Tales Of The New Crown: No One Wants To Speak Upon The Fear Of Losing Your Children

The only other option is for Child Protective Services snatch your children and place them in Foster Care.

If this mother came out of Foster Care, she will do whatever she has to do to save her children's lives.

Michigan shredded the social safety net, then stole whatever else was left for an opportunity to live and put it in the Genessee County Land Bank.

Then, it must be taken into consideration that this mother was a victim of war, in the intentional poisoning of the water in Flint, along with making them pay outrageously fraudulent rates.

No one is talking about this population because it is part of the culture of survival.

A kid has got to eat, you know.

The Elected Ones shall continue to remain silent as they eat each other alive to cover up stealin' the children, land & vote.

*Priorities*

Sheriff: COVID19 layoff leads young mother into prostitution

FLINT, Mich. - Even through the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing, their G.H.O.S.T operations continue.

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson says a deputy was monitoring a local website known for prostitution, when they came across an advertisement that was out of the ordinary.

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The picture was a 21-year-old woman soliciting herself for sex, but there was a child in the corner of the picture, according to Swanson.

Swanson says they started their investigation immediately.

"We communicated with this person who was advertising, we used one of our undercover officers to make the date," he said. "It was in a local hotel outside the city of Flint."

When team members got in the hotel room, they found the woman, as well as a two-year-old and an 11-month old asleep on the bed.

Deputies say the woman had been soliciting herself for about a month, since being laid off from her job at a fast food restaurant in the wake of COVID19.

Swanson called it a criminal act out of desperation.

"There are people because of this COVID that are going to be impacted not because of the virus, but because it's taken everything away from them," Swanson said. "So we did what we know if best and we switched into a different mode of enforcement. "

Child Protective Services was able to get involved and they are getting the woman a mentor.

According to Swanson, Hurley Medical Center staff will take her to the food pantry and get her therapy.

Voices For Children Advocacy Center in Flint is going to provide diapers, food and clothing for the kids. They are also working to find them more permanent housing.

Sheriff Swanson wants the public to know, if you are struggling, especially in the wake of recent events, you have options instead of turning to criminal activity.

He says in the worst case scenario, you can always call 911.

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Richard Baird Was Summoned By Jordan Chariton For A Leaky Flint Water Transcript Legal Psyoptic

A very interesting leak, I see!

Now, whoever would do such a thing?

I know Jordan Chariton was just talking about this very same thing not so long ago.

Jordan was talking alot about Richard Baird.

Jordan was also talking about how VICE would not pick up his work.

Jordan never shared his information with the Michigan State Police or the FBI, or with anyone else, for that matter, because, I guess, he wants the scoop, where I believe Richard Baird may become the sacrificial lamb to cover up all the stealin' the children, land & vote up there in Genessee County Land Bank territory, but, hey, what do I know.

I know this is about to get juicy, because Kym Worthy, as word delivered to me, is not in a happy place right about now.

I wonder how Fadwa Hammoud is doing?

Todd Flood was working with Andy Arena.

Where is Andy?

Who else had their hands on these transcripts?

Who was the transcription service?

Just asking.

Perhaps, someone should ask Jordan.

Someone should ask Kym and Fadwa how come they are not focusing on all that stuff about all the contracts and land bank stuff.....oh, drats, I forgot, if they did that, they would implicate themselves in what was going on in Wayne County and all those properties that just so happened to end up in the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

My bad.

Release of 'confidential' transcripts concerns Flint water investigators

Lansing — Prosecutors involved in Flint's water investigation believe someone illegally provided confidential interview transcripts featuring aides to former Gov. Rick Snyder to a media outlet.

VICE News cited transcripts of interviews with multiple former officials, including Richard Baird, in a wide-ranging April 16 expose on the Snyder administration handling of lead-tainted water in Flint. Then, on Thursday, the Detroit Metro Times published another story by the reporters of the VICE piece with the full transcripts of the Baird interviews.

A new prosecution team appointed by Attorney General Dana Nessel continues to investigate the water crisis. Courtney Covington, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said the prosecution team has "grave concerns about the unauthorized disclosure of investigative subpoena transcripts."

"Investigative subpoenas are, by statute, confidential, and their release without a court order is a violation of the law," Covington said. "Such conduct obstructs the investigation that the people of Flint are entitled to and threatens to jeopardize our pursuit of justice."

However, she wouldn't comment on whether prosecutors were investigating the leak.

The transcripts detail interviews between Todd Flood, who previously led the Flint water prosecution team under former Attorney General Bill Schuette, and Baird from February and March 2017.


Baird was previously Snyder's transformation manager. Snyder and Schuette left office at the end of 2018.

The interview transcripts featuring Baird are marked "highly confidential." And in one of the documents, Flood specifically tells Baird, "This is confidential. It's that simple. So I keep it confidential."

The transcript  "doesn't go anywhere" and is "sealed into an evidence room upstairs," Flood adds at another point.

Citing VICE's reporting, Metro Times alleged "prosecutors were investigating alleged attempts by Baird to pay off sick, publicly outspoken Flint residents with offers that included state-funded medical treatment, expanded Medicaid and home infrastructure replacements for pipes and water heaters damaged by Flint River water."

Randall L. Levine, Baird's attorney, said in a statement to The Detroit News on Monday that claims in the articles about Baird "are false based upon presumption and wrongly place him in a false light."

Baird had been informed that he was not a target of the government’s investigation, Levine said. And Baird voluntarily appeared for the interviews and did not claim privilege as he had nothing to hide, the attorney said.

As for the release of the transcripts, Levine said it "appears the only way such documents could have been leaked would be by the government, which is extremely troubling."

"By law, confidential information obtained by the prosecution including testimony and documents secured pursuant to investigative subpoena cannot be available for inspection or divulged and are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act," Levine added.

One year ago this month, Nessel's office removed Flood from leading Flint water prosecution.

On Monday, Flood said he had no idea how the transcripts of his interview with Baird became public. But he acknowledged their release was "absolutely" an illegal act.

