MISSING KAYAKERS

Body of 2nd missing kayaker found off Pictured Rocks in UP

MUNISING, Mich. (AP) — Searchers have recovered a second body after two kayakers went missing in Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The kayakers were reported missing Thursday night in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The bodies were recovered Friday. The conditions were difficult. The U.S. Coast Guard says winds were blowing at 30 knots, or 34 mph, and waves were up to 7 feet. No names were released or other details about what happened to the kayakers.

LAWMAKER-ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

Michigan lawmaker gets protection order against lawmaker

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A lawyer for a Michigan lawmaker says he will challenge a personal protection order that was obtained by another legislator. Democratic Rep. Mari Manoogian was granted an order against Rep. Steve Marino. He's a Macomb County Republican who has been removed from House committees. The order could conflict with Marino’s ability to vote on the House floor if Manoogian is present. Marino's attorney says he'll be reviewing the order Monday. Marino says he and Manoogian had a relationship that ended more than a year ago. Manoogian says his removal from House committees stemmed from that “volatile” relationship. Marino calls it “character assassination.”

JACKSON-PANHANDLING

Jackson rejects ordinance to restrict panhandling

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) — After hearing from critics, including the homeless, officials in a southern Michigan city have rejected an ordinance that would have cracked down on panhandling. The ordinance would have stopped people in Jackson from asking for money by speech or sign near banks, building entrances, outdoor dining or on public transportation. A violation would have carried a $100 fine. A first reading of the ordinance was defeated, 5-2, on Tuesday. Kevin Hardman, who says he’s homeless, told the Jackson City Council that finding solutions to poverty would be a better step. Council member Karen Bunnell, who voted for the ordinance, says downtown Jackson business owners aren't happy about panhandlers.

AP-US-OBIT-FRED-DAKOTA

Fred Dakota, Native American gambling pioneer, dies at 84

BARAGA, Mich. (AP) — Fred Dakota has died at age 84 after creating a milestone for Native American gambling by opening a garage casino in Michigan in the 1980s. A funeral home says Dakota died Monday at his home in Baraga in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Dakota was a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community who opened a casino with a single blackjack table in a garage in 1983. That led to construction of a larger casino, but federal courts shut it down. By 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court used a California case to ease restrictions on gambling on tribal land. A federal law followed in 1988.

OBIT-TUKEL

Jonathan Tukel, judge and longtime federal prosecutor, dies

DETROIT (AP) — Jonathan Tukel, a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals, has died at age 60. Tukel was a federal prosecutor for decades before being appointed to the appeals court in 2017. It’s the second death of an appeals court judge in recent weeks. Karen Fort Hood died on Aug. 15. As a prosecutor, Tukel led the national security unit and handled the case against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, known as the “underwear bomber." Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane in 2009. He's serving a life sentence.

COMMON CARP DEATHS-LAKE

DNR: Virus behind deaths of common carp on Detroit-area lake

LAKE ORION, Mich. (AP) — A virus is being blamed on the deaths of between 300 and 600 mostly adult common carp this summer in a Detroit-area lake. Michigan's Department of Natural Resources says Friday that an investigation has confirmed that the koi herpesvirus caused the fish kill in Lake Orion. People living along or near the lake, northwest of Detroit, began finding the dead fish in July. DNR fisheries division staff collected samples July 23 for analysis at the Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory at Michigan State University. DNR Fisheries Division Research Program Manager Gary Whelan says that the koi herpesvirus only affects common carp, koi and goldfish. The DNR says that viruses and bacteria that affect fish typically are not human pathogens.

AP-US-MICHIGAN-GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING-PLOT

October trial postponed for 5 men in Michigan governor plot

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A judge says he would postpone the Oct. 12 trial of five men accused of planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. A new date wasn’t immediately set. But federal Judge Robert Jonker suggested the trial might get pushed to February or March. Defense lawyers say they need more time to pore over evidence shared by federal prosecutors, especially the work of FBI agents and informants. The government says the five men were upset over coronavirus restrictions when they conspired to kidnap Whitmer, even scouting her second home in northern Michigan. They’ve pleaded not guilty. A sixth man, Ty Garbin, pleaded guilty and is expected to be a star witness for prosecutors.

AP-US-REDISTRICTING-NEW-COMMISSIONS

New redistricting commissions splinter along partisan lines

New commissions approved by voters to reduce partisan gamesmanship in redistricting are instead splitting along partisan lines in some states. In New York, Ohio and Virginia, the new commissions have so far failed to agree on a plan for new congressional or state legislative voting districts. Democratic and Republican commissioners have instead produced rival versions of the maps based on new census data. The divisions have disappointed and frustrated some activists who had hoped the commissions would yield better bipartisan cooperation than when redistricting was handled only by lawmakers and governors.

EXPLOSIVES-PHONE STORES

FBI asks public's help after explosives found in N. Michigan

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (AP) — The FBI wants the public's help after explosive devices were found in boxes outside two phone stores in northern Michigan. The devices were discovered Thursday in Cheboygan in the northern Lower Peninsula and Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula. The FBI is urging the public to share information to help investigators find who’s responsible for the explosives. Anyone with information can call (800) 225-5324. The boxes had threatening notes addressed to Verizon and AT&T. Investigators believe the explosives are related to letters recently found at communication towers across the Upper Peninsula. The letters made demands and claimed to be from the “Coalition for Moral Telecommunications.”

LAWMAKER CHARGED

Michigan lawmaker to get a mental health exam, stay jailed

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan lawmaker has been ordered to complete a mental health assessment after repeatedly getting in trouble with the court following his drunken driving arrest earlier this year. The Livingston Daily Press & Argus reports that a judge ordered the exam on Friday for state Rep. Jewell Jones. The 26-year-old Inkster Democrat must also remain in jail until at least his next court appearance on Oct. 15. Jones had his bond revoked Tuesday after admitting to violating the terms of his bond. After Jones was transported to the jail on Tuesday, authorities say he had taped a handcuff key to his foot and now is facing charges of attempted escape.

News from © The Associated Press, 2021