In Lansing today, the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration have online resources available for businesses to better follow Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s latest Executive Order. This order requires workers and customers in all businesses open to the public wear a mask while inside or in crowded spaces. Anyone who fails to comply must be refused service. Anyone violating the executive order is guilty of a misdemeanor and could pay a fine up to $500.00.
Businesses now must post signs instructing customers it is now illegal to enter without wearing a face covering. A printable poster is available online along with fact sheets, posters, guidelines, videos, and reopening checklist to keep workers and workspace safe during the pandemic. Jeff Donofrio, Director of LEO stated:
“By requiring everyone in their establishment to mask up, Michigan businesses can help keep their employees, workplaces and customers safe. Employers who violate the Governor’s Executive Orders, CDC guidance and OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID19 create additional hazards for workers and put the public at risk. We all must do our part to prevent the spread of this virus.”
The effectiveness of face coverings has been proven in studies such as one conducted in Germany during their response to slowing down infection of COVID in their population. The University of Washington provided scientific evidence that if 95% of the population wore masks in public, it could save the lives of 40,000 Americans. Goldman Sachs found that if the US required everyone to wear a mask, it would spare the nation’s GDP by 5 percent.
A list of best practices that employees need to use to protect themselves and their customers include:
For questions about workplace safety contact MIOSHA by calling 855-723-3219. To learn more about protecting Michigan’s workforce during the pandemic or visit Michigan.gov/COVIDWorkplaceSafety. You can find more information on staying safe during the COVID pandemic at Mask Up Michigan.
Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at michigan.gov/coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
Michigan’s schoolchildren may have missed receiving required vaccinations during the COVID_19 pandemic that forced closing down the state’s schools to keep students and school staff safe. Today the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reminds parents now is the time to vaccinate children before the 2020-2021 school year begins.
It is crucial this school year for any students attending classes in person be up to date on their vaccinations. More Michiganders risk contracting preventable diseases without vaccinations. The CDC published a study in May that provided evidence that COVID_19 has significantly lowered routine vaccinations in the state. A Michigan study shows that less than half of 5-month-olds are up to date. Only half of the children between the ages of 1 to 3 years olds have all of their immunizations.
“It is concerning that so many children are behind on their vaccinations and susceptible to preventable diseases,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at MDHHS. “Vaccines are essential. It is important for caregivers to contact their healthcare provider and get children caught up on needed vaccines.”
The CDC urges parents to make sure their children’s vaccinations are caught up as soon as possible. With COVID, other seasonal diseases such as the flu will make the usual rounds with colder weather. All medical facilities have maintained the required essential routines for keeping visitors safe when they visit their doctor or other health care provider. Reducing the risk of children getting sick this school year needs to be a top priority for parents as they prepare for the new school year. Khaldun strongly encourages everyone who needs a flu shot this fall get one.
Parents who know their children need immunizations or are not sure should contact their medical clinic as soon as possible. If a lack of insurance or paying for vaccines is a problem, Michigan Vaccines for Children will immunize children up to 18 years who are eligible for Medicaid, uninsured, under-insured, American Indian, or Alaskan Native.
Parents can also contact their local health department for more information or assistance. Call ahead, as health departments are limiting services due to COVID.
MDHHS and the IVaccinate campaign work together to help parents protect their children from preventable diseases.
Dear fine people who put their lives on the line every day keeping essential businesses and services open during a global pandemic that parts of the United States can’t seem to shake off: If someone approaches your place of employment brandishing one of the cards shown above there is no such thing as the FTB Agency and this is an act of fraud. Yes, they have the ADA toll free number on the card and a very official-looking federal bureau logo too. It’s bullshit. Anyone showing up with it demanding to come inside is also committing fraud. Escort them out.
So who or what is this agency demanding the freedom to expose people paid poverty wages with no health insurance to COVID-19?