"I share the concerns of unauthorized disclosures of confidential material," Flood said in a statement. "I am not in a position to know why someone would do such a reckless act to disclose protected material."

Last year, Nessel removed Flood from the prosecution team. Nessel ordered criminal charges dismissed from the past investigation.

Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym  Worthy are now leading the prosecution team. On April 17, they promised criminal charges are still coming and that the criminal statute of limitations and the coronavirus pandemic will not stop them.

VICE says its new reporting into the Flint water crisis spanned "a year and a half across the state of Michigan."

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OVERSIGHT: Cummings Calls Snyder Back Over Flint

It is my belief that Snyder's advisors lied to him.

Snyder was rejected by the Michigan Democratic Party for a candidate no one could even pronounce his name let alone pick him out of a line up.

Engler and Corrigan advised Snyder.

This should be interesting to see what is flushed out in testimony because Nestle' funded Snyder's legal defense, after only having to pay $200 for a permit to expand water production, while Flint water rates skyrocketed.

Snyder said Nestle "followed the rules as they exist" and that Michigan's water withdrawal fee structure is an "issue for the legislature to decide."

But the legislative bodies refuse to make law which becomes another transposable model.

Cummings is ready to bring Snyder back before Congress over Flint

Washington — The incoming chairman of the House Oversight committee said he's likely to bring Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder back before Congress after Democrats take control of the House next year.

"I'm not done with Flint," U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings said Friday at the U.S. Capitol.

Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, is set to take the helm of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in January, which will give him subpoena power and the authority to call hearings and reopen the panel's investigation into the Flint lead-contaminated water crisis.

Snyder testified before the committee in March 2016, where Cummings and other committee Democrats called for his resignation.

Cummings later raised questions over whether the governor lied in his testimony about when he learned about the 2014-15 Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the Flint area after hearing of contradictory testimony in an involuntary manslaughter preliminary exam by Snyder's urban issues adviser.

"It is very difficult for me to sleep at night with what happened and continues to happen to Flint — that wonderful municipality," Cummings told The Detroit News.

"I know that much has been done with regard to Attorney General Bill Schuette, but there are still questions as to whether the governor was completely honest with us when he appeared before our committee. I would love to at some point — soon — see him come back to address the committee's concerns."

Cummings said he's not sure yet when that could happen, but "we cannot let go."

"We must do everything in our power to make sure something like this never happens again, and we must also make sure the people of Flint are not forgotten," Cummings added.

"The damage that has been done to many of Flint's children will have negative impacts on their lives until they die."

Snyder's office declined to comment Friday. The Republican governor leaves office at the end of December and would be a private citizen if he were to be called to testify again.

Schuette's special prosecutor has charged two Snyder health officials with involuntary manslaughter and other crimes.

Two state-appointed emergency managers also have been criminally charged, as have four current and former Department of Environmental Quality officials.

In his March 2016 testimony, Snyder accepted responsibility for not questioning the conclusions of state experts on Flint's water quality after the city shifted its water source from the Detroit area water system to the Flint River.

But the governor blamed DEQ officials for not telling him about lead-contaminated water, maintaining he did not know about elevated lead levels until shortly before he announced an action plan in October 2015.

He insisted that he did not learn about an outbreak of deadly Legionnaires’ disease until January 2016.

Currently the top Democrat on the House Oversight committee, Cummings last year asked Republicans leading the panel to subpoena Snyder to direct him to comply "in full" with the panel's bipartisan request for documents relating to the Flint crisis.

Cummings has been particularly interested in documents relating to when Snyder became aware of concerns relating to Flint's outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, a deadly form of pneumonia that killed 12 people and sickened dozens of others in Genesee County in 2014-15.

After a top aide contradicted Snyder's statements to the Oversight panel, committee leaders last year asked Snyder about his congressional testimony that he first learned about the Legionnaires' concerns in January 2016.

Urban affairs aide Harvey Hollins had testified that he informed the governor about the Legionnaires’ outbreak in December 2015 but didn't indicate what he specifically told Snyder about the Legionnaires’ cases.

Snyder stuck by his testimony, but that didn't satisfy Cummings and other Democrats.

Snyder's office has said it provided the Oversight committee with tens of thousands of pages of records, in addition to documents from the state's attorney general, health and environmental departments.

Former House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, closed the panel's Flint inquiry in December 2016 over the objections of Cummings, who called the move premature and "inconceivable" at the time.

Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, endorsed Cummings' plan to re-examine the Flint crisis, calling it a "man-made disaster caused by the state of Michigan and its emergency financial managers, appointed by Gov. Snyder, that failed to protect public health."

“Justice for Flint families comes in many forms, including the governor testifying under oath and his administration being held accountable for their actions that led to this crisis," Kildee said.

"Congressman Cummings has been a champion for Flint families, and I know he, as the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will continue the fight for justice for the people of Flint.”

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The Flint Water Crisis Had Nothing To Do With The Color Of Skin - It Was All About The Genesee County Land Bank

It seems the attorneys representing the people of Flint in the Michigan Emergency Manager water poisoning lawsuit, Theodore J. Leopold, partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, think they can bring back Rick Snyder and other elected officials as a defendants in their official capacities under the race card.

The following is a Socratic line of questioning I have so arduously developed to disprove the notion that the Flint Water Crisis was motivated to target a specific racial population:

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Land Bank."

"Land Bank, who."

"Genesee County Land Bank."

There is no discrimination in the fraudulent property foreclosures of Flint.

Much of the hardships the People of Flint are experiencing has to do with the legal community only being focused on obtaining settlement, which is not adjudication of what actually happened under the mens rea of the Emergency Manager Law, which was intentionally designed to steal the children, the land and the votes.

When one has their home foreclosed upon, whether through a complex, financial fraud scheme or egregious property tax fraud and unsubstantiated, increased water rates, forced migration ensues.

