a decade ago and nobody got any prison time despite how many people died here because of the water crisis.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Tuesday, Oct 22, 2024

Checking tidbits from my Editor's Notebook:

COVID CASE: If you missed me in this space or on the radio for the last week, my wife and I have been battling a case of COVID. My meds were adjusted to keep my new kidney safe from the transplant and we shuttered away from the world for a week although I must admit there were lots of calls urging me to go spread some COVID germs to some stooges on the Flint City Council and the Flint Township Board of Trustees.

BELATED APOLOGY: I went off the air suddenly without explanation after a horrible coughing spell. I had mentioned I was working from a studio in my den and hiding for a few days since my wife had tested positive for COVID. I piped in a replay of the previous night's Alex Jones Show and didn't return to the air since I immediately tested myself and learned I, too, had COVID. Down on my couch for a few days, I responded to every single e-mail, text and call to let everyone know the COVID news. I guess there were so many inquiries that I figured everybody knew, so I apologize for the oversight in not proclaiming publicly why I was away.

MOST COMMON TEXTS AND EMAILS: Thanks for all the prayers. But easily beating the number of people praying for me was the number of requests to me to visit some of Flint's city politicians or to do an "up close, in-depth interview" with Flint Township's fab five of Treasurer Tom Klee, Clerk Monya Triplett and Trustees Greg King, Carol Pfaff-Dahl and Gene Leverette Sr. Now that Flint Township residents are learning about some of the stunts they've pulled, they have easily surpassed all the nasty texts, e-mails and phone calls to my Hot Line — (810) 771-8421 — about City of Flint stunts. The common theme in Flint Township is for me to do something to get rid of the township clowns. I'm a mere columnist and radio show host. What can I do except expose their garbage and hope my listeners and readers spread the word about it?

A PERFECT EXAMPLE: Last night, Flint Township Clerk Monya Triplett proposed giving a $5,000 stipend to the Township's economic development leader (Tonya Tucker) for her work as Deputy Clerk. Yes, you read that correctly. The high-paid position to do important work to attract business goes undone while Tucker plays Deputy Clerk at the office. My endorsements included ridding Flint Township government of Triplett who has been a miserable failure at her job, in my opinion. Not going back on the air until July 1 likely saved her job because we were still building back listeners for my show and attracting readers back to this space while educating voters about her record. Not enough people knew about her miserable performance and she won the August Democrat primary although her challenger (first-time candidate Roscoe Clark) didn't mount a strong campaign. He didn't knock on doors, mail out a single flyer or buy a single radio commercial. He tried to win by putting up lots of signs which is usually a ticket to losing in local political races. She's now unopposed in the general election two weeks from today with no Republican filing to rn against her.

OH, BACK TO THE VOTE? The board voted 6-1 last night to approve Triplett's motion to give the $5,000 stipend to Tucker since her help is certainly needed to pull off the upcoming election in November. My question? When does Triplett repay the township for not letting Tucker do her real job on bringing in some much-needed economic development? Triplett should have been laughed out of the township hall with her proposal to give Tucker $5,000, yet they did it. Trustee Vert cast the only vote on behalf of protecting taxpayers. The board should have been voting to write a letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer about possibly stepping in to remove the Clerk who should have been handling things at her office without any help from the economic development leader.

LET'S CLARFIFY: By all accounts from multiple sources, Triplett still does not know how to do her job as Clerk since being appointed to the position two years ago. She has also collected a $63,000 annual salary plus generous benefits to mostly not come to work for big chunks of time. Community activists Dave Huffman and Jerry Roberts perhaps said it best when declaring on multiple occasions that two or three days off is standard for most jobs when there's a death in the family. Sadly, Triplett has lost her husband and son since becoming Clerk. But that does not excuse her from not showing up to work when the taxpayers are paying her salary. She didn't even properly swear herself in to do the job in the first place. I've read the statute about how only a recall by residents or under the governor's decree can an elected official be removed from office. 

CRITERIA FOR REMOVAL? Not coming to work so much qualifies Triplett for removal since the office has been closed so much to the public since she was appointed to the position. Going to work at her job without swearing herself in and taking the proper oath qualifies her for removal. I could go on and on and on. Maybe we just close on pointing out how she cast the tie-breaker vote in setting two public hearings to raise taxes by 4 mills via a special assessment without a vote of the people — illegal under state law because you can't use a special assessment to add personnel or buy anything that does not qualify as an "emergency" and adding money to the fire department does not qualify.  

DID TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS KNOW? That's the key question here. Zero media attention left senior citizens on fixed incomes facing the possibility of opening the mail weeks later to find out they can't afford the tx hike and need to move out of their homes. Yours Truly stepped up (from my couch while recovering from my life-saving kidney transplant) to notify business owners about the first meeting. They packed a church on Bristol Road to voice their opposition with angry comments about it being the last straw to put them out of business while likely driving many unsuspecting seniors on fixed incomes out of their homes. Triplett changed her mind about the tax hike under pressure from 16-year Trustee Barb Vert who successfully pushed to get the second hearing canceled to avert disaster for her township. Wasted were thousands in legal fees and money spent on organizing the dog and pony show by staff members.

FLINT CITY COUNCIL CIRCUS CONTINUES: The circus atmosphere at Flint City Council meetings reached an all-time low last week when a gun was pulled by an audience member and police ended the meeting. Family members of the late City Councilman Quincy Murphy stormed toward the front of the chambers and confronted the woman who filed a recall against him before he passed away late last month — Beverly Biggs-Leavy. Nearly a dozen people (the target of the attack says 20 in her statement on social media but video reveals fewer) left seats in the back of the room about an hour into the meeting and rushed to the front of the room, yelling  obscenities in what many are calling a "set up" event. I'm still doing research and will report on the case in this space before the end of the week. Probably no radio show until Friday, so I can get caught up.

WHERE ARE THE CHARGES? Councilman Mays had many public spats with Quincy Murphy after he was elected in 2021. Quincy a few times warned Mays that "you don't want my family coming down here after you" and after he sadly passed away a few weeks ago  —  Quincy's family members (maybe nine or 10 of them by our count) stormed a Flint City Council meeting last week as noted above and my question is simple: Why were none of them arrested by Flint police?

VIDEO EVIDENCE: If Flint police do not act on this latest circus act at Flint City Hall, plenty of video evidence is out there that may turn this into a national story. City Councilwoman Tonya Buns is calling it an "insurrection on Flint's elected leaders." Comments can be heard on numerous videos I've reviewed where family members of Mr. Quincy were heard saying City Council President Dr. Ladel Lewis knew this stunt was happening because she asked them to do it. If Flint police do not arrest her, they're gonna have some explaining to do if outside agencies start investigating them. Forgotten in all this is that Beverly Biggs-Leavy mounted a recall effort against Quincy after he admitted taking money and a free $11,000 lawn mower from Ashley Capital prior to joining a vote to give the company millions in cash and tax breaks to build something at the old Buick City site. 

SPEAKING OF TONYA: An interesting note to mention about Flint City Councilwoman Tonya Burns is that her podcast will no longer be presented by 810NewsMediaGroup. That's the official word from both sides. Mickey Jordan made a lengthy statement without telling us any details about their spat at the beginning of yesterday's "Bump" program by Wyntis Hall on his platform. Classy way to handle it perhaps but inquiring minds want to know, as they say. Burns took to Facebook to say: "Exciting News: Talking With Tonya will no longer be on the 810-Platform. I will still be on every Saturday @10:00am on YouTube and Facebook. My commitment to 'Transparency' to our community is still my goal as I work with community members to work together to ;Move Flint Forward' …… I appreciate the support and loyal listeners that have followed my platform from Facebook and YouTube for the past several years. This will allow me to control my content and topics that are concerning to our community. 

I’m looking forward to this positive transition."

TONYA TIDBIT: Councilwoman Burns last week dropped a bomb unrelated to her spat with 810NewsMediaGroup. She revealed that the federal non-profit 501c3 status of the Sarvis Park Neighborhood Association has been revoked. That's the non-profit started by Flint City Council President Dr. Ladel Lewis after she was elcted to her 2nd Ward seat in 2021. "Ladel has voted to give her non-profit she originated $75,000," Councilwoman Burns said. Stay tuned on this one.

