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XLFD posted a discussion

Cole-fired Trash Talk is Trash, Talk

Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole has a nasty habit of prosecuting innocent people in the court of public opinion, tainting the jury pool by using the local media to slander individuals his office accuses of major felonies and to judge them guilty of all charges.  A perfect example of this happened a dozen years ago, in the heartbreaking case of Coach Todd Lane Johnson.  Splashed on the …See More
yesterday
XLFD posted a discussion

Ludington School Board Dodges, then Confronts, Teacher's Union Disputes (June 16, 2025 meeting)

The June meeting of a school board meeting typically involves a special hearing for their budget for the next school year, understandable since Michigan law mandates that they need to have a budget prepared before July of the next school year. Additionally, two other things often come up in June meetings, the first being an evaluation of the district's superintendent over the last year, which is seen as the last action item in the …See More
Wednesday
XLFD posted a discussion

Did Scottville Pass a Motion that Intentionally Violates the Open Meetings Act?

I accidentally caught the latest headline on the Friday edition of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) after making a purchase at a local business.  While I hadn't attended the last Scottville City Commission (SCC) meeting, held at the same time as Ludington's so as to inhibit attendance thereat, they apparently added an action to the agenda at the very last minute, then passed it without any discussion.  At least this was what the headline and subheading indicated:…See More
Sunday
XLFD posted a discussion

Ludington City Council Meeting, June 9, 2025: Bad Faith and Worse Credit

For the first meeting of the Ludington City Council in three weeks, this one had a relatively light agenda packet and a couple of notable absences.  Councilor John…See More
Jun 13
XLFD posted a discussion

Ludington's Jonesie Smollett

You may remember the controversy surrounding actor Jussie Smollett back in 2019 when he staged an elaborate hoax, playing the part of a crime victim to get himself widespread attention and demonize those who he was politically opposite of.  Ludington has its own version of Smollett, and he just happens to be the Ludington Police Department's (LPD) Chief Christopher Jones, who recently…See More
Jun 11
XLFD posted a discussion

The Disconnect Between the Citizen and City Hall: Crosswalk Edition

Municipal governments can often be reluctant to do the right thing when citizens point out deficiencies that are not being addressed within city hall.  A great divide can form when a well-intentioned citizen points out a problem with existing traffic infrastructure that the city/township has allowed to remain.  These battles over public safety often require court action to resolve, even when remedial action would be a negligible expense to the budget. We will look at a Charlottesville Virginia…See More
Jun 6
XLFD posted a discussion

Multiple County Prosecutors Double-Cross Victims of Contractor Fraud

Back in September 2023, the Ludington Torch revealed what appeared to be the widespread defrauding of West Michigan individuals by a contractor named Daniel Siefka, who with his wife, fronted about a dozen limited liability corporations (LLCs).  In that story, we transcribed an investigative…See More
Jun 4
XLFD posted a discussion

A Tale of Two City Courts

Growing up in Scottville in the 1970s was quite a bit different than it would be today.  At that particular time, the city was self-sufficient with a supermarket in the downtown area and a new one opening up just north of town, multiple hardware stores, sports stores, apparel, and drug stores.  A brand-new middle school coming in and no hint of the US 31 bypass that would come in at the beginning of the 1990s.  No Walmart's, Meijers, not even any K-marts in the area just yet, just a Grant's…See More
Jun 2
Dennis Anderson is now a member of The Ludington Torch
May 31
XLFD replied to XLFD's discussion Scottville City Commission Meeting, May 27, 2025: Transparent Commitments
"I have low tolerance for city commissioners/councilors who get into office without supporting any initiatives or issues and serve their time just following the herd.  Perhaps less tolerance than for those who espouse voter-friendly positions…"
May 29
woodsman replied to XLFD's discussion Scottville City Commission Meeting, May 27, 2025: Transparent Commitments
"     Sure seems that everything is cut and dried before the SCC meetings as there is very little if any SCC comments on anything.  Seems reasonable that there should be some comments unless they just do not care or are told not…"
May 28
XLFD posted a discussion

