Researchers found PFAS chemicals – used to make products resistant to heat and water – in all samples of 12 species of fish
All fish caught in Michigan rivers and tested for toxic PFAS contained the chemicals – and at levels that present a health risk for anyone eating them, according to a new study.
Researchers checked 100 fish samples that represented 12 species in the Huron and Rouge rivers.
Continue reading...Democrats attempted to advance bills requiring secure storage of firearms and expanding background checks for gun buyers
Less than a year before a gunman attacked Michigan State University’s campus on Monday, killing three students and injuring five, Republican legislators in the state rejected an opportunity to change gun regulations.
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Michigan Democrats attempted to advance bills requiring secure storage of firearms and expanding background checks for gun buyers. Six months earlier, a shooting at Oxford high school near Detroit had also reinvigorated Democratic efforts to change Michigan gun laws. But the gun bills were blocked by Republicans, who controlled both chambers of the state legislature.
Continue reading...University students Alexandria Verner, Brian Fraser and Arielle Anderson were all from suburban Detroit area
One was a fraternity chapter president. Another was a science student with fond memories of her days as a high-school athlete, and the third was a frequent volunteer who wanted to become a surgeon.
Family and friends mourned the deaths of three Michigan State University students killed in a Monday night shooting that critically wounded five others.
Continue reading...Gretchen Whitmer calls for action on ‘uniquely American problem’ after gunman kills three Michigan State students and wounds five
The governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, denounced the “uniquely American problem” of gun violence on Tuesday, after a gunman murdered three students in a mass shooting at Michigan State University the night before.
Whitmer spoke at a press conference in East Lansing at which authorities identified the shooter, who died by suicide, and revealed other details about the attack that left five students critically wounded.
Continue reading...Suspected shooter found dead off-campus with self-inflicted gunshot wound
At least three people were killed and several more injured in a shooting at Michigan State University, according to campus police. The suspected attacker died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
University police tweeted on Monday that shots were fired in two locations: near an academic building called Berkey Hall and an athletic facility known as IM East.
Continue reading...Military general says he will not rule out any explanation as fourth object is downed over North America this month
The US military has shot down a third flying object over North American airspace in three days, as the air force general overseeing the airspace said he would not rule out any explanation for the objects yet.
The high-altitude unidentified object, described as an “octagonal structure” with strings attached to it, was shot down over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday.
Continue reading...Michigan boy Mason Stonehouse had jumbo shrimp, shawarma, salads, chicken pita sandwiches and chili cheese fries delivered
A Michigan man says he was left with a $1,000 bill after his six-year-old son ordered a virtual smorgasbord of food from several restaurants last weekend, leading to a string of unexpected deliveries – and maybe a starring role in an ad campaign.
Keith Stonehouse said the food piled up quickly at his Detroit-area home on Saturday night after he let his son, Mason, use his cellphone to play a game before bed. He said the youngster instead used his father’s Grubhub account to order food from one restaurant after another.
Continue reading...Non-profit affiliated with utility DTE Energy funded effort to repeal Michigan governor’s emergency order powers
A dark money non-profit linked to power utility DTE Energy funded a group behind the effort to repeal the emergency order powers of Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and end the state’s Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
Internal Revenue Service records revealing a $100,000 donation made in 2020 were not publicly available until late 2021, and show the funds were contributed to another dark money non-profit that served as a primary funder of the Unlock Michigan repeal campaign.
Continue reading...Army veteran Steven Pringle turned his life around with bike shop where he fixed bikes, sold new ones and gave many away
A Michigan army veteran who turned his life around with a bike shop died in a crash while delivering free bikes to children in Florida affected by Hurricane Ian, his family said.
Steven Pringle, 57, was killed in Punta Gorda, Florida, on 23 November, a few weeks after a profile in the Detroit Free Press described how his passion for fixing bikes had touched many people in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Continue reading...Voters across the US described a range of urgent concerns, from reproductive rights to anxieties about the economy and crime
Millions of Americans took to the polls on Tuesday for the 2022 midterm elections, a series of bitter contests that will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control Congress for the next two years, as well as key state and local offices. The outcome could also help determine whether 2020 election deniers gain more political power, and potentially set the stage for still more discord among an increasingly fractious electorate.
Voters across the US described a range of urgent concerns, whether over the ongoing assault on reproductive rights or anxieties about the economy and crime. Many also described a heightened level of worry about possible challenges to accurate election results and the disenfranchisement of voters, including protracted litigation that could sow dangerous distrust in the US’s electoral system.
