Free Talk Live

Hostess has been sold at least three times since the 1980s, racking up debt and shedding profitable assets along the way with each successive merger. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and again in 2011. Little thought was given to the line of products, which, frankly, began to seem a bit dated in the age of the gourmet cupcake.

Jay Levin cannot escape a $750,000 court-ordered judgment for fatally shooting a suburban Boca Raton teenager in 2003, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has ruled.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Erik P. Kimball, in a 20-page opinion issued on Friday, ruled that a February Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing by Levin does not allow him to discharge the money judgment that he owes Greg and Luciana Drewes, who sued Levin after he shot and killed their son, Mark, seven years ago.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced Friday that the state will take over the operations of Detroit's city government due to its long-standing financial problems. The takeover is short of a formal bankruptcy, but it will include appointing an emergency manager who would have many of the same powers as a bankruptcy judge. It could mean throwing out contracts with public employee unions and vendors that the city can't afford, and could lead to further cutbacks in already depleted city services.

Nearly 18,500 workers will lose their jobs as the company succumbs to the crippling effects of a nationwide union strike.

This year saw the birth of a new, private bus company in Detroit, and it’s called the Detroit Bus Company. The owner and founder, 25-year-old Andy Didorosi, was a guest on Mitch Albom’s show today, where he stated that his company is “trying to change what people think about buses.” In other words, his company does not tool around the city in monstrous, shabby, dirty, disgusting cages on wheels that are driven by 400-pound, sedentary maniacs who have nothing to lose, especially their union-protected, government job.

There is a rule of thumb that says in any company, 20 percent of the employees will give you 80 percent of the top-notch work. Which means the other 80 percent of us are just a waste of company money and vending machine sandwiches.

So why do so few of us really excel at our jobs? Well, science says...

As a result of Bank Transfer Day, in which consumers were encouraged to switch to credit unions, 54 percent of credit unions reported an increase in share growth, according to a survey of 10,000 credit unions by the National Association of Federal Credit Unions.

Also reports a minimum of 650,000 account transfers since mid Sept.

Government services will be cut at every level. Potholes will deepen, infra-structure problems will worsen, pension plans will become insolvent, school systems will declare bankruptcy, police and fire protection will be reduced, etc. etc. You will be "nickled and dimed" in terms of new fees and taxes. Public unions will strike, providing further disruption. But when there are no funds, there is nothing to gain.

Many people are under the impression that public unions are mandatory, which is simply not true.

Question: Are Teachers Required to Join Teacher Unions?
Teacher unions were created as a way to combine the voices of teachers so that they could better bargain with school districts and protect their own interests.

Answer: Many new teachers wonder if they will be required to join a union when they get their first teaching job. The short answer to this question is "no." By law, a teacher's union cannot force teachers to join