Religious liberty issues discussed at SBM event
"The Religious Liberty Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan will present "Religious Liberty Issues in Michigan: Where Do We Go From Here?" on June 3, 2019, from 11:30 to 1 pm at Picano's Italian Grille in Troy, MI 48083.
Cost for the program and luncheon is $30 for law students and paralegals, $35 for section members, and $45 for general admission. There is an additional service charge fee per ticket.
Registration can be completed by visiting religiouslibertymi.eventbrite.com.
For additional information, contact religiouslibertymi@gmail.com
Billionaire starts ballot drive to cut Michigan car premiums
LANSING (AP) — Billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert is starting a ballot drive as a “failsafe” in case Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer don’t enact legislation to cut the country’s highest auto insurance premiums.
Quicken Loans vice president of government affairs Jared Fleisher says a ballot committee, Citizens for Lower Auto Insurance Rates, will be created this week.
If Gilbert’s group gathers enough voter signatures, the Legislature could approve the initiative and sidestep a veto.
The House and Senate have passed differing bills that Whitmer has criticized, though negotiations are ongoing.
Fleisher says it’d be best if legislators and Whitmer enact a law to reduce rates by letting people opt out of mandatory unlimited medical benefits.
But he says signature-gathering must begin soon as a backup.
High court sides with Crow tribe member in hunting dispute
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is siding with a member of the Crow tribe who was fined for hunting elk in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest.
The Supreme Court on Monday sided with Clayvin Herrera.
He argued that when his tribe gave up land in present-day Montana and Wyoming to the federal government in 1868, the tribe retained the right to hunt on the land.
The justices rejected Wyoming’s argument that the Crow tribe’s hunting rights ceased to exist after Wyoming became a state in 1890 or after Bighorn National Forest was established in 1897.
Herrera wound up with a fine of more than $8,000 after he posted photos online of his kill.
Alligator blocks runway at Air Force base in Florida
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Staff at a U.S. Air Force base in Florida had to bring in a front-end loader to remove an alligator that was lounging on a runway.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the large reptile was spotted one morning last week on a MacDill Air Force Base flight line. The base shared a photo of the creature on Facebook, saying the friendly alligator was just "preparing for take-off."
MacDill spokesman 2nd Lt. Brandon Hanner says alligator sightings are common around the base, which is located on Tampa Bay. He says the alligator probably surfaced from one the base's bodies of water.
The wing safety office's wildlife manager organized the animal's removal, scooping it into the bucket of the loader.