 WORLD SERIES THOUGHTS:  Fans who hoped to see their young Detroit Tigers in the World Series may be disappointed to be watching the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the New York Yankees when the fall classic kicks off on Friday night. But they can take delight in learning that there are more young stars waiting in the wings. The No. 9 prospect in the minor league system of the Tigers made a splash in an Arizona Fall League game this past weekend. Josue Briceño smacked three home run blasts Friday in a single game. He hit .283 in his third season of minor league ball this past summer while leading the Lakeland Flying Tigers to a single-A championship.  Briceño was named to the all-star team as a catcher. In two weeks with top rookie performers across baseball in Arizona, he now counts 5 home runs and 10 RBI while so far hitting at a sizzling .478 clip.

CLOSING WORLD SERIES FACT: I won't be going to Game 1. The lowest ticket price is $1,000.

CLOSING THOUGHT: Are you tired of all the TV commercials by politicians who want your vote. The worst lies are being spewed by our two presidential candidates but running a close second is in the race between Mike Rogers and Holly's Elissa Slotkin. They want the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Debbie Stabenow. Rogers has spent $60 million so far to get your vote. Slotkin's total? How about $82 million. i could think of a lot better ways to spend $142 million.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall marks his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Tuesday, Oct 22, 2024

Checking tidbits from my Editor's Notebook:

COVID CASE: If you missed me in this space or on the radio for the last week, my wife and I have been battling a case of COVID. My meds were adjusted to keep my new kidney safe from the transplant and we shuttered away from the world for a week although I must admit there were lots of calls urging me to go spread some COVID germs to some stooges on the Flint City Council and the Flint Township Board of Trustees.

BELATED APOLOGY: I went off the air suddenly without explanation after a horrible coughing spell. I had mentioned I was working from a studio in my den and hiding for a few days since my wife had tested positive for COVID. I piped in a replay of the previous night's Alex Jones Show and didn't return to the air since I immediately tested myself and learned I, too, had COVID. Down on my couch for a few days, I responded to every single e-mail, text and call to let everyone know the COVID news. I guess there were so many inquiries that I figured everybody knew, so I apologize for the oversight in not proclaiming publicly why I was away.

MOST COMMON TEXTS AND EMAILS: Thanks for all the prayers. But easily beating the number of people praying for me was the number of requests to me to visit some of Flint's city politicians or to do an "up close, in-depth interview" with Flint Township's fab five of Treasurer Tom Klee, Clerk Monya Triplett and Trustees Greg King, Carol Pfaff-Dahl and Gene Leverette Sr. Now that Flint Township residents are learning about some of the stunts they've pulled, they have easily surpassed all the nasty texts, e-mails and phone calls to my Hot Line — (810) 771-8421 — about City of Flint stunts. The common theme in Flint Township is for me to do something to get rid of the township clowns. I'm a mere columnist and radio show host. What can I do except expose their garbage and hope my listeners and readers spread the word about it?

A PERFECT EXAMPLE: Last night, Flint Township Clerk Monya Triplett proposed giving a $5,000 stipend to the Township's economic development leader (Tonya Tucker) for her work as Deputy Clerk. Yes, you read that correctly. The high-paid position to do important work to attract business goes undone while Tucker plays Deputy Clerk at the office. My endorsements included ridding Flint Township government of Triplett who has been a miserable failure at her job, in my opinion. Not going back on the air until July 1 likely saved her job because we were still building back listeners for my show and attracting readers back to this space while educating voters about her record. Not enough people knew about her miserable performance and she won the August Democrat primary although her challenger (first-time candidate Roscoe Clark) didn't mount a strong campaign. He didn't knock on doors, mail out a single flyer or buy a single radio commercial. He tried to win by putting up lots of signs which is usually a ticket to losing in local political races. She's now unopposed in the general election two weeks from today with no Republican filing to rn against her.

OH, BACK TO THE VOTE? The board voted 6-1 last night to approve Triplett's motion to give the $5,000 stipend to Tucker since her help is certainly needed to pull off the upcoming election in November. My question? When does Triplett repay the township for not letting Tucker do her real job on bringing in some much-needed economic development? Triplett should have been laughed out of the township hall with her proposal to give Tucker $5,000, yet they did it. Trustee Vert cast the only vote on behalf of protecting taxpayers. The board should have been voting to write a letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer about possibly stepping in to remove the Clerk who should have been handling things at her office without any help from the economic development leader.

LET'S CLARFIFY: By all accounts from multiple sources, Triplett still does not know how to do her job as Clerk since being appointed to the position two years ago. She has also collected a $63,000 annual salary plus generous benefits to mostly not come to work for big chunks of time. Community activists Dave Huffman and Jerry Roberts perhaps said it best when declaring on multiple occasions that two or three days off is standard for most jobs when there's a death in the family. Sadly, Triplett has lost her husband and son since becoming Clerk. But that does not excuse her from not showing up to work when the taxpayers are paying her salary. She didn't even properly swear herself in to do the job in the first place. I've read the statute about how only a recall by residents or under the governor's decree can an elected official be removed from office. 

CRITERIA FOR REMOVAL? Not coming to work so much qualifies Triplett for removal since the office has been closed so much to the public since she was appointed to the position. Going to work at her job without swearing herself in and taking the proper oath qualifies her for removal. I could go on and on and on. Maybe we just close on pointing out how she cast the tie-breaker vote in setting two public hearings to raise taxes by 4 mills via a special assessment without a vote of the people — illegal under state law because you can't use a special assessment to add personnel or buy anything that does not qualify as an "emergency" and adding money to the fire department does not qualify.  

DID TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS KNOW? That's the key question here. Zero media attention left senior citizens on fixed incomes facing the possibility of opening the mail weeks later to find out they can't afford the tx hike and need to move out of their homes. Yours Truly stepped up (from my couch while recovering from my life-saving kidney transplant) to notify business owners about the first meeting. They packed a church on Bristol Road to voice their opposition with angry comments about it being the last straw to put them out of business while likely driving many unsuspecting seniors on fixed incomes out of their homes. Triplett changed her mind about the tax hike under pressure from 16-year Trustee Barb Vert who successfully pushed to get the second hearing canceled to avert disaster for her township. Wasted were thousands in legal fees and money spent on organizing the dog and pony show by staff members.

FLINT CITY COUNCIL CIRCUS CONTINUES: The circus atmosphere at Flint City Council meetings reached an all-time low last week when a gun was pulled by an audience member and police ended the meeting. Family members of the late City Councilman Quincy Murphy stormed toward the front of the chambers and confronted the woman who filed a recall against him before he passed away late last month — Beverly Biggs-Leavy. Nearly a dozen people (the target of the attack says 20 in her statement on social media but video reveals fewer) left seats in the back of the room about an hour into the meeting and rushed to the front of the room, yelling  obscenities in what many are calling a "set up" event. I'm still doing research and will report on the case in this space before the end of the week. Probably no radio show until Friday, so I can get caught up.

WHERE ARE THE CHARGES? Councilman Mays had many public spats with Quincy Murphy after he was elected in 2021. Quincy a few times warned Mays that "you don't want my family coming down here after you" and after he sadly passed away a few weeks ago  —  Quincy's family members (maybe nine or 10 of them by our count) stormed a Flint City Council meeting last week as noted above and my question is simple: Why were none of them arrested by Flint police?

VIDEO EVIDENCE: If Flint police do not act on this latest circus act at Flint City Hall, plenty of video evidence is out there that may turn this into a national story. City Councilwoman Tonya Buns is calling it an "insurrection on Flint's elected leaders." Comments can be heard on numerous videos I've reviewed where family members of Mr. Quincy were heard saying City Council President Dr. Ladel Lewis knew this stunt was happening because she asked them to do it. If Flint police do not arrest her, they're gonna have some explaining to do if outside agencies start investigating them. Forgotten in all this is that Beverly Biggs-Leavy mounted a recall effort against Quincy after he admitted taking money and a free $11,000 lawn mower from Ashley Capital prior to joining a vote to give the company millions in cash and tax breaks to build something at the old Buick City site. 