They’re fake! FTB stands for “freedom to breathe.” The FTB Agency doesn’t exist except as a Facebook group and now offline website. Here is a sample of what was there:
IMPORTANCE OF BREATHING 1IMPO
Breathing is a vital biological activity to physical and emotional well being.
OXYGEN IS No.1 NUTRIENT for every living organasm [sic] including humans.
Wearing a face mask is an unhealthy obstruction of oxygen flow that can lead to hypoxemia (low oxygen level in the blood) and hypoxia (low oxygen level in the tissue). Both of these conditions are health threatening and can permanently damage the brain, lungs, heart and about any other organ.
Wearing a face mask has also very important effect on our psychology. It is a psychological anchor for suppression, enslavement and cognitive obedience. When you wear a mask you are complicit in declaring all humans as dangerous, infectious and threats. How long do you think it will be before your social engineers tell you that talking spreads the virus farther ….and they forbid talking?
How long before your human farmers trick you into believing that it is better you stop breathing altogether….as to stop the spread of a virus?
All sold as being for your health and safety. You are being conned and your compliance makes the con a reality.
REJECT THE MIND CONTROL AND UNSLAVE
We must protect our birth right to breathe. This is NOT negotiable. FTBA is an agency designed to stop face mask orders and human rights oppression from spreading nationwide and globally.
There is this idiotic notion that somehow wearing a piece of cloth over your mouth and nose blocks oxygen to the point your organs shut down. Along with the physical risk, there is a mental risk for wearing a mask, which for all we know could be fogging up your glasses and tripping. Or maybe the 5G will get trapped inside and give you cancer while your body shuts down from lack of oxygen.
Who are the people behind this nonsense?
The cards, Facebook group, and website are the fever dream of Lenka Koloma and Fred DiDomenico. Both live in California, a state where new COVID-19 cases have recently spiked, and both insist wearing a mask is government tyranny. Watch Lenka as she strolls into a Costco and lies to the staff at the door she can’t wear one.
Once inside, she smirks at the other shoppers giving her dirty looks and rants about the mask nazi employee who always tells her to get out. She also mentions you should carry the card just in case.
About that card … It didn’t take long for someone to notice that FTB Agency isn’t a real government agency, and putting the toll-free number for the ADA on the card in an attempt to make it look official flagged something, because the website is gone, the Facebook group is private, and Lenka and Fred haven’t posted on Facebook since yesterday.
Oops.
Here are the facts. COVID-19 is real. It is a killer. The only time you’re deprived of oxygen is if you contract the virus and it feels as if your lungs are full of cement as they fill with fluid and you can’t take a deep breath.
Despite what some orange bunker bitches are saying, the summer heat will not make COVID-19 disappear. The longer selfish and stupid people insist they don’t need a mask or to social distance, the more people are going to get sick and die.
Wear the mask. Wash your hands. Keep six feet away from other people as much as you can. Stay home as much as possible. Give the people working out there for too little money and likely no health care coverage a break from you breathing on them. Thank you.
On May 19, 2020, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced all registered voters in Michigan would receive an absentee ballot application in the mail. Voters in the state gratefully cheered the announcement, as many worry about standing in line voting in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forcing people to stand in line, like Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin did during their 2020 primary only to spread the virus to more people.
Not everyone however received an application in the mail. If you are one of those people, you can still apply for an absentee ballot by doing so online. Fortunately, it’s possible to apply for absentee ballots for August 4, 2020, primary, and the November 3, 2020, general election.
There are two ways to apply for an absentee ballot on the Secretary of State website. You can download the application and letter, fill it out, and mail it in., OR you can fill out the form on the SOS website. If you choose to fill out the paper form and mail it in, you will need to mail it to your county clerk. Applications must be received by 5:00 PM the Friday before election day. To vote in the August 4, 2020, primary, the county clerk must receive your application no later than July 31, 2020.
