UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-SEX ASSAULT

Ex-athlete vows to maintain U. of Michigan sex abuse protest

Jon Vaughn’s small blue-and-white camper has been parked outside the home of the University of Michigan’s president since early October, and he says it isn't moving anytime soon. The 51-year-old former star running back is one of more than 1,000 students who say they were sexually abused by the university's late sports doctor Robert Anderson over more than three decades. The school recently announced a $490 million settlement with the alleged victims. But Vaughn says he still wants answers and the camper isn’t moving until he gets them.

AP-US-ABORTION-STATES

With Roe in doubt, states act on abortion limits, expansions

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — State-by-state battles over the future of abortion are setting up around the U.S. Republican lawmakers are proposing new restrictions based on laws in Texas and Mississippi and some Democratic-led states are working to preserve access. The activity in state legislatures was anticipated after the U.S. Supreme Court signaled it was ready to make seismic changes to the nationwide right to abortion established in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. If the court overturns Roe v. Wade entirely, the decision on whether to keep abortion legal would fall to the states. More than 20 states already have laws on the books that would quickly ban or dramatically restrict abortion. Meanwhile, 15 states have moved to protect abortion access.

MISSING STUDENT

MSU police: Private investigator's tip led divers to body

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University police say a private investigator working with a missing young man’s family first alerted them to what is believed to be the youth’s body in a river. MSU police said a tip Friday from private investigator Ryan Robison led divers to recover what's believed to be 18-year-old Brendan Santo’s body in the Red Cedar River. Santo was last seen Oct. 29 during a campus visit ahead of a football game between MSU and Michigan. MSU police say Robison saw an object in underwater video submerged in a logjam he “strongly suspected" was Santo's body, and then informed the Santo family before calling 911.

WOMEN'S PRISON-BIAS

State wins trial over bias claims at women's prison

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A jury has ruled in favor of the state Corrections Department in a trial about work opportunities for male officers at Michigan’s only prison for women. The men sued in 2011, claiming to be victims of discrimination. They said they were denied certain jobs at the Huron Valley prison in response to sexual assaults by others many years earlier. The officers were seeking millions of dollars in overtime and other lost compensation. But the trial ended Friday in Washtenaw County with a unanimous jury verdict for the state. Director Heidi Washington says the jury understood that certain actions were “reasonable and justified.”

FREIGHTER SHIPMATE DIES

Michigan man dies in accident on freighter along NW Indiana

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man who was a freighter shipmate has died in an accident aboard a 1,000-foot freighter along northwest Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline. WWTV-TV reports that 35-year-old Richard Gray of Traverse City died Monday following the accident on the Walter J. McCarthy freighter, along the Gary, Indiana, lakeshore. Details of the accident weren’t available, but the website boatnerd.com reports that Gray was the second mate of the American Steamship Co. freighter, which was anchored offshore Gary and getting ready to come in and unload at the time of Gray’s “tragic accident.” Gray was a graduate of Great Lakes Maritime Academy. He was married and had three children.

UNIVERSITY-OF-MICHIGAN-DOCTOR-ASSAULT

Abuse victims see inequity in payouts at 2 Michigan schools

Two former University of Michigan football stars who stand to receive as much as $500,000 each through the school’s sexual abuse settlement with more than 1,000 students say the per-victim payouts should be much higher. They point to a similar case at rival Michigan State, also involving a sports doctor. Dwight Hicks and Jon Vaughn, both former NFL players, told The Associated Press that the $490 million settlement the Ann Arbor school announced this week is another example of Black victims receiving less than white victims in big-money payouts. An attorney says the majority of the claimants are Black men. A settlement at Michigan State led to average $1.2 million payouts to women and girls, mostly white.

MISSING STUDENT

Police find body of missing student who was visiting MSU

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A nearly three-month search for a young man who was visiting Michigan State University is over. A body was found Friday in the Red Cedar River. Police believe it's 18-year-old Brendan Santo, who was last seen leaving a residence hall on October 29. Police say foul play is not suspected nor do they believe that the Rochester Hills man intended to harm himself. Santo was a student at Grand Valley State University. Police say the body was found 1 1/2 miles from where Santo was last seen. He disappeared on the eve of a big football game between Michigan State and Michigan.

MICHIGAN REDISTRICTING

Republicans sue to block Michigan's new congressional map

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Republicans have sued to block the state’s new congressional map, saying it's constitutionally flawed because of population deviations, too much splitting of municipal lines and the carving up of “communities of interest.” The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court. It alleges that a commission that drew the map arbitrarily and inconsistently applied redistricting criteria in the state constitution. It contends counties are “Michigan’s true communities of interest” and proposes a new map that would leave more counties intact and increase compactness. It's the second lawsuit challenging the U.S. House map. The first was brought by Black officials in the Detroit area.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-RESTAURANT

State fears confusion over COVID ruling at 'perilous moment'

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan health department is concerned that the public might be confused by the impact of a court ruling in a COVID-19 dispute. An Otsego County judge last week overturned a fine against a Gaylord restaurant that had defied orders and continued to serve indoor diners in 2020. The judge says a portion of a public health law used to ban indoor dining at that time was unconstitutional. The health department wants Judge Colin Hunter to suspend his ruling or at least publicly clarify the impact. The ruling is limited to the Gaylord area. But the state fears it will cause confusion and resistance toward its ongoing orders statewide.

JUDGE-APOLOGY

Judge apologizes for wishing jail on man with weedy yard

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area judge has apologized for wishing that she could send a 72-year-old immigrant with cancer to jail for a weedy property. Alexis Krot is a judge in Hamtramck’s District Court. Krot says she acted "intemperately" on Jan. 10 and is “very embarrassed.” Krot had ordered Burhan Chowdhury to pay $100 for failing to tame weeds and other vegetation at the rear of his property. The judge’s apology this week followed a TV report about the case and criticism about how she treated the man. Chowdhury, a native of Bangladesh, explained that he was weak with cancer. A son says said he helps his father with the yard but was out of the country at the time.

News from © The Associated Press, 2022