Latest news with #WOOD
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
West MI counties refute sanctuary jurisdictions list
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Kalamazoo and Kent counties were among the eight local governments listed as 'sanctuary jurisdictions' by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday. However, county leaders say the department got it wrong. The list highlights communities DHS officials claim are deliberately obstructing federal immigration law enforcement. 'These sanctuary city politicians are endangering Americans and our law enforcement in order to protect violent criminal illegal aliens,' said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in the press release. 'We are exposing these sanctuary politicians who harbor criminal illegal aliens and defy federal law. President Trump and I will always put the safety of the American people first. Sanctuary politicians are on notice: comply with federal law.' The effort is part of the executive order issued by President Donald Trump in late April. Once on the list, the local governments will get a formal notification of non-compliance, and all potential federal violations. Kent County's Assistant Administrator said it was 'erroneously listed.' 'Kent County is not—and has never been—a sanctuary county,' said Lori Latham in a statement to News 8. 'The Kent County Sheriff's Office has consistently maintained a cooperative relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and all other law enforcement partners.' She said the county is working with federal partners to get it off the list. Kalamazoo County said the designation is 'inaccurate' and that the county has never declared to be a sanctuary county, nor do they have policies to interfere with federal immigration law enforcement. 'We have, however, publicly stated our values as a welcoming and inclusive community – a belief that all people should be treated with dignity and fairness,' Kalamazoo County said in a statement.'These values are fully consistent with following the law, and we remain committed to both.' The county follows state and federal laws in all parts of governance including when providing public services, they said. That includes health care, housing support, public safety and economic development programs. 'Unfortunately, false labels from the federal government can have real consequences. When the County is incorrectly listed as non-compliant, it puts important federal funding at risk,' the county said. 'That directly impacts the families, workers, and neighborhoods who rely on these services – even though the County is fully following the law.' Board of County Commissioners Chair Jen Strebs said the label pulls away from public service. 'There's no contradiction between treating people with dignity and upholding the law,' Strebs said in a statement. 'That's not just what our community deserves – it's a core value and guiding principle for how we live and serve here in Kalamazoo County. And that's exactly what we'll keep doing.' Kalamazoo County suing EPA over $18.9 grant termination News 8 reached out to DHS to learn what exactly led them to consider Kalamazoo County as a 'sanctuary jurisdiction.' While a spokesperson did not provide specific reasons, they shared what some of the conditions could be. 'Designation of a sanctuary jurisdiction is based on the evaluation of numerous factors, including self-identification as a sanctuary jurisdiction, noncompliance with Federal law enforcement in enforcing immigration laws, restrictions on information sharing, and legal protections for illegal aliens,' the spokesperson said. They added that the list will be regularly reviewed, updated and can change at any time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It haunts you': Hackers, hijackers lock up Facebook pages
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — If scammers take over your social media account, you're encouraged to with the Michigan attorney general's office. The A.G.'s Office of Corporate Oversight has had some success helping victims of the increasingly pervasive scam regain control of their pages. 'Happy news!' texted one victim who'd contacted Target 8 investigators for help. 'I got my accounts back today. Attorney General's office made it happen.' Account takeovers are hardly a new phenomenon, but the problem has grown significantly. Attorney General Dana Nessel's office told Target 8 it received 50 such complaints in 2022, 185 in 2023, 485 in 2024, and 127 in the first few months of 2025. In March 2024, attorneys general nationwide penned a letter to Meta requesting the company take 'immediate action to address the… dramatic and persistent spike in complaints … concerning account takeovers…. We refuse to operate as the customer service representatives of your company,' the AGs declared. Kelly Roper, a Grand Rapids business owner whose Facebook page was hijacked, is hoping Dana Nessel's office will come through for her. She filed a complaint with the attorney general's office at Target 8's suggestion. 'I didn't know that I could do that,' said Roper in a recent interview with Target 8. 'I reported the fraud to Facebook. Every time you do something, it's a dead-end. You cannot get to anybody. You cannot talk to anybody. It is so frustrating.' It's been ten months since a criminal took over Roper's personal Facebook page, and she's still unable to access it. Her personal FB account is tied to her business page, which makes it difficult to market her business. Roper owns Show Salon in downtown Grand Rapids. Fake posts selling cars and crypto 'Around August of 2024, I had a friend reach out to me and say, 'I didn't know that you were selling a car on Facebook,' recalled Roper. 