Voting is the right of all Americans. It’s the responsibility of local and state governments to ensure everyone can vote and remain safe from exposer to COVID-19. Despite Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s excellent handling of the pandemic in Michigan, predictions of another rise in cases in the fall are plausible. Voting from home and mailing in our ballots is the safest and responsible thing to do this election year.
Yesterday, June 2, 2020, The Glen Arbor Sun published an article exposing more information about the April 15, 2020, political stunt 101st State House Rep Jack O’Malley orchestrated to coordinate with Betsy DeVos’s astroturfed “Operation Gridlock” Trump rally at the state capital in Lansing. The day before, four Michigan Sheriffs signed a press release stating they would use their own discretion by not strictly enforcing Governor Whitmer’s stay at home executive order.
According to the Sun, the sheriffs of Benzie, Leelanau, Manistee, and Mason counties went to State Representative Jack O’Malley (R-Dog Man) seeking advice after the Michigan State Police arrested two people hiking in a state park. Why the sheriffs chose to go to Jack O’Malley as a higher authority instead of say, the Attorney General or even the Governor, at first may seem like a mystery, but once you know one small detail, it really isn’t.
Jack O’Malley, who spent hours posting video rants against Governor Whitmer for a week before “Operation Gridlock” admits in his April 14, 2020 video he had a phone conference with Sheriffs Mike Borkovich, Ted Schendel, Ken Falk, and Kim Cole. They discussed the arrest made by the state police. Jack then says the county sheriffs weren’t going to make arrests like the MSP and urged listeners not to worry about it.
The very next day, the news broke all over northern Michigan, the state, the country, and even some international media that four sheriffs had no intention of enforcing Governor Whitmer’s legal executive order. Thanks to the Glen Arbor Sun we now know the press release from the four sheriffs originated from Jack O’Malley’s office.
“As Sheriff’s of Michigan’s 101st House District, comprising of Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee, and Mason Counties, we write today to inform the public of our opposition to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders. Strict enforcement of these orders will not take place during this coronavirus outbreak within our respective communities. Governor Whitmer has overstepped her constitutional grounds and created a vague framework of emergency laws that only confuse Michigan citizens. Operating a motorized boat remains illegal while the purchasing of liquor and lottery tickets is deemed “essential.” Our governor is flying a ship while building it at the same time and we as sheriffs question the legality of many of her executive orders.”
Jack sent this email on to the sheriffs, who toned it down considerably before releasing it to the press on April 15, 2020. Just in time for the Michigan Militia, Proud Boys, III Percenters, and Trump lovers arrived in Lansing on Betsy DeVos’s dime to block a hospital and shut down public transit for hours.
Despite Attorney General Dana Nessel’s warning to these four sheriffs, additional sheriffs, and even a judge who would join them later, the idea that county sheriffs have the authority to override legal orders at the state level goes against state and federal law. Did Jack O’Malley know that three of the four sheriffs belonged to the CSPOA, an organization that espouses the false belief that the county sheriff is the highest legal authority in the United States? Did Jack see an opportunity to ignite insubordination with county law enforcement to win partisan political hit points against Governor Whitmer? This is the small detail one needs to know to understand where these sheriffs are coming from.
The CSPOA was founded by Richard Mack. A quick internet search would lead you to many articles about this former sheriff and 90’s militia movement member who likes to associate with the John Birch Society and other figures responsible for past organizations such as Posse Comitatus, and some truly scary people they trace their origins.
It seems fitting that the Glen Arbor Sun published their article this week. The Black Lives Matter movement picked up momentum and sparked a nationwide protest to put an end to hate, bigotry, and senseless murder of black people in the United States. The protests exposed the truth about America’s modern law enforcement and the bigotry that permeates the police force across the U.S.. Michigan and many other states in the US already demand reforms take place in law enforcement to ensure our police work to protect, not terrorize citizens living in their communities regardless of race.