SPEAKING OF TONYA: An interesting note to mention about Flint City Councilwoman Tonya Burns is that her podcast will no longer be presented by 810NewsMediaGroup. That's the official word from both sides. Mickey Jordan made a lengthy statement without telling us any details about their spat at the beginning of yesterday's "Bump" program by Wyntis Hall on his platform. Classy way to handle it perhaps but inquiring minds want to know, as they say. Burns took to Facebook to say: "Exciting News: Talking With Tonya will no longer be on the 810-Platform. I will still be on every Saturday @10:00am on YouTube and Facebook. My commitment to 'Transparency' to our community is still my goal as I work with community members to work together to ;Move Flint Forward' …… I appreciate the support and loyal listeners that have followed my platform from Facebook and YouTube for the past several years. This will allow me to control my content and topics that are concerning to our community. 

I’m looking forward to this positive transition."

TONYA TIDBIT: Councilwoman Burns last week dropped a bomb unrelated to her spat with 810NewsMediaGroup. She revealed that the federal non-profit 501c3 status of the Sarvis Park Neighborhood Association has been revoked. That's the non-profit started by Flint City Council President Dr. Ladel Lewis after she was elcted to her 2nd Ward seat in 2021. "Ladel has voted to give her non-profit she originated $75,000," Councilwoman Burns said. Stay tuned on this one.

 WORLD SERIES THOUGHTS:  Fans who hoped to see their young Detroit Tigers in the World Series may be disappointed to be watching the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the New York Yankees when the fall classic kicks off on Friday night. But they can take delight in learning that there are more young stars waiting in the wings. The No. 9 prospect in the minor league system of the Tigers made a splash in an Arizona Fall League game this past weekend. Josue Briceño smacked three home run blasts Friday in a single game. He hit .283 in his third season of minor league ball this past summer while leading the Lakeland Flying Tigers to a single-A championship.  Briceño was named to the all-star team as a catcher. In two weeks with top rookie performers across baseball in Arizona, he now counts 5 home runs and 10 RBI while so far hitting at a sizzling .478 clip.

CLOSING WORLD SERIES FACT: I won't be going to Game 1. The lowest ticket price is $1,000.

CLOSING THOUGHT: Are you tired of all the TV commercials by politicians who want your vote. The worst lies are being spewed by our two presidential candidates but running a close second is in the race between Mike Rogers and Holly's Elissa Slotkin. They want the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Debbie Stabenow. Rogers has spent $60 million so far to get your vote. Slotkin's total? How about $82 million. i could think of a lot better ways to spend $142 million.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall marks his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 Column

Last week after (and during) Wednesday's Morning Gazette Radio Show, several scoffed at my investigative reporter wisdom. They left nasty messages and sent texts to tell me to stop trying to invent stories.

The callers apparently wanted to be on the air but I was rambling along too hot and heavy to notice the phone lines being lit up. After 50 years of dealing with shady politicians, my investigative antennas go up when stuff just does not add up.

My hunch was that something odd was in the water at Flint Township. They went to lots of trouble during the City of Flint's awful water crisis to shout to the county how their restaurants had good water. Some of Flint Township's politicians and lawyers are obviously getting bad water, in my humble opinion. It's causing them to be stupid. That's the only explanation I can come up with for Flint Township's current political climate — excluding Flint Township Supervisor Karyn Miller and Trustee Barb Vert. They've both been at the board table for 16 years.

It wasn't until two years ago that "stupidity" started appearing at their board table.

The ignorance and erroneous reasoning exhibited often over these past few years against common sense positions of Miller and Vert could be classified as comical, except they've created real life consequences. It started with former Clerk Kathy Funk, former Treasurer Lisa Anderson, former Trustee Deb Campbell and out-going current Trustee Carol Pfaff-Dahl. Add in Tom Klee once he was appointed to be Treasurer about a year ago when I chased Lisa Anderson out of town. Or wait, she already was living in Atlanta, Georgia. I just started hollering how she needed to be in handcuffs and should return a chunk of the $63,000 in annual salary she was pulling in along with benefits despite not living in Flint Township anymore. She first said she was elected by residents and would complete her four-year term which would not have been up until after the upcoming November election.

But I digress.

Back to last week's hunch about Flint Township's current board members.

They called a special meeting last week. A community activist was asked to leave because an attorney told him it was a closed session.

Jerry Roberts said he never heard anything on the record about a reason to go into closed session. Not odd since I was at their first of now four executive sessions when no reason to go behind closed doors was given to the public. The attorneys there apparently don't understand the law. But we will get to that in a minute.

Witnesses were around after board members emerged from behind closed doors following the first three closed executive sessions. All we know is that the agenda item listed each time by Township Clerk Monya Triplett tells the public it was to discuss "complaints against elected officials (possible closed session)" and that's all we get to know. Forget what the Michigan Opens Meeting Act says about going on record with a reason why the meeting needs to be closed.

When Roberts revealed to me that he didn't stick around to find out if they emerged from behind closed doors to put anything on the record last Monday, my suspicions were elevated to high alert. He said he knew of no witnesses being around to see what happened. Time to investigate.

A call was put in to Clerk Triplett. No return call. She won't answer a simple question? Maybe it's time to call my friends in Lansing and let them know I'm writing a letter to ask Big Gretch to exercise her powers to remove an elected official for not doing her job. Only the Governor can do that unless citizens rise up to mount a recall campaign. That takes too much energy and effort. One swipe of the pen by Governor Whitmer and Monya Triplett is out as what I'm gonna classify as an absolute fraud of a clerk.

But again, back to my investigation.

A check of the township's web site for a video of the public portion of the meeting directed me to YouTube and Vimeo pages where there was no video available for Sept. 19, 2024. Triplett had published no minutes of the meeting on the township's web site.

Yeah, ok. My investigative reporter instincts that have won me state and national awards immediately kicked into high gear and I subsequently told my listeners about it when the next morning rolled around with a microphone in front of me. My prediction was that something happened. My guess was that with nobody around, they put something on the record about embattled Treasurer Tom Klee.

The board members seem to like him. My guess was they wanted to shield him from further embarrassment and scold him with nobody around by putting a few disciplinary resolutions on reccord to satisfy the union.

I was wrong on that one as you can see from today's front page story below about the board voting to ask the Michigan State Police to investigate alleged criminal wrongdoing by Township Supervisor Karyn. The township's labor attorney, Chad Karsten from the Lansing law firm of Fahey, Schultz Burzych Rhodes LLC, followed up on the vote earlier this week by making a complaint at the Flint Township post of the Michigan State Police on Corunna Road.

So here's the deal. These crazy board members (I'm guessing it was a 5-2 vote with Miller and Vert in the minority position) want State Police to investigate how Klee was allowed to be embarrassed.

That's where we turn back to Yours Truly.

They will come calling to ask me how I obtained documents related to all these closed executive sessions to talk about inappropriate behavior toward office staff by Treasurer Klee.

Let me save them some time. My sources are confidential. United State Supreme Court rulings are on my side to keep the names secret of who gave them to me. I will say, however, that I didn't get them from Supervisor Miller or anybody else on the board who should are required to keep such information private. That's the law for them.

State law holds that any member of public bodies for boards, commissions or committee are prohibited from sharing any information discussed in an executive session. Doing so "intentionally" can subject a public official to face civil and criminal penalties. On a first offense, it's a misdemeanor crime. If convicted, a public official who intentionally violates the Michigan Open Meetings Act can be fined up to $1,000. If the violation is a second offense within the same term, the penalty can increase to a fine of up to $2,000 and rise to a felony status with up to one year in prison, or both.

But here's where this whole situation turns hysterical.

They want criminal actions taken against Supervisor Miller for writing a letter to Treasurer Klee that was shared with an employee who had lodged complaints against him with her union. The e-mails to them are subject to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests by a media member or any citizen. So color her guilty of violating the law.

But when State Police take a peek behind the curtain and read up on the Michigan Open Meetings Act of 1976, they will find out that NO ACTION CAN BE TAKEN IN A CLOSED SESSION. Board members are required to come back in front of the public and put any resolutions on the record before voting on them. They are prohibited by law from taking actions in executive session.