'I said, 'I'm not selling a car. I don't know what this is.'' It was the scam that's targeting individuals, businesses, and celebrities everywhere. In Roper's case, it started with the fake car-selling post. 'I actually reached out to Facebook and told them, 'I've been hacked. This is not me,'' explained Roper, noting that friends and family reported it too. No response from Meta, the company that owns Facebook, said Roper. Then, her Facebook page was disabled, so she started up a new one. That was in January of 2025. 'Around February or March, I get this call from a friend that said, 'I don't know if you know this, but somebody's posting that you are selling crypto,'' Roper told Target 8 in an interview at her salon on Monroe Center NW. The new post included a picture of a certificate with CyrptoCurrency Certification Consortium across the top. Roper's name was on it. 'Congratulations to me,' read the fraudulent post. 'So, this just came in today after months and months of endless study and training. I'm happy to announce that I've been certified as an Expert Crypto Trader after undergoing the rigorous training which lasted for over 24 months.' Fortunately, Roper's Facebook friends were not fooled. 'Everyone who knows me knows that I'm not going to sell crypto,' said Roper. 'I would never get involved in something like that. But it started posting all over Facebook, and, I mean, everywhere. It looked so official with my name on it. So, I was pretty obviously upset. I own a business. I didn't want people thinking that I did this, because I didn't. It was not me.' Another post featured a picture of a smiling middle-aged couple holding Roper's fake crypto certificate and praising her services. 'Kelly (Roper) is God sent (sic). Our debit are (sic) paid fully. $180k,' read the fraudulent post. Roper said she followed the steps in the 'Recover your hacked account' section of Facebook's online help center to no avail. When she tried to set up another Facebook page, she said Meta rejected it. 'It said, 'We reviewed your account and found it still does not follow our community standards on account integrity,'' recalled Roper. 'Not sure what that means because this is a brand-new account. I have not posted anything on it other than a picture of me.' At one point, Roper scanned her face. No luck there either. '(The) Facebook page said, 'scan your picture.' explained Roper. 'So, I scan it, and I still get rejected. (They say) that I'm not me.' The salon has found a work-around though; employees post on Instagram, and it shows up on the salon's Facebook page. 'It haunts you' Still, Roper feels personally violated. 'It haunts you,' said the salon owner. 'There are pictures of my kids, my dogs, my family. You know, this is a big deal.' BlackCloak Digital Executive Protection, a Florida-based cybersecurity firm, told Target 8 that Roper's experience is far from unique. 'It is very difficult,' said Ingrid Gliottone, Chief Experience Officer at BlackCloak, in a Zoom with Target 8. 'We're seeing it across the board trying to get a hold of an individual at any of these platforms to be able to retain access. I would say it's probably about a 50/50 shot that if you have your account compromised… you will be able to regain the account, unfortunately. It's just a flip of the coin what the system will accept or not.' Gliottone blamed Meta's lack of responsiveness on workforce reductions. 'Prior to COVID, these larger platforms like Meta, for example, had a lot more individual staff to be able to review those requests for when you thought your account was being impersonated, or your account was compromised and locked out,' explained Gliottone. 'What ultimately ended up happening, we saw a lot of those individuals be removed from those positions due to economic conditions.' Fewer humans, more automation In 2022, Mark Zuckerberg, founder, chairman and CEO of Meta, announced the company was cutting 11,000 jobs. 'That's why individuals… are having more difficulty trying to retain access to accounts,' explained Gliottone, 'because they're going up against automated systems and workflows, right? They'll go in and they'll submit, and they don't have… the documentation needed, so the system will automatically spit it back out and deny it.' Gliottone said some BlackCloak clients never regained access to their accounts. But she urges you to keep trying; report the fraud to Meta repeatedly and have friends and family do the same. '(It took one client) almost nine months before they were able to regain (control). They just kept trying.' Gliottone said weak passwords are most often to blame when bad actors gain access to accounts. Passwords and dual-factor authentication She urges you to create complex, unique, passwords, get comfortable using password managers, don't use variations of the same password and always enable dual-factor authentication. Prevention is the best protection. 'Some of the ways we have our clients achieve this in a relatively easy fashion is to think of short phrases or sentences because those are easier to remember,' explained Gliottone, referring to password generation. 'For instance, 'I love to fly.' You start off with capital 'I' and then, 'love' and then instead of 'to', you can use the number '2', and then 'fly' and you end with a period or an exclamation point. Strong passwords, that's the number one most important thing. Then dual-factor authentication is the next piece.' Facebook's online help center has pages on how to or someone pretending to be you or someone else on messenger. Target 8 sent emails to Meta and Facebook requesting comment. We received no response. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
