AP-US-SCI-VEHICLE EMISSIONS-PUBLIC HEALTH

Vehicle emission declines decreased deaths, study finds

Researchers who study the environment and public health say that thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars have been saved in the United States by recent reductions in emissions from vehicles. The researchers from Harvard University looked at the impact of declines in emissions from cars and other vehicles between 2008 and 2017 on deaths caused by air pollution from them. They found deaths dropped from 27,700 in 2008 to 19,800 in 2017 and that the economic benefits from the emissions reduction totaled $270 billion.

SCHOOL SHOOTING-MICHIGAN

Boy charged in Michigan school deaths to stay in adult jail

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge has declined to move the 15-year-old charged with killing four students at Oxford High School out of an adult jail. But she agrees that the jail needs to ensure the boy can’t hear or see grown-up inmates. Ethan Crumbley’s probable cause conference Monday in Rochester Hills District Court was adjourned to Jan. 7 to allow his lawyers to review witness statements and other evidence. Paulette Loftin, his court-appointed attorney, had argued that he should be moved to a juvenile facility because he “should not be considered a menace to other juveniles.” But District Judge Nancy Carniak ordered Crumbley to continue to be held in adult jail.

MISSING MAP

'Honest mistake': Library recovers map of small town

DURAND, Mich. (AP) — After a plea to the public, a piece of a Michigan town’s history has been returned to a library in Shiawassee County. A large framed map disappeared on Oct. 11 when it was temporarily placed outside the library in Durand. The map was damaged by water and needed repairs. Librarian Nancy Folaron says two people figured it was being thrown out and took the map home. The map was created to celebrate Durand’s centennial in 1987. It depicts the town in 1913 and has names of businesses and the homes of railroad workers. The map was returned on Dec. 2, weeks later. The librarian says it was just an “honest mistake.”

MOBILITY PROJECTS-FUNDING

More than $2.8M awarded to mobility projects in SE Michigan

DETROIT (AP) — The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments has awarded more than $2.8 million to four projects expected to improve mobility. Projects receiving the funding are in Monroe County, Wixom, Rochester Hills and Shelby Township. SEMCOG says the funding comes from the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), or TAP. The projects are transportation-related improvements to roadways, local streets, and corridors. Most often, they address mobility options through new or enhanced bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and include pathways, bike lanes, sidewalks and pedestrian crossings.

SEVERE WEATHER-MICHIGAN

High winds cause Michigan power outages, snarl repair work

DETROIT (AP) — Strong winds across Michigan caused tens of thousands of new electrical outages Saturday and frustrated efforts to repair widespread damage to power lines from overnight storms. Nearly 50,000 additional outages to homes and businesses were reported by DTE Energy in Detroit and surrounding areas of southeastern Michigan during the day Saturday. Those pushed the total outages involving the state’s major electric utilities to about 250,000. Southeastern Michigan was under a high wind warning from the National Weather Service for most of Saturday, with sustained winds of 35 mph and gusts topping 50 mph. DTE said it had more than 1,500 employees and contractors working to make repairs.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-IVERMECTIN

Court won't order hospital to use deworming drug on man

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals won’t order a hospital to use a deworming drug to treat a man who has health problems related to COVID-19. The court says it won’t disrupt the judgment of doctors at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. The daughter of a 68-year-old man sued after doctors refused to use ivermectin. The man was admitted to the hospital on Nov. 6 with COVID-19, but the infection has eased. Ivermectin is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat roundworms, lice and other tiny parasites in humans — not COVID-19.

GENERAL MOTORS-BATTERY PLANT

GM venture picks Michigan for 3rd US-based EV battery plant

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors and a joint-venture partner plan to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Lansing, Michigan, their third such factory in the U.S. The companies' plans were revealed in documents posted on the city’s website Friday. They say the plant would cost up to $2.5 billion and employ as many as 1,700 workers. A joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution called Ultium Cells LLC would build the factory. GM has said it will build four North American plants to make EV battery cells. Locations in Tennessee and Ohio have already been announced.

DETROIT DEVELOPMENT

New housing, commercial space coming to Detroit's westside

DETROIT (AP) — Construction has started on a $10.8 million development on Detroit’s westside that will include 38 affordable housing units along with commercial space. The city says The Sawyer Art Apartments are part of the Strategic Neighborhood Fund initiative, a partnership between the city and Invest Detroit. The block-long development will go up along the city’s recently completed McNichols streetscape. Housing rates will be listed at between 60% and 80% area median income and designed to help more residents afford quality housing. Retail spaces will be offered at reduced rates to entrepreneurs. The building is expected to be completed in 2023.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MICHIGAN

Michigan COVID surge trends in 'deeply concerning direction'

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s COVID-19 surge is trending in a “deeply concerning direction” ahead of the winter holidays and, unlike a year ago, is not subsiding following Thanksgiving. State health officials delivered that sobering message Friday while urging vaccines and booster shots. Infection rates and hospitalizations are at all-time highs 21 months into the pandemic. Vaccination rates lag the national average. Three in four patients hospitalized with the coronavirus are unvaccinated. State health director Elizabeth Hertel warns the omicron variant may be be more transmissible than the delta variant. Michigan is deploying additional ventilators to hospitals and seeking more from the national stockpile.

WIFE POISONED

Man sentenced to life for killing wife with heroin in cereal

DAVISON, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man who was convicted of killing his wife by spiking her cereal with heroin was sentenced Friday to life in prison. Genesee Circuit Court Judge David J. Newblatt handed down the sentence for Jason Harris of Davison in the 2014 death of Christina Davis, MLive.com reported. A jury convicted Jason Harris in November of first-degree murder, solicitation of murder and delivery of a controlled substance causing death. A medical examiner had classified Christina Harris’ death in 2014 as an accidental overdose. But investigators subsequently alleged that it was a murder scheme hatched by Jason Harris at their Davison home in Genesee County.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021