When you are kicked out of your home, you cannot vote and your likelihood of registering to vote at your new abode may come at a cost of time, since foreclosures typically sync with election cycle deadlines.

That leads to gerrymandering which is election interference through campaign finance money laundering schemes and has absolutely nothing about the one-drop rule of social constructs.

We should ask Dan Kildee about my allegations.

What is a Land Bank? Dan Ki... by on Scribd

Flint residents seek to reinstate Snyder in water suit

Flint – Residents and businesses affected by the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint are asking a judge to reinstate Republican Gov. Rick Snyder and other Michigan officials as defendants in a class-action lawsuit.

Lawyers said Sunday that an amended complaint includes evidence not in the original lawsuit. They say it shows Snyder and his staff knew about health risks for months before making an official announcement.

"The citizens of Flint were both forgotten and mistreated by those involved in the Flint water disaster.

To this day, residents continue to suffer because of the reckless decisions of senior state and local officials,” Theodore J. Leopold, partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll and co-lead Plaintiffs’ attorney, said in a statement on Sunday

“We hope to restore as defendants the senior leaders responsible for responding to Flint’s water crisis and enforcing State and federal environmental laws to provide a measure of justice to those still struggling to recover and eventually some much-needed relief," Leopold said.

Judge Judith Levy dropped Snyder and others from the case in August, saying the 2016 suit didn’t claim Snyder knew of risks when the city switched to Flint River water in 2014. The corrosive water caused lead to leach from old plumbing.

The new complaint also alleges the administration’s delayed response may have been racially motivated.

Snyder spokesman Ari Adler said the administration doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

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The Flint Water Targeted Populations Murder Trial Is Off And Running

I truly hope everyone understands that there are multiple layers to this entire investigation that takes us from Flint, to D.C. right back here to Detroit.

I see Todd, but where is Andy?

Hey, Andy, whacha doin'?

Judge: Michigan health chief Lyon heads to trial on Flint crisis manslaughter charges

Flint — Michigan health and welfare chief Nick Lyon will stand trial on felony charges including involuntary manslaughter related to the Flint water crisis, a judge ruled Monday.

67th District Court Judge David Goggins made the announcement in a nearly 160-minute ruling from the bench after delaying the decision more than three weeks in the most anticipated Flint water prosecution case.

Lyon will go to trial on two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of misconduct in office connected to the Flint region's 2014-2015 Legionnaires' disease outbreak that killed 12 people and sickened another 79 people. No public notice about the outbreak was given until Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder made the announcement in mid-January 2016 at a hastily arranged press conference in Detroit.

Lyon "had the ability" to know how many Legionnaires' disease deaths there were in the Flint area and has the "power" as the state's health chief to protect lives and "enforce laws" to that end, the judge ruled, citing prosecution witnesses including retired state epidemiologist Corinne Miller.

Goggins found that Lyon knew about the outbreak in 2015.

Special Prosecutor Todd Flood recently added a misdemeanor charge of "willful neglect" to protect the health of Genesee County residents, but Goggins on Monday appeared to dismiss the charge. He spoke faintly, and courtroom spectators strained at times to hear what he was saying.

If convicted, Lyon could face up to 30 years in prison on the manslaughter charges and up to another five years on the misconduct charge. Up to $25,000 in fines could be added for the three charges. 

Goggins was in no hurry to make a decision. Reading from a yellow notepad full of notes, he read from each and every page.

The judge covered every person from the more than 20 prosecution witnesses, from state health officials to the relatives of elderly Flint area residents Richard Skidmore and John Snyder, whom the prosecution say died from Legionnaire's disease that Lyon failed to warn the public about.

To send a case to trial for a jury to consider, the judge must decide whether there’s probable cause that a "reasonable person, based on the evidence, could find the defendant guilty," Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning said.

Lyon walked into court with his wife more than a half an hour before the hearing was scheduled to start, hugging family members and then sitting down with his wife on a bench outside the courtroom. The hearing started 45 minutes late.

Among those in the courtroom were former state Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, and former Snyder Community Health Director James Haveman, who has supported Lyon.

The preliminary exam involved 10 months of testimony — starting last September with prosecution witnesses and then this spring with defense witnesses.

Prosecutors contended Lyon should have warned the public of the Flint region's Legionnaires' disease outbreak and could have saved lives.

The defense lawyers countered that Lyon runs a department of 14,000 employees and relied on the expertise of department employees, none of whom recommended issuing a public warning. They also argued the prosecution failed to make any connection between Lyon and the men's deaths, arguing they died from long-term diseases but not Legionnaires'.

Because Skidmore and Snyder went to McLaren hospital in Flint, where medical officials had been warned about Legionnaires' disease, a public announcement wouldn’t have prevented their deaths, the defense said.

Former state-appointed Flint Emergency Manager Gerald Ambrose already has skipped his preliminary exam and will go straight to trial.

Michigan Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells and four current and former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality regulators are still going through their preliminary exams after being charged criminally. No date has been set for Wells' bind-over ruling.

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EPA Flint Water Crisis OIG Report Is Out!

Ok, let me get this straight.

So, the EPA Flint Water Crisis started like this:

del Tora: "Hey, boss, people of Flint just let me know the children are being poisoned by the water and no one is doing a thing about it." 

Hedman: "Really, let me get a legal opinion, first, then put together a legal defense team to come up with a propaganda campaign to cover up why it took so long for us to do anything to stop it." 

Feel free to correct me in the comments, below.

Inspector: EPA 'management weakness' prolonged Flint crisis

Lansing — "Management weaknesses" delayed federal intervention in the Flint water crisis after Michigan failed to enforce rules designed to prevent lead contamination and protect public health, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General.

The 69-page report, below, released Thursday highlights known failures by both state and federal regulators that led to the Flint water contamination crisis, but it provides a new level of specificity and includes recommendations to improve oversight.

“While Flint residents were being exposed to lead in drinking water, the federal response was delayed, in part, because the EPA did not establish clear roles and responsibilities, risk assessment procedures, effective communication and proactive oversight tools,” according to the report.