This fall our county sheriffs are all up for re-election. Public forums and debates will take place where citizens have the opportunity to ask these sheriffs questions. One question all 83 sheriffs in Michigan need to answer is if they are a member of the CSPOA and vote accordingly when they give their answer.
It’s time for Jack O’Malley to answer some tough questions too.
Michigan United For Liberty, a grassroots organization of over 9,000 members in Michigan, has canceled its Michiganders’ Marketplace “Sunday Funday” freedom celebration at the Michigan Capitol, which had been scheduled for 1pm on Sunday the 31st.
The decision was immediately made when the group was informed that another group of demonstrators plans to descend on the Capitol that same day, ostensibly to protest the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Despite Chauvin’s immediate firing, subsequent arrest, and the President announcing a Justice Department investigation into the incident, rioters in Minneapolis robbed and burned innocent businesses to the ground, overran a police precinct, assaulted officers, and committed other acts of senseless violence.
“We will not allow our message of peaceful, law-abiding, positive resistance to be conflated with the violent and unlawful actions of unrelated groups, and we cannot ask our members and supporters to put themselves in harm’s way,” said MUFL spokesman Adam de Angeli. “We will not be associated with political terrorism in any manner.”
While Michigan United For Liberty acknowledges the seriousness of the issue of police brutality, the group is committed to – and must remain focused on – ending Governor Whitmer’s unconstitutional lockdown orders that are destroying the lives and livelihoods of Michiganders with every passing day. Regrettably, the organization sees no possibility of its positive message being clearly conveyed with another protest happening at the same place and time.
Instead, Michigan United For Liberty encourages its members carry out the spirit of the scheduled event – opposing and defying the governor’s unconstitutional lockdown orders – on Sunday by going to church, getting together with friends, and being productive members of society.
“Our movement honors the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who understood that only through non-violence can we achieve justice,” de Angeli continued. “We had hoped to send that message once again with an upbeat freedom celebration on Sunday afternoon, but given the circumstances, it’s clearly better that we simply move forward, roll out our legislative program and grassroots leadership program, and steer clear of this danger.
“Our movement is of creators – workers, builders, artists, doctors, entrepreneurs – united against the governor’s destructive orders. The risk of getting mixed up with potentially violent protesters over a separate issue is just not worth it.”
AHEM
Simply amazing with all of their bravado, bluster, getting their Facebook pages yanked for flagrant death threats to the Governor, they run away as soon as protesters show up with a real reason to protest. Never forget their lord and savior Trump told our Governor to work with these “very fine people” but the protesters now taking the streets across the US are thugs.
photo credits: Some of these photos come from the Detroit Free Press, others MLive, and some from Anna Liz Nichol. If you see your image here without proper credit, drop Up North Progressive a line. Thank you.
A 56-year-old man in Chippewa County was arraigned on May 20, 2020 in the 91st District Court with 125 misdemeanor charges. Kurt Johnston Duncan faces fines and jail time for illegally killing wildlife, including wolves and bald eagles.
Animals illegally killed include 18 wolves and two bald eagles. Wolves are protected in Michigan through the federal endangered species list. Bald eagles are protected by state law and the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Duncan’s arraignment included multiple poaching charges for deer, turkey, bear, and bobcat.
Duncan illegally killed the animals for making and selling crafts. He told the judge he killed so many animals because he could and he “likes to do it.” He also illegally hunted animals just to kill and dispose of them.
Chief Gary Hagler of the DNR Law Enforcement Division shared the process of how they investigated Duncan’s crimes.
“Investigations like this require a long-term commitment from everyone involved. I want to thank the prosecutors in this case who worked with our officers. We are happy with the outcome and hope this case sets an example to prevent future natural resource crimes.”
With collecting and providing evidence to Duncan’s case, DNR officers identified more suspects will face charges in the future.
If convicted, Duncan will face penalties of:
Duncan is free on a $500 bond. His bond includes no hunting or fishing, possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon, or have contact with any of his co-defendants.