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PROSECUTOR CHARGED

Ex-Macomb prosecutor ordered to trial in corruption case

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — An ex-county prosecutor in the Detroit area has been ordered to stand trial on embezzlement and other charges. A judge in Clinton Township made the ruling Friday following Eric Smith’s preliminary examination. Smith spent nearly 16 years as Macomb County prosecutor. Authorities have alleged that he ran a criminal enterprise and embezzled cash for country club catering, home security cameras and other perks. The state attorney general’s office has said he tapped accounts that held money from drunken driving cases, bad check cases and assets forfeited in drug crimes. The alleged scheme dated back to 2012 and totaled $600,000. Smith resigned from office in March 2020 after facing criminal charges.

FLINT WATER

Judge awards millions to lawyers in Flint water settlement

DETROIT (AP) — A judge has awarded about $40 million to the lead attorneys in a $626 million lawsuit settlement related to the Flint water crisis. Millions in additional legal fees will be carved out in the months ahead as claimants get paid. The decision is one of the last major rulings in a landmark deal to settle lawsuits against Flint and the state of Michigan over the failure to properly treat corrosive water. Lead flowed through old pipes in 2014 and 2015 as a result. Flint residents are likely to net more than $400 million when fees are subtracted. The settlement covers Flint children who were exposed to the water, adults who can show an injury, certain business owners and anyone who paid water bills.

DETROIT TRAIN STATION-FORD

Google to work with Ford on Detroit research hub

DETROIT (AP) — Google is joining Ford Motor Co.’s effort to transform a once-dilapidated Detroit train station into a research hub focused on electric and self-driving vehicles. Ford also announced Friday that Detroit and the state of Michigan have agreed to provide infrastructure and other support for the Michigan Central Innovation District that includes the defunct train depot and other nearby buildings in the historic Corktown neighborhood just outside downtown. Ford announced plans for the Michigan Central Innovation District in 2018, shortly after it bought the 18-story train depot. Renovations at the more than century-old Michigan Central Station could be completed by next year. Ford plans to research, test and launch new mobility solutions there.

VETERAN DETAINED

Michigan’s top court rules for ACLU in jail records dispute

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union has won a decision at the Michigan Supreme Court in a dispute over jail records related to the detention of a Marine veteran in 2018. Calhoun County has refused to release records, claiming they can be withheld because the jail was holding a man who was arrested by federal immigration officers. But the Supreme Court says a federal regulation restricting information doesn’t trump the terms of Michigan’s open records law. The arrest of Jilmar Ramos-Gomez by federal authorities was a major mistake. The U.S. citizen was a lance corporal in the Marines and received awards for service in Afghanistan. The ACLU is seeking medical records, audio and video from Ramos-Gomez’ time at the Calhoun County jail.

LIQUOR STORE SLAYINGS-DETROIT

Man charged in fatal shootings outside Detroit liquor store

DETROIT (AP) — A 44-year-old man has been charged in the fatal shootings of two men — one a bystander — outside a westside Detroit liquor store. The Wayne County prosecutor’s office says John Montgomery was arraigned Friday on two counts of first-degree murder. Raymondo Bankhead and 57-year-old James Deberry were shot Tuesday morning following an argument that started inside the business between Deberry and Montgomery. An employee told the two men to leave the store. The prosecutor’s office says Montgomery and Deberry struck each other with metal bars before Deberry was shot. The 60-year-old Bankhead was not involved in the fight and also was shot. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Deberry later died at a hospital.

PARKING LOT-SUV ATTACK

SUV runs over woman multiple times outside Detroit school

DETROIT (AP) — Authorities say a young woman was found critically injured after she was run over multiple times by an SUV in a Detroit school’s parking lot. Rudy Harper, 2nd deputy chief with the Detroit Police Department, said Thursday the 18-year-old woman was hospitalized in critical condition and was “clinging to life.” The woman was injured Monday morning in the parking lot of the Fisher Magnet Upper Academy before school was in session. Harper says the woman was not associated with the school. Surveillance footage shows the SUV entering the parking lot before it runs over the woman, backs up over her and then runs over her again.

WINTER WEATHER

Northeast grapples with icy roads as storm moves north

Northeast residents were urged to stay off the roads with temperatures beginning to drop Friday evening as a major winter storm turned already slippery roads and sidewalks into ice-covered hazards. The storm that already cut electric power to about 350,000 homes and businesses from Texas to the Ohio Valley is now hitting the Northeast. The storm disrupted flights at major hubs in the U.S. on Friday, and ice threatened to wreak havoc on road travel and electric service before the storm heads out to sea late Friday and Saturday. The storm began Tuesday and moved across the country.

AP-US-GREAT-LAKES-WINTER-WATER

Scientists race to gather winter data on warming Great Lakes

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Winter is changing across the Great Lakes region, and scientists want to know what that will mean. Teams from more than a dozen U.S. and Canadian universities and government agencies will venture onto the frozen surfaces of all five lakes this month. They’ll take water samples from beneath the ice and measure characteristics such as light and nutrient levels. Researchers acknowledge most of their work on the lakes happens during warmer seasons and they don’t know much about what goes on in winter. They say it’s important to learn more now, as global warming brings milder temperatures and may eventually make ice cover a rarity.

MICHIGAN REDISTRICTING

Michigan court denies Black lawmakers’ challenge to maps

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has denied Black lawmakers’ challenge to new congressional and legislative maps, saying they showed no grounds to question the state redistricting commission’s decision to slash the number of majority-African American seats. In a 4-3 order Thursday, the majority said the lawsuit didn’t demonstrate that the plans are noncompliant with federal law. It noted the panel’s expert found significant white crossover voting for Black-preferred candidates in the Detroit and Saginaw areas, giving African African voters an opportunity to elect their representatives of choice even if they do not account for more than half of the voting-age population.

BLACKHAWKS SCANDAL

Aldrich sexual assault scandal hits home far from Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks have resolved a pair of lawsuits stemming from the organization’s handling of allegations by a former first-round pick that he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach in 2010. But questions raised by the suits live on, not just in Chicago, but well beyond. After he resigned his position with the Blackhawks, Brad Aldrich worked or volunteered for USA Hockey, the University of Notre Dame and Miami University in Ohio before returning to his native Michigan. He pleaded guilty in 2013 as part of a deal with a prosecutor after he was accused of sexually assaulting a high school hockey player.