The report cited management problems at the EPA and its Region 5 office in Chicago, which oversees Michigan. Regional managers did not properly address state actions to “disinvest” in safe drinking water requirements dating back to 2010, concluding they were intended to be temporary and not affect public health, inspectors said.

The Region 5 office also lacked an effective risk assessment process, the report said. While initial bacterial violations alone would not have pointed to lead contamination, “the combined information available to Region 5 painted a picture of a system at risk from multiple angles.”

In January 2016, The Detroit News reported that Region 5 water expert Miguel del Toral warned of Flint water problems in a June internal memo, but then-Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman said she sought a legal opinion on whether the EPA could force action that wasn’t completed until November 2015 — after the state finally recognized the crisis.

Oh, those "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending), they are everywhere, are they not!?

Hedman soon retired after The News' report, but but no EPA officials were ever fired over the Flint crisis. In a March 2016 congressional hearing, Obama EPA chief Gina McCarthy defended Hedman as "courageous" and blamed the state's misleading and insufficient information for prolonging the crisis.

The state didn’t agree to apply corrosion controls until late July and didn’t publicly concede until October 2015 that it erroneously applied the federal Lead and Copper Rule overseeing water quality. The state decided in October to change Flint’s drinking water source from the corrosive Flint River back to the Detroit water system.

The report, based on two years of research and inquires, dings the federal agency but also repeatedly notes the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality holds primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with safe drinking water requirements.

Communication between the EPA and DEQ “did not convey key information about human health risks from lead,” the report said.

MDEQ did not properly develop and maintain an inventory of lead service lines needed to ensure appropriate test sampling of Flint water, according to the inspector general. The state also failed to ensure Flint continues to use corrosion control chemicals when city began using Flint River water in April 2014 and did not provide the EPA with “accurate information” regarding treatment.

The state “did not issue a notice of violation or take other formal enforcement action regarding either requirement until August 2015.,” the report said. “Instead, the MDEQ advised Flint public water system staff to conduct additional tests and to delay corrosion control treatment installation. The decision to delay corrosion control treatment prolonged residents’ exposure to lead.”

The EPA Office of Inspector General first announced the investigation in January 2016, five days after then-President Barack Obama declared a federal emergency in the city, freeing up $5 million in federal aid. The Obama administration denied Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's request for a major disaster declaration because the Flint water contamination crisis was a man-made calamity not created by fire, flood or explosion.

Inspectors issued a preliminary report in October 2016,  saying the EPA had the authority and enough information about Flint water lead contamination to issue an emergency order to protect public health as early as June 2015, seven months before it's Chicago-based Region 5 office did so.

McCarthy and Gov. Rick Snyder testified before a congressional committee in March 2016 and faced withering criticism for state and federal oversight failures but resisted calls to resign.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has filed criminal charges against several former and current state employees and officials over the lead contamination and Legionnaires' disease outbreaks that killed at least 12 and sickened 79 others.

Del Toral began raising concerns about Flint water lead content in early 2015 and pressed the DEQ for information about corrosion controls. He confirmed the suspicions in April of that year and two months later summarized the looming problem in an internal memo.

By June 2015, EPA Region 5 knew at least four homes had water with lead concentrations exceeding the federal action level of 15 parts per billion, according to an earlier inspector general report.  It was not until Jan. 21, 2016, that EPA finally exerted its authority by issuing an emergency order that laid out steps for Flint and the state to resolve the crisis.

In congressional testimony a month later, the Virginia Tech University professor who helped uncover the Flint water crisis criticized the EPA’s Hedman for discrediting the internal report. But Marc Edwards told Congress the primary blame lies with a few state environmental regulators who “misled” Michigan leaders and residents and tried to “cover up” proof of high lead levels.

EPA Flint Water Crisis Report 7-19-2018 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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UPDATE On Flint Water Crisis Trial: Flint Has A Land Bank, You Know, Right?

All I can do is say what I see and tell what I know.

What I see is, or least I hope I see this correctly, is a conjugal collaborative with Michigan Auditor General, House Oversight Committee, and FBI.

Of course, the Michigan Attorney General and Gubernatorial Candidate Bill Schuette, who called me a public nuisance through his Assistant AG in the Court of Claims for creatively reporting fraud, has farmed out the prosecution to Andy and Todd, so, I am going to include them, also, in the conjugal collaborative.

Yes, I enjoy encouraging Bill Schuette to do his job to protect children, even though he has no idea that by refusing to deal with the pervasive Medicaid fraud in child welfare, he is participating in the "depopulation" of Flint.

Flint has a Land Bank, you know.

But now, we have subject matter experts participating in the investigation, Shawn McElmurry.

WSU prof: State officials stalled Flint water tests

A Wayne State University professor tasked by Gov. Rick Snyder with helping investigate whether the Flint area Legionnaires’ outbreak was connected to the switch to the Flint River said on Friday state officials tried to stall his team so they didn’t find anything in the water system.

Shawn McElmurry, an environmental engineering associate professor hired by the state, testified Friday in the preliminary hearing of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon that the group was being set up to fail. He also worried the budget limits for the 2016 study would hinder his sampling and research because he wouldn’t be able to hire as many staffers as necessary.

Lyon’s preliminary hearing on criminal charges in the Flint water crisis resumed Friday after stopping in December.

Asked by Lyon attorney Chip Chamberlain if the health director deliberately tried to slow down the contracting process to affect his research team, McElmurry said things were “politically slow” but didn’t name Lyon.

“What I’m basing that on is multiple interactions with, not with Mr. Lyon, but MDHHS in general,” he said.

“Every interaction seemed to be adding yet another layer of complexity and things keep slowing down, down, down,” McElmurry said. “It wasn’t just one instance. Over the time period, it felt like things didn’t add up. It didn’t make sense.”

Because of the way the Flint water system worked, he was concerned the sampling of bacteria would be affected. “The longer you wait, the more that water system’s flushed out,” he said.