The township's labor attorney (Chad Karsten from the Lansing law firm of Fahey, Schultz Burzych Rhodes LLC) must not have any experience with how to comply with the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

Otherwise, he would not have allowed any actions to take place behind closed doors in the first place.

The Miller letter to Klee and a staff member that was obtained by The Morning Gazette Radio Show clearly details decisions made about Klee needing to move his office to the back of thebuilding to avoid contact with employees as well as reminding that he had agreed to take sensitivity training for other allegations against him by the staff member. Such decisions subject every board member to possible criminal prosecution. The lawyer? Well, he may get a slap on the wrist by having his license suspended for 30 to 90 days by the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission. 

But as to holding him accountable for getting criminal charges for following his legal advice? Well, board members would be out of luck on that one. Just ask some of the inmates on death row around the USA who had bad lawyers via the public defender system.

As to Treasurer Klee, he would already be fired if he worked for my business. Documents we obtained detail allegations that he plays touchy, feely with female employees, uses disgustingly awful foul language around the office, made a racial slur and is on video making mocking gestures at an employee who has Tourette's Syndrome. She says in her complaint that he was stuttering to mock her, too. The fact that this employee with Tourette's Syndrome has two children with the same disease makes his behavior extra disgusting.

And yes, you read that item correctly about the "complaint" saying it because The Morning Gazette Radio Show obtained documents related to why the special meetings were called to discuss Treasurer Klee's behavior toward office staff. (See related column about it published on Aug. 19, 2024 that is contained within The Daily Gazette's Special Section with my "Most Read" recent Editor's Notebook columns)

I'm sure State Police can find some criminal activity in the documents we obtained. Maybe detectives can investigate all that after they're finished reading up on the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Friday, Sept. 20, 2024

 Sheriff Chris Swanson has always got lots of good press out of The Daily Gazette and The Morning Gazette Radio Show. Hey, he has done lots of good stuff around these parts.

That's why he was the most popular politician in Genesee County four years ago on election day.

That's why he will win by a landslide this time in November's general election.

He's usually right on top of any question we pose for him, too. If he does not answer his cell phone, he promptly responds via e-mail.

Until this week when the owner of a local bail bond company went on social media to question how the Genesee County Jail is being run.

Alerted to her post on Facebook by many listeners to my radio show and readers of this column with similar tales inspired me to make Shelly Benjamin's criticisms of the Sheriff public.

 Well, they were already public. I just gave her a bigger stage by letting our listeners know about it on The Morning Gazette Radio Show. 

I mentioned it on the radio show Wednesday morning (Sept. 18, 2024).

My tip line at (810) 771-8421 lit up. It seems Shelly Benjamin went on record with a complaint that is shared by many, many with loved ones at Sheriff Swanson's hotel.

It seems they want to check out.

When the judge sets bail and you post it, freedom is yours. Apparently unless you are locked up in Genesee County.

The common theme of Sheriff Swanson's hate mail to us is that he needs to stop running around the state campaigning for Governor. He has not officially announced he's running yet but a big shiny bus with "Walk With Us" plastered on the side says otherwise. So, too, does making a TV commercial for a national TV audience at Joe Biden's debate against Donald Trump and then appearing on the national stage to endorse Kamala Harris at the national convention after Biden dropped out. 

When expensive tabs for loved ones mounted for calling inmates, it made national news and Sheriff Swanson immediately acted to fix the problem.

That's an impressive way to handle a problem. He didn't shy away from answering my questions about the situation.

That's why I'm stumped as to why Sheriff Swanson didn't respond when I reached out for a comment after the social media post by Shelly Benjamin. She's a well-known business owner with a solid reputation.

On the radio, I said maybe Sheriff Swanson was busy Tuesday with helping with the security detail for former President Trump's town hall event here. But now, it's three days later.

Still, nothing but crickets out of the Sheriff on this one.

We want answers about how this problem exposed by Shelly Benjamin has surfaced. We want to know it's going to be fixed. Not tomorrow. But today.

Here's the post by Benjamin on Facebook that has set off a tidal wave of complaints to us:

"I have a client. He has been in jail for three weeks after his bond was posted. Genesee County. Courts are actually really doing the best they can. But, at this point, three weeks after my Client’s bond was posted and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department has still not released him… I don’t really care who I rat out. Detective Messer has not responded to any of my calls. Sheriff Swanson has not responded back to me also. Think about this. You might look really pretty on camera, but are you really sure you’re running a professional facility? No actual access to phones. Not even paper and pens, stamps to write a letter?! Even to your own Mother?!  The Mother that doesn’t know how to access internet? Just might want a letter from her child. And!!! Don’t get me started on my clients that didn’t even get the medical treatment they needed Or medicine. But… let’s just think about it. Jelly Roll was there. Very nice guy. How much money was spent on security for that? In the meantime, inmates can’t contact family, attorney, or bail bonds. I honestly sometimes just want to give up on what I do. But guess what they call me and my hands are tied in Genesee County. The family does. Because, inmates can’t. So, my question is? Why is it so difficult? Oh. Because, people don’t realize that inmates are actually real people and might have now missed a spray tan appointment."

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Thursday, August 28, 2024 Column

The Mott Community College Board of Trustees is treading carefully on the powder keg issue of a possible advanced manufacturing plant on the Mega Site in Mundy Township.

The Flint & Genesee Group is still stinting from a July mob that went to a Mott board meeting to voice concerns. Mott's trustees subsequently (that very night!) rescinded their former President's letter of support for the project and told CEO Tim Herman not to associate Mott's name with the project.

Another attempt to win back Mott's support failed today when trustees agreed to supply training for potential employees but stopped short at giving support for the Flint & Genesee Group's project.

I'd consider it a massive understatement to say residents oppose the idea among those who live in Mundy Township and in the bordering areas of Swartz Creek, Grand Blanc Township and Flint Township.

Four of the seven on Mott's board are currently fighting a recall over another issue, and the last thing they need is to have dozens of Mega Site opponents angry at them, too.

They're heroes to them right now after rescinding their letter of support to the Flint & Genesee Group. To borrow a line from Mundy Township Trustee Kyle Ward at a June meeting when he became the first public official to come out against the proposed project, I've seen lots of "No Mega Site" signs but not a single sign promoting it.

A massive PR campaign has been deployed by the Flint & Genesee Group to change opinions. CEO TIm Herman's non-profit group received more than $260 million from our state tax dollars to build something at the 1,000-acre site that measures 1,200 acres on an overlay displayed in numerous media reports.

The site borders Linden Road, Maple Road, Elms Road and Jennings Road.

The Flint & Genesee Group's Tyler Rossmaessler is Executive Director of its Flint & Genesee Economic Alliance, and he has been the face of the proposed project. He gathered a few dozen community supporters for the project to get his bag of money from the state despite supplying no specific plans, admitting they didn't yet have a company willing to build anything there yet and there was no clue yet what kind of specific items may be built.

So how does he spout off guarantees about bringing thousands of jobs?

Well, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is a big supporter of President Joe Biden's push to eventually get rid of gas-powered engines and replacing them with electric vehicles. She wants Michigan to lead the way in supplying the budding EV industry with battery plants and chip-making plants to support Biden's push.

Thousands were spent early on to kick off the massive campaign in a commercial paid for by a California climate change PAC that featured Big Gretch. She said her state was already supplying the batteries to lead the way while bringing thousands of good-paying jobs to Michigan.

What she meant to say was that she's hoping jobs will come and she hopes they pay better than what battery plants and chip-making plants across America are now paying their employees.

What she meant to say was more than $680 million of your tax dollars had been given away in Big Rapids to build a plant for a company from Communist China to build a battery plant there. All the township board members were thrown out in a recall and residents there vow not to let a company from Communist China build anything there.

The same kind of opposition has surfaced in Delta Township, near Lansing, that got millions in funding from Gretchen's piggy bank to support supplying parts to power the EV movement. So what's going on in Mundy Township isn't a surprise. 

 The surprise maybe is the lengths they're going  in order to try to convince us it's good for us.

