Someday in the far future, the fortunes of suburban Detroit might improve, and someone will redevelop the site of Summit Place Mall in Waterford, Michigan. When that happens, the new owners may excavate the site and wonder what the skeleton of an elephant is doing in suburban Detroit. That will be a very good question. [More]
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Body Found After 5 Years Of Auto-Paid Bills Finally Identified As Homeowner
By 7.18.14
The story of a woman in Michigan whose mortgage and other bills were paid automatically out of her five-figure checking account balance account while friends and family assumed that she was doing her own thing captured the public’s imagination. The idea that anyone could die and not be missed is chilling. Now DNA tests have confirmed that the homeowner was indeed the mummified body found in the back seat of her Jeep. [More]
After Fire, Comcast Probaby Won’t Make Low-Income Seniors Pay For Burned Cable Boxes
By 6.23.14
The good news was that no one was killed or injured when a fire destroyed an apartment building for low-income senior citizens in Battle Creek, Michigan last week. The bad news is that the seniors’ cable provider, Comcast, can’t rule out that they’re going to charge the residents for the Kabletown-owned cable boxes that were destroyed in the fire. [More]
Michigan Town Foots The Bill To Send Students To State Universities, Community Colleges
By 4.16.14
Community is defined as a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. For one Michigan city that characteristic would be generosity, as in the $50 million anonymous donors have spent to send the town’s high school graduates to college. [More]
How Did Woman Who Died in 2008 Vote In 2010 Election?
By 3.11.14
We’ve been following the story out of Michigan of the woman who disappeared into her own house for more than five years, with no one noticing her absence because all of her bills were on auto-pay. As investigators try to figure out what happened to her, they’ve found another mystery: she appears to have voted in 2010, even though the evidence shows that she died in 2008. [More]
Michigan Woman’s Death Unnoticed For 5 Years Because Her Bills Were On Autopay
By 3.10.14
Last week, a woman in Michigan who was found dead in the backseat of her Jeep, which was parked in her garage. No neighbors remembered seeing her around since maybe 2008, and the bank started foreclosure proceedings. A contractor making repairs on behalf of the bank found the homeowner, who lived alone and was estranged from family. How could such a thing happen? [More]
McDonald’s Customer Gets Wrong Burger Twice, Fires Gun Into Window
By 2.10.14
Yes, it can be deeply disappointing when a fast-food joint doesn’t prepare your burger exactly how you ordered it. There are many ways to deal with that situation: ask for a manager, complain to corporate, demand that they re-make your meal immediately…or fire a pistol into the window of the restaurant. You could do that, too. [More]
College Senior Hopes To Pay Off Student Loans By Selling Ads On Graduation Cap
By 1.22.14
A student at the University of Michigan-Flint looked into the crystal ball and saw visions of student loan debt. But what if he could figure out a way to pay off that pile of debt before he even enters the job market? And so the young man started a campaign to sell advertising space on the top of his graduation cap. [More]
Taco Bell Gives In, Reinstates Free Tacos For Michigan State Basketball Fans
By 11.21.13
Taco Bell has a long tradition of giving away free food tied to the results of certain sporting events, like the World Series. But only weeks after pulling the plug on its 14-year free chalupa promo with the Portland Trail Blazers, the Bell angered Michigan State basketball fans by ending the deal that offered free tacos to everyone in the arena if the Spartans scored at least 70 points. [More]
McDonald’s Worker Will Have 29 Months Behind Bars To Regret Spitting In Cop’s Snack Wrap
By 11.19.13
In case any of you out there were considering depositing some saliva in a customer’s food today (or at any point in the future), remember that it’s not just gross, it’s illegal. And if you’re caught, you’ll lose your job and possibly your freedom. Just ask the former McDonald’s employee who will spend at least two years in jail for adding some secret sauce to a customer’s food. [More]
Company Markets Stun Gun iPhone Case In Detroit, Where It Would Be Illegal To Use
By 10.28.13
A company that sells iPhone cases that double as low-powered stun guns has selected Detroit as a target market, disregarding the fact that such a device appears to be illegal in Michigan. [More]
Walmart Worker Fired For Stopping Assault On Customer Won’t Go Back To Old Job
By 10.25.13
You may remember last week’s story of the Walmart employee in Michigan who was fired after he intervened to stop an assault against a customer in the parking lot. The retailer subsequently decided to offer him the chance to return to work, but he’s not biting. [More]
Cryptic Billboard About Blueberries Is Profound Statement About Life Or Something
By 10.21.13
“I’m concerned about the blueberries.” That’s what the billboard said. It went up on I-69 outside of Flint, Michigan with no context. Just a blue billboard with most of a white circle and the words “I’m concerned about the blueberries” in plain white text. What did it mean? Who put it up? Its sponsor remained anonymous and its message made no sense. [More]
Michigan Law Would Ban Selling Of ‘Pints’ Of Beer Containing Fewer Than 16 Ounces
By 10.8.13
In some bars and restaurants, the phrase “pint of beer” is not taken literally enough, with some places drastically under-filling the glass or using a smaller glass in the belief that a tall-ish glass is a pint. But a proposed new law in Michigan would make it against the law to advertise a “pint” that contains anything fewer than 16 ounces of liquid. [More]
Scammers Vomit On Receipts To Trick Walmart Into Taking Back Bogus Video Games
By 9.9.13
Using the power of emetophobia, some scammers in Michigan apparently think they have found the secret formula for tricking Walmart into accepting returned video games — or rather, returned video game boxes containing counterfeit or blank discs. [More]
Factory Where Rosie The Riveter Worked Still Exists, Might Become A Museum
By 7.29.13
The World War II propaganda icon Rosie the Riveter was based on a real woman, Rose Will Monroe, who appeared in a government film about female factory workers. She worked at the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Michigan. After the war, the riveters returned to pink-collar jobs and to homemaking, and the Willow Run plant returned to making Ford vehicles until 2010. Now it’s about to be demolished…unless supporters can raise another $3.5 million to save part of the building and move an existing aviation museum there. [Associated Press] [More]
Dear Burger King Workers: Don’t Stash Your Hash Pipe In Kid’s Meal Boxes
By 7.18.13
Some Burger King customers in Michigan got a bonus gift in their kid’s meal — and three people are now facing drug charges — after a BK employee forgot that he’d stowed drugs and a pipe inside a kid’s meal box. [More]
Taco Bell Customers Find $3,600 In Drive-Thru Order, Choose To Not Blow Cash On 3,000 Tacos
By 7.1.13
You may be familiar with the joy of getting home and finding an extra order of french fries in your fast food bag, so imagine how rad it would be to find $3,600 cash stashed in your to-go bag. [More]