In court, McElmurry referenced an email he sent to members of his WSU environmental team that indicated Snyder was “shocked” when told “he needed to push if he wanted this done.”

In the same email, McElmurry said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials were not keen on filter sampling and questioning the scientific value of the study.

All of this, he said, led to conflict over what to test and then reveal to the public.

Chamberlain sought to cast special prosecution witness McElmurry as being alone in wanting to test water filters on faucets for bacteria in select homes.

McElmurry and Lyon had sparred over funding for the project and how quickly to test water filters in Flint for the presence of Legionnaires’ disease bacteria known as Legionella. Lyon said he didn’t think the filters needed testing; McElmurry did.

Flood’s team has been criticized by defense attorneys as taking a long time but he said in court Friday that the case is proceeding at a good pace, a comment backed by the judge.

Chamberlain sought to contend that Virginia Tech environmental engineer Marc Edwards also disputed McElmurry’s claims that testing home water filters was needed and would be effective. But his questions often were overruled after Special Prosecutor Todd Flood objected.

67th District Court Judge David Goggins rebuffed Chamberlain when he tried to ask McElmurry if Edwards criticized home sampling.

Testing by Edwards and his students helped expose high levels of lead in some Flint homes in summer 2015 after the city switched its drinking source from the Detroit area water system to the Flint River in 2014. He has also testified before Congress about the Flint crisis.

McElmurry’s group was charged with trying to determine what caused the Legionnaires’ outbreak that eventually killed 12 and sickened 79 others, but v/it found more areas of possible exposure that needed investigating.

“We were not certain that the epidemic ... the outbreak was over,” he said Friday, but added that the study group needed various areas of data collection to “be able to verify that indeed the outbreak had ended.”

Chamberlain also questioned McElmurry about the funding disputes and concerns by the Department of Health and Human Services about study costs.

In other testimony, Stephanie Whisiker-Lewis, an internist for Genesys Regional Medical Center and its associated hospice, said though her name appeared on the death certificate of Robert Skidmore she couldn’t determine his exact cause of death. She said she did not examine him or review his charts.

Lyon is charged in Skidmore’s death.

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Why Dan Kildee & Detroit Land Bank Authority Call For Conyers To Resign

Dan Kildee & Bill Clinton

Dan Kildee & Detroit Land Bank Authority join the ranks, with Nancy Pelosi, Kathleen Rice, Mike Quigley, and Raul Grijalva for John Conyers to resign from Congress.

Dan Kildee was the one who spearheaded the creation of the land bank in Michigan.

And now we know why Dan Kildee & Amy Hovey want Conyers to resign.

Conyers steps down from committee post amid harassment claims

Congressman John Conyers has stepped down from his powerful perch as Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. His colleague in the House, Representative Dan Kildee, reacts to this development 

What is a Land Bank? Dan Kildee, Co-Founder and President Amy Hovey, Co-Founder and Senior Vice-President... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

Amy Hovey is the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Capacity Building for Community Progress. Prior to helping launch the organization, Amy founded The Protogenia Group LLC in 2002, after working with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) for six years. At the consulting firm, Amy provided technical assistance in several areas including organizational development, leadership development, board governance, administrative management, and program and real estate development. She also provided support to Genesee County in the creation of the Genesee County Land Bank Authority. In addition to technical assistance, Amy has extensive training and meeting facilitation experience including an annual fifteen-day training program on comprehensive real estate development.

Prior to Protogenia, Amy was a Program Director with the Michigan State office of the Local Initiative Support Corporation. During her time with LISC, Amy worked with local community development corporations, government agencies, and for profit business, promoting collaboration among community organizations, to revitalize urban neighborhoods. Amy worked closely with several non-profits engaged in commercial corridor revitalization utilizing the Main Street approach. She completed analysis of organizations requesting loans, grants and training. Amy created and facilitated several group trainings to build capacity of non-profit staff and boards. In addition, she provided technical assistance to non-profits on a variety of topics.

Amy joined LISC after four years in private business, working in management, finance and community relations with First of America Bank.

Amy is also part of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy and it seems so is Quicken Loans.

It also seems that there are many U.S. Representatives and Senators who are part of these land bank organizations.

It also seems Dan Kildee & his Land Bank "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) are the ones behind the Flint Water Crisis.

But, hey, what do I know?

Stay tuned.  We are just getting started.

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CONYERS, KILDEE, and LAWRENCE Reintroduces Bill To Stop Emergency Managers: Three Years After Disastrous Flint Water Switch

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representatives John Conyers (D-MI), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Dan Kildee (D-MI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), and 17 cosponsors, today reintroduced the Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act to address unchecked decision-making powers that appointed emergency financial managers have in financially distressed cities. Last week marks three years since the disastrous water switch that resulted in lead contamination in Flint, Michigan.  

Recently, Congressman Conyers, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Cedric Richmond, sent a letter to President Trump questioning the Administration’s commitment to the Flint area in light of proposed budget cuts to EPA and other agencies.

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“Three years later, the people of Flint continue to suffer from the misguided and disastrous choices of an emergency financial manager they did not elect to represent them. We cannot undo the damage already done by the lead-poisoned water in Flint or fix the harm already caused by the hazardous conditions in Detroit’s public schools.  But we must continue to stand together and make sure the unaccountable emergency financial managers responsible for these disasters – and the legal system that empowered them – are not permitted to inflict further harm on our citizens or our constitutional rights. I will continue to introduce the Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act until its passage. We must ensure that what happened in Flint, will never happen again.” said Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13).

“Our state’s emergency financial manager law has hurt Flint and families throughout Michigan,” Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) said. 

“Unelected emergency financial managers made the decisions that led to the Flint water crisis. Their failed governing philosophy is solely focused on the bottom-line and cutting cost, often at the expense of people. Michigan families and their elected officials – not appointed and unaccountable emergency financial managers – should be in charge in the communities that they live in. This bill will help ensure what happened in Flint does not happen to other communities.”

