Midwest
GOP Michigan rep accused of chasing an exotic dancer while brandishing a gun
A Michigan state representative may face felony-level sexual assault and weapons charges after allegedly sexually assaulting an exotic dancer and then chasing her while brandishing a gun.
Republican state Rep. Neil Friske, 62, was released from the Lansing police lockup late Friday morning, The Detroit Free Press reported.
Friske allegedly “chased an adult dancer after a disagreement,” MIRS News reported, after police responded to reports of possible shots fired around 2:45 a.m. on Thursday.
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Michigan state Rep. Neil Friske was arrested after allegedly chasing an exotic dancer with a firearm early Thursday morning. Police are investigating a potential sexual assault, but no charges have been filed. (© Annie Doyle/Charlevoix Courier/USA Today Network)
He was arrested on Windbreak Lane near a condo he owns in Lansing. The dancer reportedly works or worked at the nearby Deja Vu Showgirls strip club, according to the outlet, which is the closest such club.
“We’re just saying no comment at this time,” the establishment told The New York Post.
On the scene, law enforcement learned of a “possible sexual assault of an adult female,” the office of Ingham County prosecutor John Dewane told the Free Press.
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The alleged female victim worked at Deja Vu Showgirls in Lansing, MIRS News reported. (Google Maps)
Friske declined to comment as he left the Lansing police station on Friday, but his attorney Edwar Zeineh told the Free Press that “this is a case that is getting our full attention to show actual innocence.”
Records obtained Friday by the Free Press through the Michigan State Police criminal background service show that the Lansing department requested felony charges of sexual assault, assault and a weapons-related offense against the lawmaker.
But Friske has not yet been charged or arraigned, and it is unclear whether those are the charges he will face.
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Dewane’s office wrote in a Friday press release that it has requested the department continue its investigation, and that prosecutors are coordinating with law enforcement on the matter.
Zeineh said his office will also be conducting a “very thorough investigation” and will provide its findings to the Ingham prosecutors so that officials can “make a very informed decision.”
Rep. Neil Friske, left, on the House floor, March 8, 2023. (© Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal/USA Today Network)
In a statement released on Facebook, Friske’s campaign wrote that the arrest was “highly suspect” considering that it took place “right before absentee ballots are released” and “a day after an unknown phone number conducted polling on the 107 race between Rep. Friske and our opponent with deep-state ties.”
“Rep. Friske is always exercising his 2nd Amendment right,” the campaign wrote. “We do not have any details beside what the media sourced, oddly before anyone of us knew anything.”
Friske faces a primary election challenge against Parker Fairbairn of Harbor Springs on Aug. 6, The Detroit News reported. The winner of the primary will be likely to win the general election in the Republican stronghold, which includes Charlevoix and Emmet counties and parts of Mackinac and Chippewa counties.
In a statement, Fairbairn said that despite his “abysmal and immoral voting record,” Friske is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“He voted against protecting spouses from marital rape, voted against making child marriage illegal, voted against tax cuts for veterans — and just this past week, he voted against making it illegal to create AI ‘deep fake’ pornography using the likeness of our daughters and wives,” Fairbairn wrote in his statement. “Neil deserves his time in court, and the people of the 107th District deserve better than Neil.”
Friske, who is seeking his second term in the Michigan House next fall, is considered one of the more conservative members of the Legislature and is part of the House’s Freedom Caucus, which describes itself as “focused on traditional conservative values and individual liberty.”
After his release from lockup, his campaign wrote in a second Facebook post that they “are confident that he and his legal team will be able to show his innocence against any trumped up charges.”
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Michigan
Sherrone Moore’s former assistant sues University of Michigan over alleged FOIA violations
A former University of Michigan assistant whose relationship with ex-coach Sherrone Moore was under investigation is accusing university officials of refusing to provide records related to the probe.
Paige Shiver filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in Washtenaw Circuit Court, claiming that U of M “arbitrarily and capriciously” violated the Michigan Freedom of Information Act by repeatedly denying her requests. Shiver and her legal team are seeking a court order requiring the university to disclose the records.
The lawsuit also alleges that throughout Shiver’s four-year employment with U of M, she was “discriminated against and subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of her sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Michigan law including Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act.”
“The lawsuit filed today demands transparency and accountability from the University of Michigan, President Grasso and the Board of Regents,” said Shiver’s attorney, Andrew M. Stroth.
On Wednesday, CBS News Detroit reached out to U of M, which says it has no comment.
The investigation led to Moore’s firing in December 2025. At the time, it was determined that he was in an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, who was later identified as Shiver.
