MISSING WOMAN SEARCH

SUV of 84-year-old missing since May found in Michigan river

MARINE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Police say the vehicle belonging to an 84-year-old Michigan woman missing since May has been found in the St. Clair River with a body inside. The St. Clair County sheriff’s office said divers found the SUV about 30 feet from the shore in Marine City. The vehicle was located Saturday by the volunteer diving group Adventures with a Purpose, which had been contacted by relatives of Nadine Moses of Casco Township. Moses was last seen May 4, with her family saying she had been experiencing memory problems. The SUV was pulled from the river and the body was removed so that authorities could confirm the identity.

ENERGY DEAL-DNR

Deal to provide clean energy to 7 Michigan parks, offices

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources has signed an agreement to buy energy for seven state parks and offices in southwestern Michigan. The DNR says the deal with South Lyon-based Utopian Power will supply nearly 1 megawatt of clean energy to the parks and offices. It’s also an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agency adds that the annual production of installed solar arrays in the southwest region will be enough to power roughly 90 homes or equivalent to reducing about 160 passenger vehicles’ greenhouse gas emissions. The DNR says it also anticipates saving $1.4 million through a discounted utility rate on the 25-year agreement.

PLANE CRASH-MICHIGAN

Maintenance mistake blamed for fatal Michigan plane crash

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — Federal investigators have determined that a misplaced air filter screen probably caused a small plane’s engine failure and crash in southeastern Michigan that killed a Delta airlines pilot and an aircraft mechanic two years ago. A National Transportation Safety Board report says the filter became displaced and blocked air into the engine. The plane lost total power and crashed soon after taking off from Livingston County Spencer J. Hardy Airport near Howell. Those killed in the August 2019 crash were 64-year-old pilot Phillip Colmer of Chelsea and 68-year-old James Tafralian of Webberville. Colmer was a Delta airlines pilot. Tafralian was an aircraft mechanic well known in the skydiving community.

ART MUSEUM-STUDENTS

After 19 months, Detroit museum welcoming school field trips

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Institute of Arts soon will be welcoming school field trips for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020. Admission and bus transportation is free for all K-12 schools in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. The Institute of Arts is supported by a property tax in those counties. School groups can sign up starting Oct. 12. Before the pandemic, more than 90,000 students a year visited the art museum on field trips. Masks are required. Lunch or snack space cannot be provided.

HONDA-INDIANA FACTORY

Honda's Indiana factory adds new model to production line

GREENSBURG, Ind. (AP) — Production has started on a new car model at Honda’s factory in southeastern Indiana. Honda executives, workers and several state officials marked the start of mass production for the 2022 Civic Hatchback at the Greensburg plant during a ceremony this past week. The new Civic Hatchback becomes the third type of vehicle produced at the factory, joining the Honda CR-V compact SUV and the Insight Hybrid sedan. Honda said it spend $50 million on a factory expansion and new equipment for the Civic Hatchback production in Greensburg. The factory now has about 2,700 workers and the capacity to build 250,000 vehicles a year.

DETROIT BLIGHT

Black-owned Detroit companies get half of demolition funds

DETROIT (AP) — About half of the first demolition funds awarded following a bond proposal approved by Detroit voters have gone to Black-owned businesses based in the city. The city says that, so far, the Detroit Demolition Department, which runs the city’s blight removal program, has awarded $70 million for the abatement and demolition of vacant houses and clearing out structures that will be secured for renovation and sale. Only 10% of all contracts awarded have gone to companies not headquartered in Detroit. Detroit has demolished about 19,000 vacant and abandoned houses since 2014, but most of that work was paid with federal funds which placed restrictions on how contracts were bid and where the structures being torn down were located.

RACIAL DISPARITIES-PROSECUTION GRANTS

Nonprofit grants propel prosecutor push on racial injustice

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Many of the law enforcement changes enacted by states after George Floyd’s death have centered on policing tactics, not on racial disparities in the criminal justice system. On a national level, bipartisan congressional talks on overhauling policing practices have ended without an agreement. Now, advocacy groups are focusing on suburban communities to push through criminal justice changes without new laws. Grants have gone out to prosecuting attorneys' offices that work with local community organizations to find ways to reduce racial disparities. Some offices are revamping diversion programs or changing how they prosecute specific crimes. Others are finding ways to keep juveniles out of the criminal justice system before they're ever charged.

CHURCH GRANTS

Church spreads the wealth years after getting large gift

CORUNNA, Mich. (AP) — A large gift to a small church continues to provide benefits to people in Shiawassee County. Nearly 10 local organizations got grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 from Juddville United Methodist Church. Angel’s Hands Outreach in Owosso received the largest amount. It provides clothing, household items and services to people in need. The founder, Christial Sierra, looked at the $50,000 check and said, “I'm trying not to cry.” The money comes from the estate of Jack and Ruth Walworth. They left more than $2 million with Juddville United Methodist Church. The Rev. Peter Crawford says the church in turn shares it with the community.

AP-US-ELECTION-REVIEWS-EXPLAINER

EXPLAINER: As Arizona election 'audit' ends, new ones begin

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The most closely watched attempt by Republicans to examine the 2020 presidential election came to an embarrassing end this week in Arizona, but efforts to conduct more are cranking up elsewhere. The most recent is in Republican-controlled Texas, where the secretary of state’s office announced it would begin a “full and comprehensive forensic audit” of the 2020 election in four heavily populated counties. These reviews go by various names: “audits” or “investigations,” sometimes with the word “forensic” attached. But their scope is not always well-defined or understood, even by those pushing them. Critics say they have one goal: to validate Trump’s baseless claim that widespread fraud cost him the election, regardless of what they find.

WSU SHOOTING-ARREST

1 killed, WSU football player hurt in shooting near campus

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Police say a man has been arrested in connection with a shooting that killed one person and critically injured another near the Washington State University campus. Police in Pullman, Washington, later identified the injured victim as 22-year-old Brandon C. Gray, a wide receiver on the school’s football team. The person who was killed was Liban A. Barre, 23, from Kent, Washington, police said. The Spokesman-Review reports Barre was not a student at WSU. The Pullman Police Department said officers were called around 12:30 a.m. Saturday for a report of a loud party, and as they approached they heard several gunshots. Gray, who is from Detroit, was taken by air ambulance to a Spokane hospital.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021