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2020 ELECTION-TRUMP-LAWYERS

Lawyers allied with Trump penalized over Michigan lawsuit

DETROIT (AP) — Nine lawyers allied with former President Donald Trump face financial penalties and other sanctions in Michigan. A judge says they abused the court system with a lawsuit that challenged the state’s election results after Joe Biden’s victory was certified. Federal Judge Linda Parker says the lawsuit last November was a sham intended to deceive the court and the public. Parker told Michigan and Detroit to tally the costs of defending the lawsuit and submit the figures. The judge also ordered 12 hours of legal education, including six hours in election law. The attorneys include high-profile Trump allies Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood.

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT

Man gets 6 years in prison in Michigan governor kidnap plot

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A man upset over state-ordered coronavirus restrictions has been sentenced to just over six years in prison for planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Ty Garbin apologized and was sentenced Wednesday. Garbin admitted his role in the alleged scheme weeks after being arrested last fall. He is among six men charged in federal court but the only one who has pleaded guilty. Garbin says they trained at his property near Luther, Michigan, constructing a “shoot house” to resemble Whitmer’s vacation home and “assaulting it with firearms.” The government noted Garbin’s “exceptional” cooperation and asked the judge to give him credit for helping investigators reinforce their case against his co-defendants. He’s likely to testify at any trial.

AP-US-ELECTION-2020-ROBOCALLS

Conservative hoaxers face $5.1M fine for election robocalls

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two conservative hoaxers face a record $5.1 million fine for allegedly making illegal robocalls to wireless phones without the owners’ consent in the 2020 election. The Federal Communications Commission says the proposed fine for Jacob Wohl, Jack Burkman and Burkman’s lobbying firm would be the largest ever for violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The men already face criminal charges for allegedly organizing 85,000 robocalls that falsely warned people in predominantly Black areas of New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan that information gleaned from mail-in ballots could lead to their arrest, debt collection and forced vaccination.

DETROIT COUNCIL-INVESTIGATION

FBI searches Detroit City Hall, 2 council members’ homes

DETROIT (AP) — FBI agents have searched offices at Detroit City Hall and the homes of two City Council members. The searches Wednesday come a few weeks after another official was charged in an alleged bribery scheme. Agents and state police were at the homes of Janeé Ayers and Scott Benson. There was no immediate comment from Ayers or Benson, who are running for reelection. Tim Waters, head of the FBI in Detroit, says evidence was collected but no one was immediately charged. Authorities have been investigating Detroit-area corruption for years. Another council member, Andre Spivey, was recently charged with conspiracy to commit bribery. He’s pleaded not guilty.

BULLDOZER DEATH

Mid-Michigan man dies after being run over by bulldozer

SHEPHERD, Mich. (AP) — A mid-Michigan man has died after he was run over by the bulldozer he was using. The Shepherd Police Department says the 46-year-old Shepherd man was pulled under the bulldozer that he had just exited when it slipped back into gear and began moving forward with no one inside. MLive.com reports officers arrived at the scene at WDS Enterprises in Isabella County’s Coe Township Tuesday morning and found a co-worker trying to revive the man. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not immediately released. No one else was injured.

SEVERE WEATHER-MICHIGAN OUTAGES

Michigan regulators to probe utilities on power outages

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Public Service Commission approved an order Wednesday to collect data on electric companies’ response and preparedness after over 1 million residents were left without power due to storms earlier in August. Michigan has seen multiple storms this summer including a series of storms from Aug. 10-12 that, according to DTE Energy, included windspeeds of over 60 mph, taking down 3,000 of its powerlines. The order will direct all the electric companies under the commission’s regulation to submit data on the duration and frequency of outages, identify areas that are prone to or resilient from outages and other factors in order to harden Michigan’s electrical infrastructure and make it less prone to weather-related outages.

FATAL SHOOTING-POLICE

Prosecutor: No charges against troopers in fatal shooting

BEAVER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — No criminal charges will be filed against two state police troopers in the fatal shooting of a 63-year-old man in northwestern Michigan. Newayo County Prosecutor Worth Stay said Tuesday that the troopers acted in self-defense and that their use of force was reasonable. Johnny King was in a small, fifth-wheel trailer on May 22 when he was shot in Beaver Township. State police say troopers were responding to a domestic dispute in the area, 60 miles north of Grand Rapids. Stay says King became combative and pointed a rifle at the troopers who shot him. The prosecutor’s office says King’s weapon turned out to be an air rifle that resembled a firearm.

ISLE ROYALE-WILDFIRE

Fire on Michigan’s remote Isle Royale 15 percent contained

ISLE ROYAL, Mich. (AP) — An official says a wildfire on Michigan’s remote Isle Royale has been about 15% percent contained and crews have saved some historic cabins from encroaching flames. The fire began Aug. 10, apparently sparked by a lightning strike on the drought-stricken wilderness island. Liz Valencia, a spokeswoman for Isle Royale National Park, says the wildfire has left a little over 200 acres either scorched or still burning on the Lake Superior island. She says crews used special planes on Monday to collect water from the lake to douse flames and protect some historic cabins that date to the early 1900s on a small island within the park’s Tobin Harbor.

AFGHANISTAN-CONGRESS-VISIT

2 US lawmakers’ Kabul trip prompts questions, criticism

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two members of Congress are facing criticism and questions following their surprise trip to Afghanistan this week. The trip by Democrat Seth Moulton, of Massachusetts, and Republican Peter Meijer, of Michigan, diverted resources from the U.S.’s chaotic withdrawal and enraged military leaders. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared it not “a good idea.” But the two lawmakers said they were conducting important oversight of the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal. They now face criticism for showboating as politicians — which they vehemently deny — while adding needless confusion to a dire situation. But they also tapped into a frustration of those who feel that standing by and doing nothing is also not an option.

BEACH SHOOTING

Judge defends how pier shooter’s earlier case was handled

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — A judge in southwestern Michigan is defending the work of a fellow judge after a young man with a juvenile criminal record randomly shot two people on a Lake Michigan pier. Nineteen-year-old Aidan Ingalls was recently released from court supervision, three years after he was accused of plotting an attack at Paw Paw High School. Ingalls last week shot and killed Chuck Skuza and critically injured his wife at the South Haven beach pier. Ingalls then killed himself. Critics say Van Buren County Judge Jeffrey Dufon mishandled Ingalls’ earlier case by not treating him as an adult in the court system. But Chief Judge Kathleen Brickley says there was no appeal or objection at the time.