“The Flint Water Crisis was a man-made disaster, and the people of Flint needed strong and responsible leadership to do their job and work in the best interest of the community they serve.  This never happened.  The people suffered, and they continue to suffer; while the leaders who caused this disaster hold no accountability for their actions.  This is shameful for the state of Michigan and shameful for America. It is imperative that the citizens of this great country are not denied their right to have a government that is elected and accountable.  We need immediate reform of the lack of accountability with emergency financial managers and we simply cannot allow a tragedy like this to ever happen again,” said Rep. Brenda Lawrence (MI-14).

There are many cities in financial distress across our nation still struggling to recover from the Great Recession.  While most states work cooperatively with their cities to foster economic stability and growth, others such as the state of Michigan, use draconian, autocratic laws that usurp local elected officials and replace them with unaccountable political appointees – typically known as emergency financial managers – who, through their vast powers, can jeopardize the health and safety of those who live and work in these struggling cities. 

For example, Atlantic City, New Jersey, which is also in financial distress, is now dealing with similar issues as it struggles under the control of an unaccountable state appointed overseer with powers similar to those available to Michigan’s emergency financial managers.  Last month, that city’s police union filed a lawsuit in response to the state’s announced intention to slash pay and benefit cuts in violation of the police union’s contract, claiming that these “cuts could harm public safety and the state takeover law is unconstitutional because it impairs their contract rights.

Earlier this year, the state also proposed a 25 percent reduction in compensation for that city’s firefighters’ union members.

The Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act would authorize the U.S. Attorney General to withhold five percent of the law enforcement funds that would otherwise be allocated to a state under the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne-JAG) if the Attorney General determines that the state-appointed emergency financial manager fails to protect against the following six abuses: discriminatory impact on voting, conflicts of interest, mismanagement, and abuse of discretion, harm to public health, unilateral rejection of other contracts, and lack of notice to affected communities who cannot provide comment.

The objective of the legislation is not to deny Byrne-JAG grant funds, but rather to incentivize the states to protect their citizens against these risks and abuses when emergency financial managers are appointed.  However, if in the event the funds are withheld, they are directly reallocated to the local government for which an emergency financial manager is appointed. 

The Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act was introduced with support from the following original cosponsors: Representatives Brenda Lawrence (D-MI); Dan Kildee (D-MI); Karen Bass (D-CA), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Judy Chu (D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Eddie Bernice  Johnson (D-TX), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Marc Veasey (D-TX), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).

This legislation is identical to H.R. 4754, the “Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act of 2016,” introduced in the 114th Congress and supported by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the United Auto Workers (UAW), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), among others.

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CONYERS, KILDEE, DINGELL & LAWRENCE Statement On Trump's New Muslim/Refugee Ban

Members Stand United Against Divisive Efforts

Washington, DC -Today, President Trump issued a revised version of his original executive order drastically altering our refugee and visa system. In response, Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13), Dan Kildee (MI-5), Debbie Dingell (MI-12) and Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) issued the following joint statement:

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“Some of the details of the executive order may have been repackaged, but the intent and effect remain the same.  President Trump has again ordered a Muslim ban that is inconsistent with our values and our Constitution. If the order is allowed to take effect, it will have disastrous consequences for American foreign policy, national security, and immigrant and American families.

“While express reference to religious minorities has been removed in this rewritten version, the order is clearly intended to target Muslims.  Some tweaks to the text cannot undo President Trump’s well publicized campaign promises to ban Muslims nor his damaging rhetoric, nor can it erase the fact that all six countries identified are majority Muslim countries.

“As we saw with the Administration’s first attempt to institute a ban, this policy will cause confusion, separate families, and prevent businesses, universities, and hospitals from bringing in essential personnel.  It also slams the door on the world’s most vulnerable people, shutting down the U.S. refugee program even though the program requires more extensive vetting than any other U.S. immigration channel. 

“Equally important, the revised order makes us less safe.  As with the prior order, the revised order diminishes our standing with allies and will likely serve as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups.  Indeed, two recently leaked DHS intelligence reports conclude that citizenship is a poor threat indicator and that few people from targeted countries have been involved in terrorism-related activities in the United States.

“This order is another short sighted and dangerous policy based on the inflammatory rhetoric that this Administration has made its cornerstone. We continue to stand united in our opposition to these efforts to divide us, and pledge to work together to reject intolerance, discrimination, and hate however and wherever we can – whether in our communities, in Congress, or in the Courts.”

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Michigan Democratic Party State Convention - February 11, 2017

Do not fret if you were not able, or willing, to attend the Michigan Democratic Party State Convention to elect party leadership because I have brought to you, via, your favorite hand held device, a synoptic overview of why Democratic leadership, not just across the state, but across the nation, just does not get it.

The 13th Congressional District completely ignoring the Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives for the sole purposes of showboating to get some free campaign time in front of the entire district.

Here we have the traditional chaos of groups fighting to keep power and money within their own constituencies after the gerrymandering of the congressional district.

It must be noted that we left about 5 minutes into the meeting due to cacophony of audible hallucinations of religious locutions of the "The Elected Ones" leadership entitlement syndrome.

There was no mention of plans for health care, education, child poverty, or public corruption.

Sander Levin:  There was no mention of plans for health care, education, child poverty, or public corruption.

Debbie Dingell tossed a great "word salad" using DNC failed talking points, again.  Please note her comments at the Labor Caucus on Japan, right in front of representatives from Toyota.

There was no mention of plans for health care, education, child poverty, or public corruption.

Gretchen Whitmer:  There was no mention of plans for health care, education, child poverty, or public corruption.

Dan Kildee:  There was no mention of plans for health care, education, child poverty, or public corruption.

I would love to request his working papers on the creation of Land Banks and why they are not regulated.

Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow:  There was no mention of plans for health care, education, child poverty, or public corruption.

Stabenow did invite the public to follow Michigan Senate Democrats but the communication system is set up to be one-directional, a closed system devoid of public discussion.

