Every Saturday, this terrifying biker

 TEES

September 12 at 10:56 PM ·

Every Saturday, this terrifying biker meets a little girl at McDonald's, but today, the manager finally called the cops.

The leather-clad giant with skull tattoos snaking up his neck and a faded scar bisecting one eyebrow had been coming for six months. He always ordered two Happy Meals, a Coke for him and an orange juice for her, and always sat at the same corner booth. Exactly at noon, a seven-year-old girl with bright red pigtails would show up, dropped off by a woman in a minivan who never got out of the car.

Other customers complained. He looked "dangerous" and "inappropriate around children," especially when the little girl would run to him, squealing "Uncle Bear!", and climb into his massive, tattooed arms for a hug that looked like it could crush her.

Yesterday, three officers arrived to investigate what everyone assumed was a predator grooming a child. What they discovered made the entire restaurant go dead silent.

The little girl, Lily, saw the cops first. Her face went white. She grabbed the biker's arm with her tiny hands. "Are they taking you away too? Like they took Daddy?"

The biker – who everyone called Bear – put his huge hand gently on her head, shielding her face from the scene. "Nobody's taking me anywhere, sweetheart. We haven't done anything wrong." But his eyes, sharp and clear, were already calculating exits, watching the officers' hands, reading their stances. Twenty years in the Marine Corps and fifteen years as Sergeant-at-Arms for the Nomad Warriors MC had taught him to read a room in seconds.

The lead officer, a man named Henderson, approached slowly. "Sir, we've received some concerns—"

"I have legal documentation," Bear interrupted, his voice a low, calm rumble. He reached carefully for the inside pocket of his leather vest, moving with a deliberate slowness so nobody got nervous. He pulled out a worn, laminated court document, folded in four, and handed it over.

The officer took it, his expression wary. As he read, his professional mask slowly dissolved, replaced by a look of stunned disbelief, then dawning respect. He read a sentence aloud to his partners, his voice barely a whisper. "It's a court-ordered visitation agreement."

He looked up at Bear, then at the scared little girl hiding behind his arm. "Your name is William Morrison?"

"They call me Bear," he replied.

Officer Henderson cleared his throat and turned to face the now-silent, watching restaurant. "For everyone's information," he announced, his voice carrying an official, chastising tone, "this man is Mr. William 'Bear' Morrison. He is the court-appointed designated visitor for this child, Lily Jensen, acting on behalf of her father, Sergeant David 'Sparrow' Jensen." He held up the document. "This is a legal, binding arrangement, brokered by a family court judge. These meetings are not only legal, they are protected by law."

A wave of shame washed over the dining room. The manager who made the call suddenly looked very interested in wiping down a perfectly clean counter.

The story, which Officer Henderson pieced together and which Bear would never have told, was both simple and heartbreaking. Bear and "Sparrow" had served two tours together in Afghanistan. They were brothers in a way that blood could never define. A year ago, Sparrow, now a single father, had made a terrible mistake. A bar fight, a man who hit his head on the pavement—not murder, but manslaughter. He was serving a seven-year sentence.

Lily’s mother, who had remarried, wanted nothing to do with her ex-husband or his "outlaw" friends. She'd tried to sever all contact, telling Lily her father was gone forever. From behind bars, Sparrow fought her. He couldn't see his daughter, but he couldn't bear the thought of her forgetting him, or thinking he didn't love her. So he petitioned the court and named the one man on earth he trusted with his daughter's life: his brother, Bear.

The judge, seeing the mother’s hostility, had compromised. The father couldn’t be there, but his designated brother could. One hour, every Saturday, in a public, neutral location. Bear’s mission was simple: to keep a father's love alive in his daughter's heart. He would tell her stories about her dad, give her letters he'd written, and take pictures to send back to the prison. He was a living, breathing link to a father she couldn't see.

Officer Henderson handed the document back to Bear. "You're a good man, Mr. Morrison," he said quietly.

Bear just nodded, his eyes fixed on Lily. "I'm just keeping a promise to my brother."

Henderson turned to the manager. "You have a problem with this man or this little girl in your restaurant again, you call me directly. Not 911." He then looked at the other customers. "And let this be a lesson to all of you about judging a book by its cover."

fblifestyle

The police left. The restaurant was so quiet you could hear the hum of the ice machine. Bear sat back down in the booth, the tension leaving his massive shoulders. He pushed the Happy Meal box toward Lily, and the two of them resumed their sacred Saturday ritual. A tough, tattooed biker and a little girl with pigtails, sharing french fries in a corner booth that had, for one hour a week, become the most sacred church in town.

 

 

For those of you who are newer to our lovely area once a year I always put out a reminder. We are going into the coyote mating season. Januar and February they are extemely agressive and active. Coyotes will be on the prowl looking for food. They have been known to scale a 12ft fence with ease. Here recently two hunters found a coyote den with over 50 dog and cat collars. There's no telling how many they killed that didn't have a collar on. A coyote can literally wait in the shadows you take your little dog out for potty break and turn your head and that is how long it can take for you to lose your precious fur baby. They have adapted to being the best skilled hunters and they go into peoples backyards all the time and on front porches. All of these pictures that I am posting are coyotes with beloved cats and dogs in their mouths. This is disturbing. We live in a very rural part of town where coyotes don't really have a natural enemy in our area. Protect your dogs and cats when outside especially.
 