You know, all the climate change fear talk and all.

But let's consider real facts. The pollution from burning gas is a fraction of the damage to the environment when matched against the toxins resulting from battery plants and chip-making factories to support the EV push. It takes 22,000 gallons of ultra-pure water to cool down and rinse toxins off a single chip. That's a lot of water with toxins in it that needs to go somewhere? It's the same problem with battery plants that also produce toxins associated with all the massive amounts of water needed in that manufacturing process. Where does the water with toxins in it go?

How about into the ground water supply in a few miles around the plant? That's the reality.

Do you remember GM's Berlin & Farrow disaster of the 1970's? I'd say we can likely consider that a minor disaster compared to what will happen if a battery plant or chip-making plant is located in Mundy Township when you add in how it will also drain Lake Huron within a few years because of the massive amount of water necessary to operate these plants.

Look at Atlanta as an example. They've warned plants there that they need to find a new home in a few years because they've tapped out how much water can be used without damaging the city's drinking water supply. They've been told to find a new home because there's no more water for them.

No wonder our area is a target of Biden's EV push. Hey, government poisoned an entire city more than 10 years ago and Flint still isn't fixed with more than 1,900 still waiting to get new pipes to their homes. They had 100,000 people impacted there. The Mega Site is in the middle of farm land where fewer people are around to make noise.

Sure, there's a Facebook group with more than 2,100 members.

Two candidates for the Mundy Township board have made the Mega Site the focal point of their campaigns for office in November. Jennifer Arrand Stainton wants to be Supervisor and Leah Davis wants to be a Trustee. Ward would be a third against the Mega Site if he can get re-elected to his Trustee position but his June declaration against the proposed project may be the kiss of death for his campaign.

Let's face it. Stainton, Davis and Ward have no big financial backing against the PR machine trying to convince everyone how great it would be to build an advanced manufacturing plant with thousands of good-paying new jobs to support the EV push.

Thousands went into TV commercials by Gretchen and the campaign has added mailers, polls and expensive social media buys with well-done videos. And we're not even within the final 45-day window when local campaigns usually heat up.

The basic message of their campaign is simple: An advanced manufacturing plant promising thousands of jobs to support the EV push is good. Anybody who tells you otherwise is bad.

They like the board they have except for Ward. Getting rid of him while keeping Stainton and Davis away would be good for their cause.

The Daily Gazette and The Morning Gazette Radio Show went on record early in July as endorsing Stainton after Mundy Township Supervisor Tonya Ketzler made it clear she would not appear on my radio show to answer questions about the Mega Site or debate Stainton. I guess we can call it a mere "disqualification" because she chooses to be a "no show" in the campaign with us.

Ketzler insists she's only met Tim Herman a few times and says she's not his puppet.

She says he did not even come to a political fundraiser that was the target of a picket in late June organized by Stainton.

The picket demonstration against the Mega Site drew plenty media attention when the Metro Flint Police Authority met picketers with a massive police presence at Gateway Center off Hill Road where Ketzler's political fundraiser was being staged. The Daily Gazette later pointed out that police patrols are illegal under state law on private roads, yet Chief Matt Batt had his cops cruising all over the roads in the complex, saying it was private property and protesters could not be curbside outside Redwood Steakhouse or park at any of the nearby businesses.

Stainton said social media posts by certain individuals warning to meet Flint protesters with a strong police presence scared away many who were planning to come to show support for their cause, and she demanded an internal investigation be conducted to determine exactly how tax dollars were used to "hassle" protesters against their boss  —  Supervisor Ketzler.

Here we are more than two months later, and nothing. Stainton's call for an investigation was ignored.

If she can get her investigation, I'm sure it will impact the election. Maybe she can overcome the lack of money by continuing to get media attention to show voters what's really going on here. A July 21 campaign finance report shows Ketzler has raised more than $13,000 which will fund a solid campaign during the final 45 days and she is obviously helped by the massive PR campaign being undertaken by the Flint & Genesee Group although the non-profit organization isn't classifying any of that as "political" to influence the Mundy Township election.

Stainton initially filed for a waiver, saying she was not going to spend more than $1,000. She later amended that but did not file a July 21 campaign finance report which is illegal under state law.

Ketzler may likely try to use that as an example of how her opponent does not belong in office, trying to comply with hundreds of laws more complicated than that one.

I'm ready for someone who isn't a politician but is ready to listen to the constituents. Mundy Township residents clearly do not want this project and they need board members to listen to their concerns and get busy to do something about them.

Give Mott's board credit. They heard them.

So did the MTA when Director Ed Benning bowed to pressure and rescinded his support in the face of mounting opposition to a millage on the ballot for the MTA in the August primary. A few other businesses have rescinded their letters of support after Stainton and other opponents of the Mega Site have threatened boycotts against their businesses.

Hopefully voters are paying attention.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Monday, August 19, 2024 Column

A third special meeting about the behavior of an elected official has been scheduled for 4 pm today before the regular board meeting tonight at 6 pm for the Flint Township Board of Trustees.

Tom Klee, Flint Township's Treasurer, was ordered to "minimize" contact with office employees after a second executive session by the Flint Township Board of Trustees, according to a letter obtained by The Morning Gazette Radio Show. The story was reported today on the program at 8 o'clock and it's currently the lead story on the CCN News Break presented on today's front page of The Daily Gazette.

The letter is from Flint Township Supervisor Karyn Miller to Klee although Miller did not confirm she wrote it. Township board members are prohibited from discussing what happens in executive sessions.

We confirmed weeks ago, however, that the letter is authentic. In it, Miller wrote to Treasurer Klee on May 21, 2024: "In order to align expectations, I would like summarize the agreement made at the Special Board Meeting yesterday. You voluntarily agreed to move your office to the back hallway in order to minimize contact with the Township's Administrative Staff. The office with the window is empty and available for your use. It was agreed that your current office will be maintained as is, with your name plate in place, to minimize attention to this move. Please keep your current office door, closest to the Tax Department, clsoed until after you physically move everything, minimizing contact with staff. (In) order to eliminate face-to-face interaction with staff, please communicate through your Deputy, Kevin McIntyre, since he is the Director over several departments. Please utilize email to communicate with the staff when necessary. Lastly, you agreed to participate in one-on-one training for harassment prevention and sensitivity training. You volunteered to pay for this training as long as it was not overly expensive. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask." 

Multiple attempts to reach Klee failed during the recent campaign for the Democrat primary where he was challenged by two opponents — Dave Huffman and Kareem Snell. Klee won with 1,612 votes to 1,133 for Snell and 986 for Huffman.

Huffman was especially miffed that Klee also skipped a July 17 debate sponsored by The Morning Gazette Radio Show and The Daily Gazette at Ruggero's Restaurant on Corunna Road in Flint Township. Klee also failed to respond to a questionnaire about his positions on key issues. 

"If he can't face his opponents and answer questions about his record, he does not belong in office," Huffman said. "I have absolutely zero respect for him."

Huffman said he may challenge as a write-in candidate in November, now that the issue about Klee's alleged treatment of staff has become public. "He should resign," Huffman said. "It's a disgrace how he has acted toward our employees."

Snell has not yet responded to our request for a comment.

Also obtained by The Morning Gazette Radio Show was a cover letter on the first formal complaint filed on March 20 this year against Klee that was written by the union's Chief Steward, Melissa Grzanka, on behalf of an office employee.

Grzanka wrote: "Treasurer Klee has shown a blatant lack of respect for the personal boundaries of employees (harassment, borderline sexual) and has, on more than on occasion, utilized speech to indicate to discriminatory opinion toward the general population of a certain race (discrimination). Complaints were brought to my attention of instances where Treasurer Klee has physically encroached upon the personal space of female employees. Instances described were unnecessary physical contact by way of touching shoulders, arms, backs and on occasion sitting so close as to create physical contact of his leg with the employee. Although a formal complaint of sexual harassment is not being filed at this time, it is imperative, for the protection of all employees, that this behavior on the part of Treasurer Klee be addressed so as to prevent the situation from progressing to such an extent in the future. This sort of physical closeness and contact with employees (is) not only unnecessary, but is appropriate, and it is important that boundaries be set, hopefully though the process of this complaint, and respected moving forward."