2 adults, teen arrested after armed robbery in Kalamazoo
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Multiple people were arrested following an armed robbery in Kalamazoo on Saturday. Just before 4:30 p.m., officers with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety were sent to the area of N Rose Street near W Kalamazoo Avenue after receiving reports about an armed robbery. Responding officers learned from the victim that he was jumped by multiple people, pistol-whipped and had property stolen from him. The people then took off. Around 7 p.m., officers found the suspected vehicle on Portage Street near 2nd Street. A 17-year-old Kalamazoo boy ran off. He was quickly arrested on weapon and drug charges, KDPS said. He is being held in the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home. KDPS said evidence of the armed robbery was found in the vehicle. A 26-year-old from Kalamazoo was arrested for armed robbery and drug charges. A 20-year-old from Kalamazoo was arrested for resisting and obstructing police. KDPS said they are both being held in the Kalamazoo County Jail. In addition to the armed robbery arrests, five people, including a teenager, were arrested during traffic stops in Kalamazoo over Memorial Day weekend on weapons charges, KDPS said. 'This operation was conducted due to the recent gun violence that has occurred in our community. In a concerted effort to reduce gun violence, we will continue these enforcement operations throughout the Summer and beyond if necessary,' KDPS said in a release. Anyone with a tip about these cases is asked to call KVET at 269.337.8880 or Silent Observer at 269.343.2100. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Consumers CEO addresses J.H. Campbell Plant's future
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (WOOD) — The Consumers Energy CEO says it will be a challenge keeping the company's last coal-fired power plant open. 'There's a number of pieces that have to play out for the continued operation of that plant that make it challenging, but that's what we're going to do over the next 90 days to make it available for dispatch,' CEO Garrick Roscow said. On Friday, Consumers was ordered by the Trump administration to keep the plant open for 90 days. It was originally scheduled to close May 31, which would have been 15 years before its lifespan was scheduled to end. Demolition would have taken place next year. J.H. Campbell Plant to remain open after emergency order Speaking with News 8 on Thursday at the Mackinac Island Policy Conference, Rochow cited a number of challenges in keeping the plant open, including that many of the coal contracts have expired and that the plant doesn't have rail cars, so the utility will need to review leases now that the plant is set to stay open. What's next as Trump admin delays closure of West Michigan coal power plant Consumers is tasked with keeping the plant open with uncertainty on how exactly long it will keep operating. 'It's very challenging to continue operation, if you might imagine the people piece of it,' Rochow said. 'We had people that were going to retire at closure, we had people that were going to move on to other jobs,' he said. 'And so you're asking people to stay on another 90 days. Well, is it just 90 days, or is it more than 90 days? We can't answer that question.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Whitmer warns Michigan ‘uniquely vulnerable' to damage caused by tariffs
MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (WOOD) — Business leaders and decision-makers gathered for the annual Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference are discussing what President Donald Trump's tariffs might mean for Michigan. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who offered the keynote speech at the conference Thursday, said there are many positive things to talk about in the state, but also some trepidation. 'I think one of the palpable feelings is concern (about the) uncertainty coming out of Washington, D.C.,' Whitmer said. What happens to Trump's tariffs now that a court has knocked them down? The economic impact of trade policies being developed by Trump's administration, she said, could hit Michigan industries hard. 'The tariff talk takes a toll, and Michigan is uniquely vulnerable. We are a big manufacturing state, we have a ton of agriculture and we're heavily in the autos. All three of those things make Michigan more susceptible to the hardship that comes with the uncertainty and paralysis that follows. And we're already seeing it in Michigan,' she said. Still, she said, there are things Michigan can do to move forward. 'I can't control what's happening in Washington, D.C., in regards to tariffs. I can try to inform it and I take every opportunity to do that. But what I can do is make sure we shore up the fundamentals like roads; making sure we are educating our kids, a focus on literacy; and landing a chip plant, which would be diversifying. All these things are things that we can do in Michigan. They're hard, but we can do hard things.' The policy conference wraps up Friday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