 

 

 

 

 

I can not shop at Costco anymore-

 I can not shop at Costco anymore- Yesterday I was at Costco buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal pet, Necco, the Wonder Dog, which weighs 191 lbs. I was in the check-out line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.What did she think I had an elephant?So because I'm retired and have little to do,on impulse I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again.I added that I probably shouldn't, because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IVs in both arms.I told her that it was essentially a Perfect Diet and that the way that it works is, to load your jacket pockets with Purina Nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry.The food is nutritionally complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story.)Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care, because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stopped to Pee on a Fire Hydrant and a car hit me,

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

Costco won't let me shop there anymore.Better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the World to think of crazy things to say.Forward this (especially) to all your retired friends...it will be their laugh for the day!

 

 Once, waking up in nature early in the morning, I noticed something surprising. Several dozen ants had fallen into a five-liter bottle of water that had been left open the night before. They waved chaotically in the transparent water, as if each one was fighting for its life.

At first, it seemed to me that they were drowning each other, saving themselves at the cost of the death of others.

This thought made me repulsed, and I turned away, deciding not to intervene.

However, after two hours, curiosity got the better of me, and I looked in the bottle again.

My astonishment knew no limits: the ants were alive! Furthermore, they had formed a true living island, a pyramid, in which some were supported by others, staying afloat like an entire colony.

I held my breath and began to observe. Those at the bottom were actually submerged in the water, but not forever. After a while, they were replaced by ants from the upper layer, which voluntarily descended. Those who were tired went up, without hurrying, without pushing the others.

Nobody tried to save themselves first. On the contrary, each one made an effort to go where it was most difficult. This coordinated system of mutual aid touched me to my core.

I couldn't resist. I found a spoon that easily passed through the neck of the bottle and carefully inserted it. Seeing salvation, the ants began to come out one by one, without generating even a drop of panic.

Everything was going well, until one of them, weakened, slipped back into the water, without reaching the edge.

And then something happened that I will remember all my life.

The last ant, almost outside, suddenly turned back. He came down, as if to say: "Hold on, brother, I won't leave you!"

She dove into the water, clinging tightly to the drowning one, but she couldn't pull him out on her own. I couldn't resist, I brought the spoon closer, and then they both came out, alive, together.

This episode moved me more than any movie or book about friendship and sacrifice. I felt a storm of emotions: first, condemnation, for having taken the ants for insensitive beings; then, amazement at his resistance; admiration for his discipline and brave sacrifice... And in the end, shame.

Shame on humans. For us. Because of indifference, because of how we lose each other in pursuit of benefits, because of how rare it is that someone comes back to save the weak. We build walls, instead of creating living bridges.

If ants, small creatures, are capable of such coordination and selflessness, why are we humans so often deaf to the suffering of others?

That day I understood one thing: true strength is in unity. And if someone still doesn't know how to live correctly, let them learn from the ants.

Credit goes to respective owner 

 

BELANGER

NEGAUNEE – Negaunee resident Carsen Belanger, 18, is accused of taking exploitative pictures of and sexually assaulting a woman last year.

Belanger is charged with eight felonies: three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct-personal injury, four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct-personal injury and one count of capturing/distributing an image of an unclothed person; says the case report from the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office. For each first-degree felony Belanger faces imprisonment for life or for any term of years and to be registered as a sex offender; for each second-degree felony Belanger faces up to 15 years in prison; and for the capturing/distributing crime Belanger faces up to five years in prison and or a $5,000 fine.

The case report received from the Sheriff’s Office was released after The Mining Journal put in a request for public records and was processed under the provisions of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. Much of the case report is redacted, specifically the mention of Belanger’s name, the sheriff’s department cited the reasoning as, “public disclosure of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of an individual’s privacy.”

The victim was 19 years old at the time and Belanger was 17 at the time of the report in July 2024. The case was first investigated when the victim went into Bell Hospital requesting a sexual assault kit be done on her, and claimed the assault happened early that morning. A month later, DNA was collected from the assault kit, and Belanger, his phone and social media accounts were searched by the Michigan State Police Computers Crimes Unit. By April, multiple photos of a match to the victim were found on the phone, and the DNA collected from the sexual assault kit matched Belanger to the victim.

A warrant was issued for Belanger by chief prosecuting attorney Jenna Nelson and magistrate Felicia Savola a few days after the DNA match. Two days later, on April 17, Belanger was arrested in the Negaunee High School parking lot.

Belanger is scheduled for a preliminary exam hearing at 9:30 a.m. on May 28. Alex Berger from Berger Law will be representing Belanger, with Nelson prosecuting.