Grzanka also addressed complaints brought to her attention about Klee "making offhand remarks that have been construed as racist in nature against the black community."

She wrote: "Examples of this are Treasurer Klee making a specific point to reference an individual's skin color when speaking with the employees about his involvement with the students at Carman-Ainsworth, or the public in general. This is elaborated upon more in the written formal complaint provided by the employee... it created a feeling of discomfort and upset due tot he racial heritage of her daughter as well as the behavior and speech being inappropriate overall. If Treasurer Klee's patterns of this type of speech and apparent bias are not addressed now, there is concern that he may grow  bolder with his statements in the future, thereby crossing the line..."

Grzanka also noted in the cover letter for the formal complaint that Klee uses "inappropriate language at work."

"This is something I have observed personally as well, noting Treasurer Klee's lack of respect for anyone around him (employees, co-workers and residents alike) where his use of foul language is concerned," Grzanka wrote. She added: "This is upsetting, not only for the inappropriateness and unprofessional nature of the language, but for the fact that if we, the employees, were to speak in the same manner as Treasurer Klee, we would be disciplined for it and, in some cases, have been disciplined for it (or warned that discipline would be issued if the language continued)."

The March 20 complaint also alleged Klee has used a "disruptive nature when interacting with employees."

Grzanka wrote about this allegation: "The employees at the Charter Township of Flint are here to perform a job and make sure the residents of Flint Township are helped in a timely, and accurate, manner. I have personally experienced Treasurer Klee interrupting me while attempting to assist residents at the counter as well as him being vocally persistent in making me stop what I'm doing to address him, speak with him, and sometimes even forcing me to stop my work simply to say 'hello.' This sort of behavior is reportedly even worse within the tax department  — a department in which attention to detail is extremely important..."  

Grzanka wrote another cover letter for a second formal complaint on May 14 this year, complaining that Klee mocked an employee's Tourette's Syndrome — a medical condition two of her children also suffer from as well. Grzanka said the incident was witnessed by another employee who provided an affidavit and the union steward requested a copy of office surveillance video from the day this incident happened.

"Prior to his departure, he stood in the doorway linking the hallway to the Tax Department and said, 'Hey...hey...' he then said 'I'm going to th-th-th- therapy' while twitching his chin toward his shoulder in a mocking gesture of someone with a mental illness. This physical gesture was in addition to the utilization of the intentional stutter indicative of the same. Not only is this sort of behavior insulting and in appropriate, it is discriminatory against people with physical/mental disabilities by poking fun at the common tics associated with several illnesses and conditions."

People are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but allegations in the documents we obtained are troubling — especially when considering Klee is also employed as a teacher at the Flint Carman-Ainsworth school district. My vote is that it's time to turn all these allegations at the township offices over for a police investigation. The school district should also suspend him until the investigation is complete, in my opinion. Other financial items need to be investigated, too, after Klee has also been under fire for weeks by Trustee Barb Vert who has demanded an accounting of how townships dollar were used on a public hearing to discuss raising taxes in a special assessment without a vote of the people. Klee has said publicly on three occasions that he "would get it to her" but he has so far kept the financial spending a secret from the board. 

Klee already isn't very popular in Flint Township's business community over his push for tax hike. He pushed for a 4-mill tax increase last winter, trying to get it enacted without a vote of the people. He was supported by Clerk Monya Triplett and Trustees Carol Phaff-Dahl and Greg King when setting two public hearings to consider the tax hike in a special assessment. The resolution was illegal since charter townships can't use special assessments to pay salaries of employees — only buy emergency items or pay off court-ordered judgments.

After business owners and residents packed a church on Bristol Road to voice opposition to the tax hike in the first public hearing, Trustee Vert led a vote to cancel the second public hearing. She demanded to put her colleagues on record how they felt about raising taxes without a vote of the people. Triplett, who won last Tuesday's primary, changed her position to block Klee's push for more tax dollars to support what he contended is a need to hire more staff for the Flint Township fire department.

A reliable source tells me Klee wants today's 4 pm special meeting re-scheduled so he can have an attorney represent him. I hope he's paying for the attorney because all the other legal bills for lawyers to be present at two previous special meetings is a waste of tax dollars. Klee should reimburse the township taxpayers for whatever the tab is, unless he can prove the allegations are not true.

The big losers in this scenario are the taxpayers although my heart goes out to the employees impacted by Klee's alleged behavior, if these accusations prove true. Nobody should be subjected to such treatment and it's no surprise (or secret) that three office staff members are actively looking for another job.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Friday, August 16, 2024 Column

It was 37 years ago today that a then 27-year-old young newspaper editor was forced to take off his journalist hat and pray for families across the tri-county area of Fenton, Linden, Holly and Hartland.

It was a little after 9 pm on a Sunday night alone at my offices of Tri-County News when all the red buttons on our phones were suddenly lit up as calls were ringing off the hook.

Since the phone seldom rang on a Sunday night when I would slip in for a little writing in the solitude of quietness to hopefully be a  bit more creative after my little children went to bed, I was obviously curious why the world wanted to talk with the Tri-County News.

It turns out tri-county area residents were looking for news about survivors because they had friends and loved ones flying out of Detroit Metro Airport.

It was 37 years ago today that tragedy struck in Romulus when Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashed just minutes after take-off at Detroit Metro Airport. It was the deadliest plane crash in Michigan's history with 156 people killed. Photos of the wreckage scene beneath the I-94 overpass on Middlebelt Road returned by two of our reporters pictured bodies scattered everywhere. We didn't publish the most gruesome ones which continue to haunt me to this day.

It was the kind of gruesome you just can't erase from your head.

I remember callers crying, asking me to pray with them about their loved ones.

It was an era before cell phones.

They were awaiting word, any word, about whether or not their friends or loved ones were on Northwest Airlines Flight 255.

The miracle of the day was when a 4-year-old survivor was pulled out of the wreckage alive. Her 6-year-old brother was killed and both of her parents did not survive.

Her name was Cecelia Cichan of Tempe, Arizona. I've learned she's now known as Cecelia Crocker. She went away to be raised by an aunt and uncle in Alabama after the crash, and was featured in a 2013 documentary called "Sole Survivor." It featured four people who were the only survivors in tragic plane crashes.

"When I realized I was the only person to survive that plane crash, I was maybe in middle school, high school, maybe, being an adolescent and confused," Crocker said in the documentary. "So it was just extra stress for me. I remember feeling angry and survivor's guilt. 'Why didn't my brother survive? Why didn't anybody? Why me?'"

The flight was headed to Phoenix where a layover was scheduled before departing for its final destination in Santa Ana, California.

Witnesses at the time reported that the plane struggled to gain altitude and the National Transportation Safety Board report said that shortly after the takeoff: "The wings of the airplane rolled to the left and the right about 35 inches in each direction. The plane's instability caused the left wing to strike a light pole beyond the runway, resulting in significant damage to the wing. The plane then struck several other light poles and the roof of a rental car building before ultimately crashing around 8:46 p.m. onto Middlebelt in Romulus. The airplane broke up as it slid across the ground, and postimpact fires erupted along the wreckage path. Three occupied vehicles on a road adjacent to the airport and numerous vacant vehicles in a rental car parking lot along the airplane’s path were destroyed by impact forces and/or fire."

The official report also showed "negligence" as a factor in the tragic crash that claimed 156 victims. Six were crew members and two people were on the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion was that flight crew failed to follow proper checklists and procedures, including accurately setting the plane's flaps and slats for takeoff that led to a loss of control shortly after departure. The investigation also pointed out a demanding work load of the flight crew during the quick turnaround time between flights on that particular evening. 

Families of survivors stay in touch to this day via a Facebook group with more than 250 members.

The only victims from the Metro Flint regional area who were killed in the crash were Douglas A. Hagler, 31, of Burton and Gary A. Kimmel, 34, of Fenton.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024 Column

Yesterday's e-mail haul from the community included a  half dozen or so notes about a specific politician from listeners of my radio show or readers of this column.

That's usually a bad sign for a politician.