And, of course, not to boast, but you know darn well I will not be invited to consult on setting up their newly desired, grassroots, social media, communication network.

Pshaw!  The thought of me and my hot boyfriend soiling their financial and political hegemonic establishment!  (improper grammar, intended).

The videos and pictures, below, are of the Michigan Progressive Democratic Caucus meeting earlier in the day.

I would say that this was the largest, collectively, congregation of participants.

What many people may not know is that the Progressive movement came out of Detroit in the trenches of labor.

Bob Alexander has dedicated much of his life to its work.  He was the one who personified "I love my ObamaCare".

It seems there was a growing chasm between the new Bernie movement and the old guards of Labor due to the lack of knowledge in the history of the Progressive movement.

Many, perhaps the majority of new Progressive members, are unable to name the founders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.  (homework assignment)



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Three Real Estate Developers Charged In White Plains Federal Court With Conspiracy To Corrupt The Electoral Process In Bloomingburg, New York

                                "Detroit politics make me giggle"

Pretty Preet!!!  Pretty Preet!!!

Boy, for a minute there, I thought this was about Detroit.

I love my #Superfans.

Shalom Lamm and Others Charged in Voter Fraud Scheme in Connection with a March 2014 Bloomingburg Election

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), today announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging SHALOM LAMM, KENNETH NAKDIMEN, and VOLVY SMILOWITZ, a/k/a “Zev Smilowitz,” with conspiracy to corrupt the electoral process, in connection with an election in Bloomingburg, New York.   Bharara also today announced the guilty plea of HAROLD BAIRD, a former Town Supervisor of Mamakating, New York, to conspiracy to submit false voter registrations, charged in a one-count Information unsealed today.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated:  “In pursuit of millions of dollars in profits from a real estate development project, the defendants allegedly hatched a cynical ploy to corrupt the electoral process in Bloomingburg.  As alleged, to get public officials supportive of their development project elected to local government, the defendants concocted a scheme to falsely register voters who did not live in Bloomingburg, including some who had never even set foot there.  And to cover up their voter fraud scheme, the defendants allegedly back-dated fake leases and even placed toothpaste and toothbrushes in empty apartments to make them appear occupied by the falsely registered voters.  Profit-driven corruption of democracy cannot be allowed to stand no matter who does it or where it happens.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. stated:  “Today’s charges allege the defendants corruptly advanced their own personal real estate projects in Bloomingburg, New York, at the expense of honest citizens who expect and deserve a fair election system.  In their scheme to promote their own real estate development projects, the defendants violated federal law as they schemed to put themselves first.  This type of behavior simply won’t be tolerated.”  

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed today in White Plains federal court:

SHALOM LAMM, KENNETH NAKDIMEN, and VOLVY SMILOWITZ, a/k/a “Zev Smilowitz,” the defendants, were real estate developers who, starting in or about 2006, sought to build and sell real estate in Bloomingburg, New York.  From these real estate development projects, the defendants hoped for and anticipated making hundreds of millions of dollars.  But by late 2013, the first of their real estate developments had met local opposition, and still remained under construction and uninhabitable.  When met with resistance, rather than seek to advance their real estate development project through legitimate means, the defendants instead decided to corrupt the democratic electoral process in Bloomingburg by falsely registering voters and paying bribes for voters who would help elect public officials favorable to their project.

Specifically, in advance of an election in March 2014 for Mayor of Bloomingburg and other local officials, LAMM, NAKDIMEN, and SMILOWITZ, the defendants, and others working on their behalf, developed and worked on a plan to falsely register numerous people who were not entitled to register and vote in Bloomingburg, because they actually lived elsewhere.  People the defendants falsely sought to register to vote in Bloomingburg included those who never intended to live in Bloomingburg, those who had never kept a home in Bloomingburg, and indeed, some who had never even set foot in Bloomingburg in their lives.  The defendants took steps to cover up their scheme to register voters who did not actually live in Bloomingburg by, among other things, creating and back-dating false leases and placing items like toothbrushes and toothpaste in unoccupied apartments to make it seem as if the falsely registered voters lived there.

LAMM, NAKDIMEN, and SMILOWITZ, the defendants, also bribed potential voters by offering payments, subsidies, and other items of value to get non-residents of Bloomingburg to unlawfully register and vote there.  LAMM, for example, agreed to pay an individual $500 for every voter that the individual procured, and LAMM and NAKDIMEN’s real estate company ultimately paid the individual more than $30,000 per month for his efforts.

As alleged in a separate Information unsealed today in White Plains federal court:

From in or about January 2014 through in or about March 2014, BAIRD conspired with others to submit false voter registrations so that he could run for political office and vote in Bloomingburg.  In fact, however, BAIRD did not live in Bloomingburg, and his voter registrations were false. 

LAMM, NAKDIMEN, and SMILOWITZ were arrested this morning and will be arraigned today on the charges in the Indictment before United States Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy in the White Plains federal courthouse.    
                              

LAMM, 57, of Bloomingburg, NAKDIMEN, 64, of Monsey, New York, and SMILOWITZ, 28, of Monroe, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, in particular to corrupt the electoral process by submitting false voter registrations, buying voter registrations, and offering bribes for voter registrations and votes.  The offense carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

BAIRD, 60, of Sullivan County, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to submit false voter registrations, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  The defendant will be sentenced at a future date.  The case is assigned to United States District Judge Cathy Seibel.

The statutory maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants would be determined by the judge.

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI-Hudson Valley White Collar Crime Task Force, the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office, the Sullivan County Sherriff’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.  Mr. Bharara also thanked the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section, Election Crimes Branch, for its assistance in the case.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn Martin, Benjamin Allee, and Perry Carbone are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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Michigan Congressional Democrats Call On DOJ To Review Decision To Block Flint From Suing The State

Michigan – U.S. House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) and Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) today led a letter signed by every Democratic House member of Michigan’s congressional delegation, calling for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to review the State of Michigan’s actions to block the City of Flint from suing the State in connection with the Flint Water Crisis.

