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MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT

Jury gets case of 4 men charged in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Jurors have heard closing arguments and will begin deliberations Monday in the trial of four men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The jury decided to start fresh next week rather than begin discussing the case Friday afternoon. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler summed up the evidence on the 15th day of trial. He traced the group’s secretly recorded words as well as testimony from agents, an informant and two star witnesses who pleaded guilty. Defense attorneys put a harsher spin on the evidence. They said there was no agreement to kidnap Whitmer and that the four men were manipulated by rogue investigators.

AP-US-MILEAGE-STANDARDS

New vehicles must average 40 mpg by 2026, up from 28 mpg

DETROIT (AP) — New vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026 under new rules unveiled by the government. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday its fuel economy requirements will undo a rollback enacted under President Donald Trump. For the current model year, standards enacted under Trump require the fleet of new vehicles to get about 28 miles per gallon in real-world driving. They’re expected to decrease carbon dioxide emissions — but not as much as some environmentalists want — and raise new vehicle prices in an industry already pressed by inflation and supply chain issues.

COLD CASE SLAYING CHARGE

Detroit man faces murder charge in 1997 slaying of woman

DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit man was charged with first-degree murder Friday in the fatal strangulation of a woman nearly 25 years ago. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged 51-year-old Johnny Joseph Yenshaw in connection with the slaying of 33-year-old Sonya Dockery of Detroit. Detroit police found Dockery unresponsive on the morning of Dec. 1, 1997,with strangulation marks and lacerations on her neck. Medics pronounced the woman dead. Worthy says an investigation of the case by Detroit police led to Yenshaw’s arrest on Wednesday. Yenshaw was arraigned and remanded to jail on Friday.

GIRL KILLED-GYM

Court reinstates lawsuit over girl’s death at school gym

GWINN, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has overturned a decision and reinstated a lawsuit by the family of a 4-year-old girl who was accidentally killed at an Upper Peninsula school. Civil immunity can sometimes apply to schools under Michigan’s personal-injury law. But the Supreme Court says there still are questions of fact to be sorted out in Marquette County court. Amarah Filizetti died when a 325-pound panel fell on her at Gwinn High School in 2015. Staff were in the process of putting the panel in place to shield a portable stage. The state appeals court had dismissed the lawsuit, saying the panel wasn’t part of a building defect. But the Supreme Court says a reasonable jury could conclude that the panel constituted a ‘dangerous or defective condition.’

DIVISION 1 ALL-STATE GIRLS

Forest Hills Central’s Hallock AP Division 1 top player

Forest Hills Central’s Theryn Hallock has been named The Associated Press player of the year for Division 1 girls’ basketball. The Michigan State University commit averaged 26 points, 11.4 rebounds, 6.5 steals, 4.8 blocks and shot 54.3% from the floor this season. Hallock finished her career with a school-record 1,589 points. This marks the second consecutive year that Hallock has been voted first-team all-state, having averaged over 23 points last season. Coach of the year is Kyle Theisen of Midland Dow. The Division 1 girls’ basketball All-State team was selected by a panel of eight sports writers.

AUTO SALES

U.S. auto sales fall in Q1 as chip shortage slows factories

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. new-vehicle sales fell about 12% in the first quarter compared with a year ago, as the global computer chip shortage continued to slow factories amid high consumer demand. General Motors reported Friday that its sales were down 20% for the quarter, while Toyota sales were off 15%. Stellantis sales were down 14%, while Nissan was off almost 30%. Honda reported a 23% decline, and Hyundai sales were fell just 4% from January through March. Many automakers expect improvement during the year, especially in the second half.

HOMELESS MAN SLAIN

Three people charged in slaying of homeless man in Pontiac

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Three people have been charged with murder in the slaying of a homeless man whose body was found near a lake northwest of Detroit. The Oakland County sheriff’s office says Brian Bonner, Alice Anthony and Romaro Wilson were arraigned Thursday in Pontiac District Court and ordered held without bond. A passersby found Tobby Farrington’s body after seeing an arm and leg protruding from beneath a bed comforter Friday in a grassy area near Terry Lake in Pontiac. The 50-year-old Farrington had been beaten, stabbed and strangled with a rope. A plastic bag was over his head. Detectives say Farrington was slain inside a Pontiac home where he had been staying and receiving drugs for performing odd jobs.

AP-US-PIPELINE-ACCIDENTS

US will require valves on new pipelines to prevent disasters

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials are adopting a long delayed rule aimed at reducing deaths and environmental damage from oil and gas pipeline ruptures. But safety advocates said Thursday’s move by the U.S. Transportation Department would not have averted the accidents that prompted the new rule. That’s because it applies only to newly constructed or replaced pipelines and not to hundreds of thousands of miles of lines that already crisscross the country, many of them decades old and corroding. The rule is in response to a massive gas explosion in San Bruno, California, that killed eight people in 2010 and to large oil spills into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River and Montana’s Yellowstone River.

AP-US-BOOK-BAN-PRISONERS

Historian sues NY prisons over ban of Attica uprising book

NEW YORK (AP) — The author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the revolt at the Attica Correctional Facility in 1971 has sued New York state prison authorities, saying they’ve unconstitutionally banned her book. Author Heather Ann Thompson is a University of Michigan professor. She brought the lawsuit Thursday in Manhattan federal court. The suit contends the ban is unconstitutional and asked the court to stop the state from blocking the book’s distribution to prisoners. A New York State Department of Corrections spokesperson declined to comment. Named as defendants were the agency’s acting commissioner and a second official who has decision-making authority regarding censorship determinations.

CALIFORNIA-REPARATIONS-INFLUENCE

California reparations plan advances movement, advocates say

DETROIT (AP) — California took a big step this week toward becoming the first U.S. state to make some form of restitution a reality by tackling the divisive issue of which Black residents should be eligible to receive reparations for the atrocity and injustices of slavery and racism. A state task force narrowly decided in favor of limiting compensation to the descendants of free and enslaved Black people who were in the U.S. in the 19th century. But whether the Tuesday vote spurs other states and cities to advance their own proposals, and whether they adopt California’s controversial standard for who would benefit, remains to be seen.