But not this time.

They were urging me to salute a certain county commissioner for something he posted on Facebook. I noticed that it was shared several times across social media, too

With the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump with two deaths and two others hospitalized with injuries from gunshot wounds, it was the kind of message we should be getting from our elected leaders.

Former President Trump reportedly ripped up his speech full of attacks against Joe Biden set for this week's Republican Party convention, and is said to be revising it to a message calling for unity. 

Maybe a gunshot wound centimeters from striking your brain can do something like that to wake you up and make you act better.

President Biden has spoken three times to the American people since a shooter missed killing Trump. He called it a "sick" act and said there is "no place for violence" in American politics. This from the same guy who has been saying Trump is a "fascist" and "should be stopped at all costs" because he will "destroy democracy."

Dale Weighill is a member of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners and a former Flint City Councilman. He's a Democrat who reaches across the aisle to try to work with Republican colleagues. He's also a Vice President at Flint's campus of Mott Community College. He wrote the following about democracy:

"One of the reasons I chose to pursue the academic study of American government & politics and to engage in public service at a young age is that I thought then — and continue to believe now — that we can bring diverse people together to solve our problems and plan for our community and our country’s future.

   As a practical matter, what other choice do we have? Reason over irrationality has always been what’s grounded my belief system and world view.   That was my record as the state’s youngest school board member when I lived in Livonia, Michigan (in the Clarenceville School District). It was also my record as a member of the Flint City Council and reflects my approach to presently serving as the Genesee County Commissioner for the 8th District. 

"As we all know, there will be disagreements — sometimes very deep ones — but I continue to believe the vast majority of people act (and want their public officials to act) based on good will and human decency. After all, extreme rhetoric, fabrications about other people, and over-the-top politics is, by definition, out of the mainstream and I think unwelcome by reasonable and serious individuals.

" At the age of 18, I defeated a man who eventually became a good friend and who subsequently returned to the Board of Education through an appointment which I advocated for. I recently attended his wife’s funeral in Livonia, the three of us being friends for thirty-five years now.   

"In 2009, I defeated for Flint City Council a woman who is my dear friend to this day, Denise Smith Allen. I love her and her husband, Fred. After becoming the 7th Ward City Councilperson, I nominated Denise to be the Ward’s member of the City of Flint Planning Commission. She accepted and served us well.   

"When I won my County Commission election in November 2022, my opponent Meredith Davis called me the morning of the final vote tallies and left me a message of congratulations that I still have in my voicemail today. We later had lunch together and I asked for her thoughts and guidance as I began my new role.

"This year, as I run for re-election to the Genesee County Commission, I’ve been at events in my district with the gentleman who will be my Republican opponent in November, Mr. Dennis Kramer. We always greet each other warmly and introduce one another to our respective acquaintances on these occasions as 'Opponents, not enemies.' Mr. Kramer has also called me his 'brother in Christ' for which I am grateful. He is a decent human being who wants to serve his community. I am grateful for that as well.   

"When I taught Political Science courses at Mott Community College for a dozen years, I would define 'politics' for my students as the interactions, agreements, and disagreements that inevitably occur between two or more people who live in the same physical space. Laws and government are in place to channel these interactions into either compromise or an agreement to disagree (with the minority, having lost, able to take their case to the electorate at the next election).  We can compromise — or agree to disagree with majority rule and minority rights — without resorting to violence against the other party. 

"We can and should also advocate for the rule of law in all circumstances.   We in the United States do not see to destroy our political opponents by assassination or by overturning elections we have lost through violence.   We can and should hold each other accountable for our policy views, our decisions, and our behaviors without violating the rule of law. We do this through vigorous debate and discussion, seeking to demonstrate the merit of our positions to our fellow citizens.  I continue to believe this is the view of the vast majority in our community and our country regardless of their political ideology.   

"As Abraham Lincoln (a man who would be assassinated by a political extremist four years later) said in his first Inaugural Address:  'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'” 

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Sunday, July 14, 2024 Column

 A young man with his pants hanging half off his butt, two gold front teeth and a half inch thick gold chain around his neck; walked into the local welfare office to pick up his check.

He marched up to the counter and said, "Hi. You know, I just HATE drawing welfare. I'd really rather have a job. I don't like taking advantage of the system, getting something for nothing."

The social worker behind the counter said "Your timing is excellent. We Just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur and bodyguard for his beautiful daughter. You'll have to drive around in his 2012 Mercedes-Benz CL, and he will supply all o f your clothes. And because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You'll also be expected to escort the daughter on her overseas holiday trips. This is rather awkward to say, but you will also have, as part of your job, the assignment to satisfy her sexual urges as the daughter is in her mid-20's and has a rather strong sex drive." 

The guy, just plain wide-eyed, said, "You're bull******** me!"

The social worker's reply: "Yeah, well... You started it pal."

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Saturday, July 13, 2024 Column

Today's column includes a special request. I need my prayer warriors to inspire generosity in the hearts of my friends and our readers.

Proverbs 22:9 tells us  "A generous man will be blessed" and I need that precious thought in everyone's head as you read today's pitch to chip in with the kind of community spirit only our community can produce. 

Picture the old Jerry Lewis telethon money board spinning digits as they neared the goal. We need to raise the rest of $12,000 needed for a special family dealing with the most devastating loss a parent can face — burying a child.

Dave Dohrman of Foutch's Strike Zone passed on the sad news via e-mail: "So sad to report the passing of Randy Klomp... we will miss him at the Strike Zone... he's playing on God's team now "

Randall James Klomp II passed away on July 4.

His funeral is set for this morning at 11 o'clock.

The Gaines resident was only 16 and I remember saying prayers a few times for him as friends in the local baseball community rallied to raise money to support his family during their child's battle with brain cancer.

I wasn't able to donate then because I was fighting my own serious health battle. A bout with COVID put me in dialysis near death for 14 months until God delivered a life-saving kidney transplant to on Dec. 29 at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor.

I'm back to work now with a radio show full of commercials.

That's why I checked out all the donations and noticed that $300 was the highest gift so far. God directed me to top that by a dollar to inspire everyone I know to bless this family with a gift.

I'm sure many can afford to give a lot more than me. If it's only $5, do it. But if you can afford $100, $250, $500 or $1,000 — please bless this family.

While so many parents spend thousands to support their kids in travel ball, travel hockey or whatever passion they love — Randy's dad was forced to sell his house to support his child's fight to live. Think about that for a minute.

I know the struggles of being sick with expensive co-pays on what I thought was great insurance. Friends and old players I've coached dug into their pockets to pour thousands into my wife's hands to navigate us through our darkest days as I spent most of my waking hours flat on my back after they did their best act to suck the life out of me three times every week in a dialysis chair.

The love I felt from such generosity from so many was a blessing like I've never felt before.

Many told me they didn't know me but loved how I've used my columns and my radio shows to fight public corruption and to occasionally raise money for community members in need. I fondly remember a note from one guy my listeners raised money for many years ago to send his son to a big sports honor he had qualified for out of state, but the single dad couldn't afford to get him there.

"Hey Mike, $20 is all I can afford but I'm praying for you man," he wrote.

A simple post on Facebook asking for prayers as I headed for Ann Arbor to get my transplant at 4 am after a surprise 10:30 pm call one night led to literally hundreds of calls to my office line, texts to my cell, messages on my cell, notes on Messenger and e-mails. All sent prayers.

In fact, I later learned during a 15-day stint at UM Hospital to begin my recovery process that more than 100 churches in our community asked for prayers for me on that first Sunday morning.

Several people I didn't know very well called to pray with me.

Tomorrow at church, please pray for this family who has lost their child. Direct your friends to TheDailyGazette.net to find a link within today's column to donate what you can to help.

If a prayer is all you can send, please bless this family.

This family has lost everything. Forget the house. Forget all the money for Randy's hospital bills. They lost their precious little boy.

I can't imagine how you find the energy to fight back from such tragedy.

 Psalm 34:18 tells us "the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

Money can help this family move forward to help them cope with moving on. As Matthew 5:4 tells us in our worst moments of grief: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Let's comfort this family.

