Latest Michigan news, sports, business and entertainment at 9:20 p.m. EDT

ELECTION 2022-MICHIGAN GOVERNOR

Michigan bureau: 2 top GOP governor candidates short sigs

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s elections bureau says five Republican candidates for governor, including two leading contenders, failed to file enough valid nominating signatures and shouldn’t qualify for the August primary. The reports issued late Monday by staff are a major blow to former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who has led in polling, and businessman Perry Johnson, who has spent millions of his own money to campaign. Democrats had challenged their petitions, alleging forgery and other issues. Another GOP candidate, Tudor Dixon, also had contested Craig’s signatures. The bipartisan Board of State Canvassers will meet Thursday to consider the elections bureau’s recommendations.

EVICTION FUND-DETROIT

Gilbert foundation to help Detroit renters facing eviction

DETROIT (AP) — A foundation connected to billionaire Dan Gilbert is investing $13 million in a fund to help low-income Detroit residents facing eviction. The Gilbert Family Foundation says Monday that $12 million will be invested over three years in three Detroit-based organizations that will provide legal representation for renters with children. It is expected to benefit nearly 6,000 families each year. The funding will be made directly to the United Community Housing Coalition, Michigan Legal Services and Lakeshore Legal Aid which will manage the program. They also will hire lawyers, legal supervisors and legal aids. The Gilbert Family Foundation also has allocated up to $1 million for a long-term study into the program’s effectiveness and the city’s eviction defense ecosystem.

TORNADO-MICHIGAN

Police: Nearly all power restored in Gaylord after tornado

GAYLORD, Mich. (AP) — Nearly all of the power lost following a deadly tornado that killed two people and flattened parts of a northern Michigan community has been restored. The state police said Sunday that everyone has been accounted for in Gaylord where Friday afternoon’s EF3 tornado also injured more than 40 people. Authorities said Saturday that they were unable to account for one person. The tornado packed winds of 140 mph that tore roofs and walls from businesses and practically destroyed a mobile home park in the town, about 230 miles northwest of Detroit. State police said Sunday that electricity has been restored to 99% of utility customers in Gaylord.

TORNADO-MICHIGAN

2 dead; northern Michigan town cleans up from rare tornado

Two people are dead and dozens more injured after a rare tornado hit a small northern Michigan community. Authorities say the two people in their 70s lived at a mobile home park in Gaylord that was among the first sites hit by the tornado, which was rated an EF3 by the National Weather Service on a scale of 0-5. More than 40 people were injured. Gaylord is roughly 230 miles northwest of Detroit. The Otsego County fire chief says there’s “probably 95% destruction” at the park, with mobile homes “picked up and turned over.” Experts say extreme spring winds are uncommon in the area because the Great Lakes typically suck energy out of storms.

MICHIGAN BUDGET

Michigan tax revenue estimates revised upward by $5B

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s short-term budget outlook is even rosier, after economists revised projected tax revenues upward by a combined $5 billion over two years. The new estimates released Friday will be used by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Republican-led Legislature to finalize the next state spending plan. Both sides want to cut taxes but differ over how to do it. Revenues in the school aid and general funds for the current fiscal year are $3 billion higher than was forecast in January. For the 2022-23 budget year, they are up $2 billion from the estimate four months ago.

ABORTION-MICHIGAN

Court seeks more from Whitmer about abortion ban challenge

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court says it wants more information from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer about her request to erase a state abortion ban from decades ago. The court wants five points addressed, including whether it really needs to immediately get involved. A judge at the Court of Claims this week froze the dormant law with an injunction. The U.S. Supreme Court could be on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. If that happens, abortion would be an issue for states. Whitmer wants the Michigan Supreme Court to declare that a 1931 ban on abortion is illegal under the state constitution. What’s unusual is she wants the court to reach over lower courts and settle it quickly.

ELECTION 2022-CONGRESS-REDISTRICTING-WOMEN

New maps create challenge for women seeking reelection

CHICAGO (AP) — For some female incumbents running for reelection in Congress this year, holding their seats comes with a new challenge. Because of redistricting, some of those congressional districts will be tougher to win. It’s too early to know how many female representatives were hurt by the once-a-decade process because maps haven’t been finalized in several states. But in states with new district boundaries set, the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University found more than a dozen women who are running in significantly tougher territory. This comes as female representatives make up about 28% of the 435 House members.

GRADUATION SHOOTING

2 arrested in nonfatal shootings outside Michigan graduation

KENTWOOD, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say detectives arrested two 18-year-olds in the shooting of two people outside of a high school graduation ceremony near Grand Rapids this week. The Kent County Sheriff’s Office says its detectives, with the help of the Michigan State Police and Livonia police, made a traffic stop in the Detroit suburb of Livonia on Friday and arrested the two men. It says they also detained a third person who might have been involved in Thursday’s shooting in Kentwood, and other suspects remain at large. Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said earlier Friday that a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the wrist was released from a hospital and a 40-year-old woman who was shot in the abdomen was in stable condition.

AP-AS-BIDEN-ASIA

Biden pushes economic, security aims as he ends SKorea visit

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — President Joe Biden tended to both business and security interests as he wrapped up a three-day visit to South Korea on Sunday. Biden showcased Hyundai’s pledge to invest at least $10 billion in electric vehicles and related technologies in the United States. He also visited Osan Air Base, where thousands of U.S. and South Korean service members monitor the rapidly evolving North Korean nuclear threat. Biden says the U.S. is ready for any provocation that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might deliver while Biden is touring the region. Japan is the next stop on Biden’s trip to Asia.

AP-US-TORNADO-MICHIGAN

Rare northern Michigan tornado kills 1, injures more than 40

GAYLORD, Mich. (AP) — A rare northern Michigan tornado that hammered a small town has killed at least one person and injured more than 40. Munson Healthcare spokesman Brian Lawson said Friday that he had no details about the person who was killed or the conditions of those who were hurt by the tornado that rushed through Gaylord, a city of about 4,200, at about 3:45 p.m. Mike Klepadlo, who owns a car repair shop in Gaylord, says he and his workers took cover in a bathroom, and that he feels lucky to be alive because it blew the back off the building. A National Weather Service forecaster said extreme winds are uncommon in that part of Michigan because the Great Lakes suck energy out of storms, especially in spring when the lakes are very cold.