As stated in the letter, in March 2016, the City of Flint filed a notice of intent to sue the State. Just a week later, the Governor-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB) issued a recommendation requiring that it approve the initiation of any litigation by Flint, which was approved by the state treasurer.  The letter raises concerns about the lawfulness of Michigan’s actions and requests the Department of Justice to review whether denying the City of Flint the ability to seek legal redress from the State implicates constitutional due process, equal protection and associated environmental justice issues for the people of Flint.

In their letter, the Members wrote, “First, we are concerned that the state-appointed RTAB’s potentially unauthorized action to restrain Flint’s authority to initiate litigation and its apparent failure to adequately notify the City of the import of its actions may have deprived the City of Flint and its residents of constitutionally protected due process…Given the fact that Flint is a majority African American municipality, the denial of the City’s right to obtain judicial redress may therefore implicate the Equal Protection Clause…Third, we are concerned that the actions of the State may have violated principles of environmental justice, which are premised on notions of Equal Protection.”

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

 “Much remains to be done in the pursuit of justice for Flint residents and to ensure no other community suffers from the actions of unaccountable political appointees that they did not elect,” said Congressman Conyers. “The people of Flint must have their rightfully deserved access to legal redress, due process, equal protection under the law and associated environmental justice. I urge DOJ to thoroughly review actions by Governor Snyder and the Michigan Receivership Transition Advisory Board against the people of Flint. I will continue to monitor the situation in Flint in the months and years ahead.”

“The state of Michigan should focus on bringing clean drinking water to the people of Flint, not maneuvering to prevent them from accessing the judicial system,” said Congressman Kildee. “Our letter asks the Department of Justice to investigate the constitutional and environmental justice issues implicated by the State’s decision to effectively prevent the city of Flint from suing the state. Quite simply, this is wrong.”

The letter to DOJ was signed by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13), Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05), Congressman Sandy Levin (MI-09), Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) and Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (MI-14).

In March, Congressman Conyers introduced H.R. 4754, the Emergency Financial Manager Reform Act of 2016, to address unchecked decision-making powers that appointed emergency financial managers have in financially distressed cities which cause situations like the Flint Water Crisis.

Democratic Michigan Congressional Delegation Letter to DOJ To Review Decision To Block Flint From Suing The... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Michigan Congressional Delegation Members Join in Strong Support of Fort Custer for Missile Defense Site

15 Members of the Michigan Delegation Send Letter of Support to Director of Missile Defense Agency

Ft. Custer One of Three Remaining Locations Under Consideration

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

 – Members of the Michigan Congressional delegation today sent a letter to Vice Admiral James D. Syring, Director of the Missile Defense Agency, to voice their strong support of Fort Custer Training Center, one of three locations under consideration for a possible Continental United States Interceptor Site. The letter was signed by U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Representative Fred Upton, U.S. Senator Gary Peters, U.S. Representative Brenda Lawrence, U.S. Representative Candice Miller, U.S. Representative Mike Bishop, U.S. Representative Bill Huizenga, U.S. Representative Dan Benishek, U.S. Representative John Moolenaar, U.S. Representative Tim Walberg, U.S. Representative Dan Kildee, U.S. Representative Dave Trott, U.S. Representative Sander Levin, U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell, and U.S. Representative John Conyers.

“Since 1917, Fort Custer has played an integral part in training our Armed Forces for vital national security missions. It supports over 190,000 training mandays annually, hosts nine tenants, including the Army, Marine, and Naval reserves, and stands ready to take on this new mission,” the delegation writes in the letter. “Locating the interceptor at Fort Custer would bring a welcomed $3.2 billion in economic impact, including $700 million in new construction. It would also employ 300 jobs directly and up to 1,800 support jobs. Given all of these considerations, we strongly support Fort Custer Training Center as the preferred Continental United States Interceptor Site and look forward to staying engaged as the selection process continues.”

A full copy of the letter is available below.

September 19, 2016

Vice Admiral James D. Syring

Director, Missile Defense Agency

5700 18th Street, Bldg 245

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060

Dear Vice Admiral Syring,

           

It’s our understanding that you have completed your assessment of the environmental impacts for a missile defense Interceptor Site at Fort Custer Training Center, one of three remaining locations under consideration. The assessment showed that the environmental impacts for placing an interceptor at Fort Custer would be minimal and that unlike the other sites, Fort Custer would not require additional surveys or cause significant harm to protected species or habitats.

As you know, the community had the opportunity to meet with the Missile Defense Agency, ask questions about the draft assessment, and submit remarks before the public comment period closed on August 17. We have heard from numerous organizations and leaders in the community, and want to emphasize the strong local support for Fort Custer as the host location.

Since 1917, Fort Custer has played an integral part in training our Armed Forces for vital national security missions. It supports over 190,000 training mandays annually, hosts nine tenants, including the Army, Marine, and Naval reserves, and stands ready to take on this new mission.

Fort Custer has taken tremendous strides to increase its energy efficiency by installing solar fields and a wind funnel to generate electrical power.  These innovative developments help make Fort Custer a cost-effective option for the interceptor site.

Locating the interceptor at Fort Custer would bring a welcomed $3.2 billion in economic impact, including $700 million in new construction. It would also employ 300 jobs directly and up to 1,800 support jobs.

Given all of these considerations, we strongly support Fort Custer Training Center as the preferred Continental United States Interceptor Site and look forward to staying engaged as the selection process continues.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow

U.S. Representative Fred Upton

U.S. Senator Gary C. Peters

U.S. Representative Brenda L. Lawrence

U.S. Representative Candice S. Miller

U.S. Representative Mike Bishop

U.S. Representative Bill Huizenga

U.S. Representative Dan Benishek

U.S. Representative John Moolenaar

U.S. Representative Tim Walberg

U.S. Representative Dan Kildee

U.S. Representative Dave Trott

U.S. Representative Sander Levin

U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell

U.S. Representative John Conyers

CC: Secretary Carter

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