Moore was arrested hours later after authorities said he went to Shiver’s home and threatened to harm himself. He was charged with third-degree felony home invasion, as well as misdemeanor counts of stalking and of breaking and entering. Moore was sentenced to 18 months’ probation after pleading no contest to the two misdemeanor charges.
According to the lawsuit, Shiver filed a FOIA request in February 2026 for audio, video and transcripts of interviews of herself, her father, Jeff Shiver, and Moore. The lawsuit alleges that the university denied her request, citing the ongoing investigation.
The lawsuit alleges that Shiver submitted a similar request months later, in June, but was told by the university that it was “overly broad and vague” and “does not describe a ‘public record sufficiently to enable the public body to find the public record.’”
The lawsuit claims that requests were submitted in March and May, respectively, for all emails sent to the law firm Jenner & Block (UMconcerns@jenner.com) and for recordings of Shiver’s meetings by the university through Jenner & Block. However, those requests were denied because the university cited that it had no responsive records, according to the lawsuit.
The law firm was hired by U of M to investigate Moore and Shiver’s relationship. The university later expanded the investigation to include the athletic department.
The lawsuit also claims that Shiver requested copies of emails between Moore and athletic director Warde Manuel that contained the words “affair,” “discipline,” “pregnancy,” “baby” and “abortion.” The university denied the request, citing the communication between U of M employees as “exempt information,” according to the lawsuit.
However, Shiver’s legal team argued that the university has not shown evidence that the emails are exempt.
“This public university paid Jenner & Block $12 million to investigate the Sherrone Moore scandal and the abuse, Title IX and Title VII violations within the athletic department and Schembechler Hall, yet now refuses to release the investigation’s findings. It was important for our client to file this initial FOIA lawsuit to ensure the truth and facts come out,” Stroth said.
Shiver appeared on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” in April to discuss her relationship with Moore. In the interview, she said she became pregnant by Moore and sought an abortion after medical complications were discovered about the pregnancy.
Note: The video above previously aired on April 14, 2026.
Minnesota
Man seriously injured in north Minneapolis shooting; no arrests
Minneapolis police are investigating a shooting that seriously injured a man on the city’s north side Wednesday afternoon.
The shooting happened just before 2 p.m. on the 1200 block of 36th Avenue North, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
Upon arrival, officers found a man inside the living room of a residence suffering from a life-threatening gunshot wound. Police provided medical aid to the victim before he was transported by ambulance to an area hospital.
Officers are working to determine what led up the shooting, including if it was accidental, according to officials.
No arrest have been made so far.
Missouri
Missouri politicians champion unity, diversity on America’s 250th
Former Missouri Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon followed in his ancestor’s footsteps, 250 years to the day.
On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon was the first person to publicly read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.
Jay Nixon, along with other Missouri officials from local, state and national offices, participated in a semiquincentennial celebration at the Historical Greene County Courthouse on July 8, 2026.
“As we commemorate 250 years of American independence, may we remember not only the courage of those who signed the declaration, but also our responsibility to preserve the freedoms they declare,” said Connie Yen, director of the Greene County Archives and Records Center.
While the reading of the Declaration of Independence was the main event, patriotic music from the Salvation Army Band, Springfield Sound, the Patriotic Chorale — as well as the national anthem sung by former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft and former judge and representative Max Bacon — rang throughout the courthouse’s rotunda, which was packed with people. The music itself, Ashcroft said, was a metaphor for the nation.
“There is something charming about America that doesn’t require that we be uniform. There’s a difference between unity and uniformity. As a matter of fact, you can’t have harmony if you only have one note. You have to sing different notes for things to be harmonic and it’s much more beautiful,” he said. “Maybe America is America not because of uniformity or everybody being in unison, but America may be America because we have disparity, but we’re in harmony. We believe in unity, not uniformity.”
Before reading the Declaration of Independence, Nixon shared part of a speech he gave at Fulton’s Westminster College in August 2025, where he encouraged people to “resist apathy with action” through involvement with civic and faith organizations, and by voting. Like others, he emphasized diversity as the strength of America.
“(We’re) a nation of immigrants. Many of our ancestors fled poverty, injustice and tyranny to build something better. We are the great-great-great-grandchildren of slaves, and those who enslaved them; the first families who inhabited these lands, and those who drove them from it,” Nixon said. “A nation of scrappy strivers stitched together by our ideals, marked by original sins, but redeemed by the courage and sacrifice that saved us from fascism and unleashed freedom and prosperity — the envy of the world. That is the true story we all need to tell, the promise we made to each other that we work every day to keep.”
The reading was followed by an ice cream social, co-hosted by the Greene County Democratic and Republican women’s clubs.
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