EPA-BENTON HARBOR-WATER

Watchdog to probe EPA handling of city's lead-tainted water

A federal watchdog will investigate the government's handling of drinking water contamination in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general announced the study Friday. Advocacy groups have accused local, state and federal agencies of a lackluster response to several years of high lead readings in the southwestern Michigan city's water. EPA says it will cooperate with the review. The problems in Benton Harbor follow a lead-in-water crisis in Flint, another majority-Black city that became a symbol of environmental inequity.

ARSON ARREST-DETROIT

Man charged in string of fires in Detroit, Highland Park

DETROIT (AP) — A 30-year-old man has been jailed in connection with a year-long string of intentionally set fires in Detroit. Interim Detroit Fire Chief Chuck Simms says the man was arraigned Friday on five felony and five misdemeanor counts of arson. Police say he was arrested Feb. 10 when it appeared he was preparing to burn the garage of a previously burned property. The fires are believed to have started in March 2021 on the city’s westside and in the nearby enclave of Highland Park when a fence and trash can were set on fire. Another trash can was set ablaze that April on Detroit’s eastside. Fires also were set to five houses between Nov. 28 and Feb. 5.

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT

Spring break could affect jury pool in Whitmer kidnap trial

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Spring break could affect the makeup of the jury in the upcoming trial of four men accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Judge Robert Jonker held a final housekeeping hearing Friday ahead of the March 8 trial in federal court in Grand Rapids. The trial could last four to five weeks and run into the spring break of schools in western Michigan. The judge says he’s not likely to keep someone with travel plans in the jury pool, which means there could be fewer people with school-age children to consider. Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta are charged with plotting to kidnap the Democratic governor in 2020. They have pleaded not guilty.

SUBMERGED VEHICLE-3 KILLED

SUV flips over into Michigan pond, 3 young boys killed

HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A third young brother who was trapped inside an SUV that rolled into a pond in southwestern Michigan and flipped over has died. The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that the 1-year-old boy had died. Shortly after Thursday morning's crash in Holland Township, they announced his two older brothers had died. The Sheriff's Office identified the victims as 1-year-old Josiah Gonzales, 3-year-old Jeremiah Gonzales and 4-year-old Jerome Gonzales. The boys' mother survived. The Sheriff's Office says the mother was driving when her SUV slammed into a curb before landing upside down in the pond. The boys were trapped in their child-restraint seats.

RUNWAY SLIDEOFF-DETROIT

No one hurt after private jet slides off Detroit runway

DRTROIT (AP) — No one was hurt when a private jet slid off a runway at Detroit City Airport. Deputy Detroit Fire Commissioner David Fornell says firefighters were called to the airport about 1 p.m. Friday. He tells The Detroit News “there were no injuries and there was no fire." He says firefighters are standing by until it’s removed from the runway. Fornel says it appears the jet hit a slippery spot on the runway and slid.

DETROIT ZOO-PENGUIN CENTER

Detroit Zoo's massive penguin center reopens after 2 years

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Zoo’s massive penguin center has reopened to the public more than two years after it was shuttered to repair faulty waterproofing. Visitors were welcomed inside the Polk Penguin Conservation Center this week for the first time since the facility closed in 2019. It's billed as the world’s largest penguin center. The Polk Center opened in 2016 and was an immediate hit, featuring two tunnels where visitors could watch four species of penguins swim above and around them. Three years later, the zoo closed the $30 million Polk Center after officials said 9 gallons of water were seeping into the facility and being pumped out daily.

CANADA-PROTESTS-RACE

In GOP embrace of truckers, some see racist double standard

Prominent American conservatives who embrace the Canadian truckers protesting COVID-19 restrictions are drawing new accusations of hypocrisy. The support has also fueled allegations that GOP leaders apply a racist double standard to large protests, including the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by a mostly white crowd of Trump supporters. Critics say top Republicans support a white, conservative rights movement, but they refer to Black Lives Matter protesters as thugs. Conservatives insist that there’s a double standard on the other side — that liberals support the idea of protesting, until they disagree with the cause.

BC-US-BORDER-AGENCY-NEW-LEADER

Border agency chief faces challenges from within and outside

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Chris Magnus has many challenges to overcome in his new role as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Among them are agent discontent, allegations of migrant mistreatment, a failure to recruit more women and an asylum system that many view as broken. In an interview with The Associated Press, Magnus acknowledged morale problems within the nation's largest law enforcement agency but offered no quick answers to the heavy migration flow to the U.S., which attracts more asylum seekers than any other country. Magnus might seem like an unconventional pick. As police chief in Tucson, Arizona, he rejected federal grants to collaborate on border security with the agency he now leads and kept a distance from Border Patrol leaders.

AP-US-COUNTRY-CLUB-FIRE

Fire destroys iconic clubhouse at Oakland Hills golf club

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A devastating fire swept through the century-old clubhouse Thursday at Oakland Hills Country Club, the suburban Detroit course that housed artifacts of some of golf’s biggest stars and the championships they won there. Flames ripped through the roof at the sprawling, multi-story clubhouse. It was built in 1922 and housed irreplaceable memorabilia and art from the nine major championships and the Ryder Cup that Oakland Hills has hosted over nearly a century. Oakland Hills opened in 1916 and has hosted six U.S. Opens — only two other courses have held it more times. The most famous was in 1951 when Ben Hogan won and later proclaimed, “I’m glad I brought this course, this monster, to its knees.”

AP-US-MED-BABY-FORMULA-RECALL

FDA: Do not use recalled infant formulas tied to infections

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials warned parents not to use infant formulas manufactured at an Abbott plant that they've linked to bacterial contamination. The Food and Drug Administration said it is investigating four reports of infants who were hospitalized after consuming the formulas, including one who died. The cases included one salmonella infection and three involving a rare but dangerous bacteria called Cronobacter sakazakiim. FDA inspectors are investigating the Sturgis, Michigan plant where the products were manufactured. Inspectors found positive test results for bacteria and other potential quality control problems. Abbott says the recall doesn't affect liquid formulas or any other products.

News from © The Associated Press, 2022