Let's raise way above what they're asking for in a friend's recent post which was simply to cover today's funeral expenses.

Just recently, a Go Fund Me Account was launched and has already raised nearly $5,000 of a $12,000 goal. Click on that link above and give what you can to help Randy's family.

The most recent post read:

* Update July 4, 2024 *

Tonight Randy left us all to become an Angel of God. I hope he makes everyone as happy in heaven as he made everyone here on this earth. God bless you, we will always love you and never forget you ! . If you haven’t already, please help this family lay their son to rest. Thank you.

Here was his pitch for help a few days earlier:

Hi, my name is Frank Kiacz and I am asking for those around me for help, I am honored to have the opportunity to meet one of God’s brightest stars, Randy Klomp. Randy is a 16-year-old young man that has an infectious smile and laugh that can brighten anyone’s day. From being a great human being to a great baseball player, that was Randy For those of you that know the story know that last fall Randy became ill with a horrible brain tumor. Randy went through painful surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation over the past several months, but this cancer is relentless and it won’t let Randy go. At the time of this writing, Randy only has days, perhaps hours left before God reclaims one of his greatest brightest stars. I’m asking for help for his family and the upcoming funeral arrangements and a memorial service. The family has no burial coverage and the family has lost nearly everything over the past year, including his father having to sell his home. I’m asking for a small bit of charity and asking for people to do the right thing to help with Randy's transition to the hands of God so if you could find it in your heart to donate a little bit to this cause myself and Randy‘s family would greatly appreciate this forever The world is a better place because we got to know you, Randy. Soon heaven will be too. Thank you in advance Frank

Kiss your kids or grandkids tonight.

Think of Randy's family as they prepare for the worst day of their lives today when they are forced to say good-bye to a young man described in his obituary as a "ray of sunshine" who "showed everyone around him how positivity can shine bright in a hole of darkness."

Let's brighten that hole of darkness for his family by visiting that Go Fund Me to make a special gift of what you can afford.

Not convinced so far to help?

I dare you to read the obituary:

KLOMP, Randall J. II was born on October 31st, 2007, also known as Halloween. He passed 16 years later on the 4th of July. He was a kid worth celebrating and he made sure we knew that. Randall was born in Slidell, Louisiana, the son of Randall J. Klomp and Tammy Sue Morris. He was an outstanding student and athlete at Swartz Creek Public Schools where he showed his achievements through his grades and his favorite sport, baseball. His passion was the game of baseball and he never failed to amaze everyone around him with his hard work and discipline for the sport. Earning varsity letters because of his dedication and pure love. Randy also loved gaming and computers. He could do anything he wanted with technology from a very early age. Randy had a heart of gold and a humor that made him one of a kind. He would have done anything for his kittens. No matter how much he grew and how busy life got, he never lost his love for animals. He loved to spend time with his family and his life long best friends, Jonah and Jacob. He was a ray of sunshine and showed everyone around him how positivity can shine bright in a hole of darkness. From Halloween of 2007 until the Fourth of July, 2024 he made an impact to those around him and never failed to put a smile on a face. Surviving are; father, Randall J. Klomp of Swartz Creek; mother, Tammy Sulkowski of Gaines; siblings, Timothy Morris of Kalkaska, Stephanie Bender of East Jordan, and Christopher Arender of Swartz Creek; Grandfather, James Klomp; and Grandmother, Jordan Wilson. He was proceeded in death by: grandparents, Betty and Thomas Campbell; brother, Adam Arender; Uncle, Jeff Morris; Grandmothers, Faith Klomp and Rhonda Klomp. Funeral services will be held 11 AM Saturday, July 13, 2024 at Sharp Funeral Homes, Miller Road Chapel, 8138 Miller Rd., Swartz Creek, MI 48473.

Visitation was Thursday and Friday. Burial will follow at Glen Eden Memorial Park in Livonia,

Tributes may be shared at www.sharpfuneralhomes.com 

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Friday, July 12, 2024 Column

Joe Biden needed a powerful performance on stage to welcome nations to the NATO summit.

Then it was last night's big press conference to take questions from the media.

Media reports had spent the last 48 hours telling us how Biden needed to shine to save his political career as a growing number from his own party are calling on President Biden to bow out of the race against Donald Trump.

His fallout after the disaster at the debate continued, however, as the leader of the free world took to the stage with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin" in a gaffe that the media has mostly ignored.

President Putin?

Give Zelensky credit for restraint. You could see in his eyes that he wanted to strangle Biden for calling him by the name of the President of Russia who has been trying to wipe his nation off the face of the earth. 

Don't forget that our nation told the Ukraine many years ago that if they gave up their zest for nuclear weapons, we would always be there to protect them. Yet, Biden hasn't kept America's promise.

Zelensky is at the NATO summit begging for help to stave off the Russians.

In my book, it's a gaffe that should ramp up on calls for Biden to get out of the race against Trump if Democrats want to win in November.

Then last night Joe Biden told America why he picked Trump as his Vice President.

If the debate wasn't bad enough, this had to be the last straw for members of Congress who fear losing their re-election bids with Biden at the top of the ticket with his low poll numbers and continued embarrassing gaffes.

The number yesterday was 13 in his party saying he should bow out. It's up to 17 today and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer suggested yesterday, too, that it might not be a bad idea for Uncle Joe to get a cognitive test. If she can convince him to do that today when she sees him during a visit in Detroit, Gretch might just find herself at the top of the ticket soon.

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.

Thursday, July 11, 2024 Column

The latest scandal for the UAW won't help Joe Biden's chances to beat Donald Trump.

A motion was filed in federal court yesterday for monitor Neil Barofsky to get his hands on key documents related to several investigations into continued wrongdoing at the international offices of the United Auto Workers in Detroit.

Barofsky was the attorney assigned by a federal judge to keep an eye on the UAW after the corruption scandal that resulted in 15 convictions, including Dennis William who was the UAW's president from 2014 to 2018. 

It seems Barofsky is asking the federal court to clarify its consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department on whether UAW leaders can withhold what they contend is "confidential and privileged information" being requested by its court-appointed monitor.

With all the corruption and prison sentences, I'm guessing we already know what a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is gonna say.

It won't be good for Joe Biden who wants union workers in the UAW to trust their leaders who endorsed him. How do UAW workers vote for a guy  endorsed by union leaders they continue not to be able to trust?

A report filed last month by Barofsky disclosed an investigation into current UAW President Shawn Fain for alleged retaliation against Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock for claims she misused her treasury powers and an unnamed regional director for potential embezzlement.

Now we learn from the Detroit Free Press today that Fain is being accused of steering UAW funds to his fiancee and her sister.

UAW top boss Fain has argued that Barofsky can't see "confidential and privileged information" and I guess any UAW money steered to benefit his fiancee and her sister fits into that category as far as he's concerned.

Whoever is advising Shawn Fain to hide any documents either knows he's guilty or needs a basic lesson in PR 101. After trust in your union is rocked by a scandal where top leaders go to the slammer for stealing UAW funds, you don't let a court-appointed monitor be forced to file in court to get his hands on stuff he wants to see.

It smacks of "guilty" and begs the question of who the next leader will be?

If today's court filing is any indication, Shawn Fain needs new employment soon.

An attorney for the UAW (Harold Gurewitz) wrote in his response to the court filing as follows: "The monitor’s request amounts to a takeover of the UAW’s computer and email systems, giving the monitor access to all of the union’s electronic information."

Yep, I think that's fair after so many previous UAW leaders stole hard-earned money of their workers.

The Detroit Free Press story today said a UAW spokesman "declined to comment on the filing" by Barofsky.

That ought to build trust with your 391,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in more than 600 local unions that allows you to sit on assets that total just over $1 billion. 

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Mike Killbreath appears on Metro Flint News/Talk Radio via The Morning Gazette Radio Show weekday mornings from 8 am until 9:30 am. He's an award-winning newspaper columnist and investigative reporter who is the former long-time owner of the local Metro Flint area chain of 14 community newspapers. This fall will be his 50th year as a journalist. He also hosts a new weekly national TV show known as The American Crusaders on cable TV and various OTT TV live streaming platforms.