VIRUS OUTBREAK-HEALTH OFFICER

County official quits over 'politicization' of public health

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — A county health officer frustrated with the “politicization of public health” during COVID-19 is quitting her job in southwestern Michigan. Courtney Davis has been the interim health officer in Berrien County since July when she was promoted from deputy. Communications manager Gillian Conrad is also resigning. Davis ordered masks in local schools to reduce the spread of COVID-19, though the order was dropped Sept. 29 when the health department believed state funding would be in jeopardy. Berrien County has had only one applicant for the job of permanent health officer, a role that Davis was serving on an interim basis.

AP-US-FOUR-SLAIN-MICHIGAN

Prosecutor: Woman charged with killing 4 had other targets

CLARE, Mich. (AP) — A woman is charged with killing her father, sister and two handymen in mid-Michigan. The Clare County prosecutor says 54-year-old Judy Boyer had a journal with names of other people whom she wanted to kill. Bond was set at $1 million Friday, and a not-guilty plea was entered on Boyer’s behalf. Authorities haven't disclosed a motive for the killings. The victims were Henry Boyer, his daughter Patricia Boyer, Zachary Salminen and Wade Bacon. Salminen and Bacon were at Henry Boyer's home to fix the roof and handle other jobs before cold weather arrived. Judy Boyer lived across the street.

MAYOR CHARGED

Feds get key guilty plea in Detroit-area corruption probe

TAYLOR, Mich. (AP) — A real estate investor has pleaded guilty to bribing a Detroit-area mayor with cash, appliances and home upgrades in exchange for getting dozens of foreclosed properties. Shady Awad replied, “yes,” when a judge recited the payoffs in Taylor and asked if they were accurate. The government says Awad bribed Taylor Mayor Rick Sollars with benefits worth more than $53,000. The mayor was charged in 2019. He pleaded not guilty and his case is pending. Awad pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy and could face about four years in prison when he is sentenced in March.

AP-US-HAMTRAMCK-WATER

Hamtramck in Detroit area is latest facing lead in water

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Another Michigan city is giving filters to residents as a result of high lead results in some drinking water samples. Hamtramck is a 2-square-mile city in the Detroit area with 28,000 residents, many of them immigrants from Bangladesh, Yemen and other countries. The city says 700 filters were passed out Thursday and another 900 will be distributed next week. Mayor Karen Majewski says the water is fine but old pipes are leaching lead into the system. The mayor says not every home is affected and “people don't need to panic.” Across the state in Benton Harbor, residents there have been urged to use only bottled water for cooking and drinking due to elevated lead levels.

AP-US-SCHOOL-BUSES-GOING-ELECTRIC

Amid air quality concerns, districts embrace electric buses

BOSTON (AP) — Efforts to make school buses greener are gaining momentum thanks to billions of dollars in spending in the federal infrastructure plan. A collection of parents, students, environmentalists and lawmakers argues school districts should transform their fleets from diesel to electric vehicles. They say the shift would offer health benefits to children while also addressing concerns that fossil fuel-burning buses are bad for the environment. The transition until now has largely stalled because cash-strapped districts lacked money to buy more expensive electric buses. But that could change if Congress approves the infrastructure bill that includes $5 billion for electric and hybrid buses.

AP-US-GENERAL-MOTORS-CHIP-SHORTAGE

On Nov. 1, no GM plants will be closed due to chip shortage

DETROIT (AP) — For the first time in eight months, the global shortage of computer chips won’t force General Motors to close any North American factories. The company said Friday that as of Nov. 1, all plants that had been closed on and off since February due to the shortage will be making vehicles. The shortage has forced automakers to sporadically shut down plants since late last year. That has cut supplies on dealer lots and driven new vehicle prices to record levels. But production isn’t back to normal just yet. Some of the factories will only run one shift per day. And experts say chip shortages will persist well into next year.

AP-US-BENTON-HARBOR-WATER

Michigan official: Benton Harbor water woes 'inexcusable'

Michigan officials are defending their response to a lead crisis in a corner of the state. They told lawmakers Thursday that steps to reduce corrosion in Benton Harbor's aging water pipes began in 2019, just a few months after tests revealed troubling lead results. Benton Harbor's 9,700 residents are being urged to use free bottled water for drinking and cooking, until officials are confident that tap filters can work effectively. Liesl Clark of Michigan's environmental agency says the ultimate remedy is the replacement of about 6,000 old water lines at Benton Harbor homes. She says the pipes are releasing lead into the water.

FOUR SLAIN-MICHIGAN

Woman arrested in slayings of 4 people in central Michigan

CLARE, Mich. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a woman whom they had been seeking in the deaths of four people in central Michigan. The Mount Pleasant Morning Sun reports that the Clare County sheriff said 54-year-old Judy Boyer was taken into custody Thursday morning. Authorities had been looking for the 54-year-old woman since Wednesday evening. She had not been charged in the deaths as of Thursday afternoon. Two men were found wounded about 4 p.m. Wednesday in Clare after police responded to reports of a shooting. Those men later died. The bodies of an 85-year-old man and 61-year-old woman were found elsewhere on the same property.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-HOSPITAL

Beaumont Health says 370 people could lose jobs over vaccine

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s largest health care provider suspended 1 percent of its workers after they failed to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Beaumont Health had set an Oct. 18 deadline. Crain's Detroit Business says the 370 employees now have until Nov. 16 to get a shot or they will be discharged. Spokesman Mark Geary says Beaumont hopes they decide to get the vaccine and return to work. An additional 70 employees resigned. At Henry Ford Health System, 400 refused to get the vaccine by an October deadline and lost their jobs.

HAITI-US-KIDNAPPED MISSIONARIES

Haiti gang leader threatens to kill kidnapped missionaries

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The leader of the 400 Mawozo gang that Haitian police say kidnapped 17 members of a missionary group is seen in a new video saying he will kill them if he doesn’t get what he is demanding. The video posted Thursday on social media shows Wilson Joseph dressed in a blue suit, carrying a blue hat and wearing a large cross around his neck. He also threatens Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the chief of Haiti’s National Police while speaking in front of coffins holding several members of his gang who were recently killed. Authorities have said the gang is demanding $1 million per person in the kidnapped group, though it wasn’t immediately clear that included the five children among the 16 Americans and one Canadian.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021