HOTEL ROOM-OVERDOSE DEATHS

Man, 21, enters plea in overdose deaths at suburban hotel

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — A 21-year-old man faces up to 15 years in prison in the deaths of three people who fatally overdosed in a suburban Detroit hotel room. The Detroit Free Press reports that Lorenzo Brabo of Lake Orion pleaded guilty Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter. He had been charged with three counts of delivery of a controlled substance causing death. Police in Auburn Hills found the bodies of a 17-year-old girl, and two brothers, ages 19 and 18, at the hotel, about 33 miles northwest of Detroit in July 2020. Authorities have said fentanyl-laced pain relievers were given to the victims. Brabo had overdosed and was found unconscious in the hotel room. He will be sentenced in September.

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-DEVOS

GOP's DeVos says she will not seek Michigan governorship

Former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says she will not run for Michigan governor in 2022, putting an end to speculation about the onetime Trump administration Cabinet member and partner in one of the state’s most influential Republican couples. The 63-year-old DeVos made the announcement Tuesday. She said she never weighed a campaign to challenge Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, despite weeks of chatter in Michigan’s political class. Though a billionaire able to finance a campaign and former state party chairwoman with key connections, DeVos would have faced complications in a Republican primary and the general election. DeVos is married to Dick DeVos, Michigan’s losing candidate for governor in 2006.

AP-US-EX-DETROIT-COUNCILMAN-PAROLE

Ex-Detroit councilman Pugh gets parole in sex case with teen

DETROIT (AP) — The former president of the Detroit City Council has been granted parole about five years after his conviction for having sex with a teenage boy when he previously worked as a TV journalist. Michigan's Department of Corrections says Charles Pugh is expected to be released from prison sometime in December. His parole first was reported by Deadline Detroit. The 50-year-old Pugh will have to register as a sex offender, spend two years on parole and be required to wear a GPS tether for at least six months. He was sentenced in November 2016 to at least 5 1/2 years in prison. The teen was younger than 16 when they illegally engaged in sex acts in 2003 and 2004.

MARIJUANA-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

Nessel: Don't deny unemployment for pot use outside work

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says in a filing before the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Commission that people fired from their jobs for using marijuana outside the workplace still should be eligible for unemployment benefits. The brief was filed Monday and focuses on three cases currently consolidated before the board. It says the commission’s ruling will “directly impact many law-abiding Michigan workers who may be terminated for the use of marijuana.” Nessel points to Michigan voters’ approval in 2018 for making recreational marijuana use legal in the state.

RACIAL INJUSTICE-REAL ESTATE AGENT HANDCUFFED

Michigan police cuff Black real estate agent, client at home

WYOMING, Mich. (AP) — Police in west Michigan handcuffed a real estate agent, his client and that man’s 15-year-old son after a neighbor wrongly reported that the three Black people were breaking into a home. The agent, Eric Brown, told WOOD-TV that the Aug. 1 police response, including two out of five officers who drew their guns, felt aggressive and “threw me back.” The Wyoming Police Department defended the officers’ actions and said they followed protocol for responding to a reported home invasion. A police statement said another Black man with a similar car to the real estate agent's vehicle was arrested after he went into the house in the Grand Rapids suburb without permission on July 24.

WWII PILOT-REMAINS BURIED

Remains buried of WWII pilot from Lansing who died in 1943

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The remains of a World War II pilot from Lansing who died in 1943 when the military aircraft he was flying crashed during combat over New Guinea have been laid to rest next to his parents. U.S. Army Air Force First Lt. Robert Parker’s remains were buried Monday at Deepdale Memorial Cemetery. The Detroit News reports that Parker was 23 when the P-40N Warhawk he was flying on a patrol mission crashed in November 1943, when Japanese aircraft swarmed his plane and others over New Guinea. In May 2019, staff with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency obtained human remains from a crash site and identified those as belonging to Parker.

REDISTRICTING-IMBALANCE OF POWER

Census data spurred GOP's largest partisan edge in decades

An Associated Press analysis shows that Republicans have benefited from the biggest political advantage in decades because of potential gerrymandering in U.S. House districts and state legislative boundaries. The analysis shows that U.S. House districts drawn after the 2010 census produced a consistent edge for Republicans all the way through the 2020 elections in more states than for either party during the past 50 years. That Republican advantage will be put to the test when new census data is released Thursday. That will kick off a new round of redistricting that will take effect with the 2022 elections.

MICHIGAN SCHOOLS-VACCINES

Michigan childhood vaccination rates low for back to school

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joneigh Khaldun joined forces with school officials Monday to call on parents before school starts to catch students up on childhood immunizations that were missed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Childhood vaccination rates have dropped below 70% in more than half of Michigan’s counties. Seven counties and the city of Detroit have dropped below 60%. East Lansing School Board President Terah Chambers said without parents catching up their kids on vaccines, she isn't confident that students will be able to maintain an all in-person school year. That includes those 12 and up who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

FLINT SHOOTING

Police: 2 people dead, 4 others injured in shooting in Flint

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say two teenagers were killed and four other people were injured in an early morning shooting at a park in Flint. Police responded around 12:40 a.m. Monday and found six gunshot victims. Authorities say they were having a social gathering and a preliminary investigation reveals that a shooter fired into the group of people. The deceased include an 18-year-old female and 19-year-old male. Two people, a 17-year-old boy and 20-year-old man, were listed in critical condition. Two others were listed in serious condition. Police say there are several persons of interest in police custody.

NISSAN-PLANT CLOSURE

Tenn. Nissan plant to close for 2 weeks due to chip shortage

DETROIT (AP) — Nissan says its huge factory in Smyrna, Tennessee, will close for two weeks starting Monday. The shutdown is due to computer chip shortages brought on by a coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia. The shutdown is among the longest at any U.S. auto plant of this size since the semiconductor shortage started to hit late last year. The shortage has hobbled auto production worldwide. Nissan said in a statement Tuesday that it ran short of chips due to a COVID-19 outbreak at a chip factory in Malaysia. It expects production to resume Aug. 30. The 6 million-square-foot Tennessee factory employs 6,700 people and makes six Nissan models including the Rogue small SUV, its top-selling vehicle.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021