Scottville City Commission Meeting, May 27, 2025: Transparent Commitments

The post-Memorial Day Tuesday meeting of the Scottville City Commission (SCC) was held at the city's senior center, just south of the county's sole operating marijuana dispensary, the Hempire Collective.  Commissioners at this meeting (and the meeting before) have been so mellow doing their jobs over the course of this and the …See More
May 28
XLFD posted a discussion

Ludington City Council Meetings: April and May 2025 Redux

Our loyal readers have likely noticed that the Ludington Torch failed to put out a straight recap of Ludington City Council meetings over the last two months, even though we were in attendance.  We have been abnormally busy, but the reason why we weren't able to supply these summaries was the initial lack of a video for the first meeting in April.  We always try to include a video with our recaps, but for some reason, we would never find this within the first week of the first April meeting…See More
May 27
Martin Ramon is now a member of The Ludington Torch
May 26
XLFD replied to XLFD's discussion Mayor Barnett's Blatant Gaslighting Campaign
"Barnett will go to the grave unrepentant, because his career shows that he will kiss the asses of his betters and his peers and kick the asses of those who his betters and peers point towards.  When a problem comes up that requires moral…"
May 22
Freedom Seeker replied to XLFD's discussion Mayor Barnett's Blatant Gaslighting Campaign
"LIARS gonna Lie. Sad and the wicked justify themselves. All I can do is pray, that some day, Barnett will get over himself, conquer his ego because he can't seen to see over it to hear what you say. Barnett is one of the main sources (imo), if…"
May 21

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Forum

Cole-fired Trash Talk is Trash, Talk

Started by XLFD in Waving the Torch Around Our Area yesterday. 0 Replies

Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole has a nasty habit of prosecuting innocent people in the court of public opinion, tainting the jury pool by using the local media to slander individuals his office…Continue

Ludington School Board Dodges, then Confronts, Teacher's Union Disputes (June 16, 2025 meeting)

Started by XLFD in Waving the Torch Around Our Area on Wednesday. 0 Replies

The June meeting of a school board meeting typically involves a special hearing for their budget for the next school year, understandable since Michigan law mandates that they need to have a budget…Continue

Did Scottville Pass a Motion that Intentionally Violates the Open Meetings Act?

Started by XLFD in Waving the Torch Around Our Area on Sunday. 0 Replies

I accidentally caught the latest headline on the Friday edition of the City of Ludington Daily News (COLDNews) after making a purchase at a local business.  While I hadn't attended the last…Continue

Ludington City Council Meeting, June 9, 2025: Bad Faith and Worse Credit

Started by XLFD in Waving the Torch Around Our Area Jun 13. 0 Replies

For the first meeting of the Ludington City Council in three weeks, this…Continue

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    About

    XLFD created this Ning Network.

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    Migration Update

    The elves of the Ludington Torch were hopeful that we could move from our current Ning 2.0 network to the Ning 3.0 network shortly after our five year anniversary, but we have got news from them back that they are not currently doing any new migrations to the higher platform at this time.  We surmise that there has been problems with the migrations of other Ning sites, because some things do not transfer very well or at all, including videos and group modules. 

    As they continue to…

    Continue

    Created by XLFD Jan 3, 2015 at 12:38am. Last updated by XLFD Jan 3, 2015.

    Spammertizing

    Over the last couple of months our members have swelled due to an advertising push by those who join, post an ad, provide a link, and possibly send messages to other members advocating some product or action.  While these are basically harmless if you ignore them, the Torch tech wizards cannot fully protect against the intruders.  I have eradicated about two dozen of these infidels, and will make it a practice to do so in the future. 

    Continue

    Created by XLFD Dec 28, 2012 at 12:02pm. Last updated by XLFD Dec 28, 2012.

    Downloading Videos

    Want to download videos for a thread or just to add to our Videos library, but are having a hard time figuring it out?  It's not hard once you know how to do it.  First you will need the Video's "Embed" code; on a typical video site like Youtube they will have a "share" button you need to click, you will then see an "Embed" button you need to click.  You will see the code all in blue, you need to "copy" (as in copy and paste) this code by going to your copy command.

    Now go to the…

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    Created by XLFD Nov 23, 2011 at 10:52am. Last updated by XLFD Nov 23, 2011.

    Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty and justice –- in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present

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