Continue reading...The arrests come amid concerns about the potential for violence around next week’s US midterm elections
The FBI has arrested two alleged members of the far-right anti-government group the Boogaloo Boys, as authorities express increasing concern about the potential for violence around next week’s US midterm elections.
Timothy Teagan was expected to appear on Wednesday in federal court in Detroit, where charges against him would be unsealed, an FBI spokesperson said.
Continue reading...Judge acts after prosecutor says woman and Paul Bellar, 24, had ‘non-verbal communication’ in form of eye contact and smiling
A judge dismissed a young woman from the jury hearing the trial of three men in connection with a 2020 plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, after attorneys accused her of flirting with a defendant.
Judge Thomas Wilson announced on Friday that the woman had been removed from the jury, two days after attorneys raised concerns she was having too much non-verbal communication with the defendant Paul Bellar, the Jackson Citizen Patriot reported.
Continue reading...The coffee giant will be required to reinstate Hannah Whitbeck’s job and to hold a meeting reasserting that the company broke the law
Starbucks illegally fired an employee at one of the coffee giant’s shops in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for engaging in union activism, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Friday.
The decision requires Starbucks to offer the worker reinstatement with back pay and to hold a meeting with employees, management, government representatives and the union to clarify workers’ rights and reassert the board’s finding that the company broke the law.
Continue reading...Canada warns of ‘significant’ economic damage in the event of a shutdown of Line 5, which travels through Michigan
Canada has once again invoked a longstanding treaty with the US as it seeks to keep a controversial cross-border pipeline open, warning of “significant” economic damage to both countries in the event of a shutdown.
Canada’s foreign minister said Line 5, a pipeline operated by Calgary-based Enbridge, was a critical source of energy security.
Continue reading...CDC is trying to determine whether romaine lettuce is the source of an outbreak that has sickened 37 people
The fast-food chain Wendy’s says it is pulling lettuce from sandwiches in its restaurants in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania after people eating them there reported falling ill.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday it is trying to determine whether romaine lettuce in Wendy’s sandwiches is the source of an E coli outbreak that has sickened over 30 people – and whether romaine used by the chain was also served or sold at other businesses.
Continue reading...Reform is the result of a lawsuit and is intended to challenge two-tier system where low-income people are jailed for lack of funds
A Michigan district court will implement reforms that will force judges in Detroit to state on record how implementing cash bail will protect the community.
The reforms are meant to end practices that commonly jail people from low-income and Black communities and could serve as a model for court systems across the US, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said.
Continue reading...Factory in Sturgis, Michigan shut down in May after storms that produced torrential flooding
A key baby formula plant shut down by torrential rains last month has resumed operations, again spurring hope that the nationwide baby formula shortage could ease up.
Abbott Laboratories, the United States’ largest baby formula manufacturer, closed down production at its main plant in Sturgis, Michigan, on 16 June after storms that produced catastrophic flooding. That came only two weeks after it had resumed work following a shutdown in February prompted by a Food and Drug Administration investigation that found contamination at the facility.
Continue reading...Michigan man entered area marked closed, reportedly saying he found official explanations of the deaths ‘odd’
A Michigan man who is said to have traveled to California’s Sierra national forest to investigate the heat-related deaths of a young family on a hiking trail last year had to be rescued last month, according to the Mariposa county sheriff’s office.
The tourist, whom authorities have not named but said is in his mid-60s, reportedly traveled to the area to research what happened to Ellen Chung, 30, her husband, Jonathan Gerrish, 45, their one-year-old daughter, Miju, and their dog, Oski, who all died on a hike last August.
Continue reading...Text appears to indicate campaign sought to use certificates it knew were not state-certified to obstruct Biden’s victory
The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack made the case at its fourth hearing on Tuesday that the Trump 2020 campaign tried to obstruct Joe Biden’s election win through a potentially illegal scheme to send fake slates of electors to Congress.
The panel presented a text message sent on 4 January 2021 that appeared to indicate the Trump campaign was seeking to use fraudulent election certificates they would have known were not state-certified to obstruct the congressional certification of Biden’s win.
Note: This post was updated to clarify the former US attorneys’ titles.
Continue reading...The family’s lawyer says Grand Rapid police officer broke protocol by using the Taser too close to Lyoya
The grief-stricken parents of the Black man shot in the back of the head by a white Michigan police officer have described their son’s death as an “execution”.
Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese refugee, was killed after a traffic stop in Grand Rapids on 4 April.
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