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KALAMAZOO POLICE SHOOTING

Kalamazoo officer kills man who shot at officers, police say

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a Kalamazoo police officer fatally shot a man when that man fired a handgun toward officers. The shooting happened about 10:30 a.m. Sunday after officers were called to a neighborhood south of the city’s downtown area about what the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety called “suspected criminal activity.” The department says after officers arrived, the 33-year-old man from Battle Creek, Michigan, fired shots and an officer returned fire, striking the man. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. No officers were injured and Michigan State Police will oversee an investigation of the shooting.

HASTINGS-DOWNTOWN FIRE

Fire damages downtown businesses in western Michigan city

HASTINGS, Mich. (AP) — Fire gutted a restaurant and damaged nearby businesses in a western Michigan city’s downtown area. Firefighters needed several hours to put out the blaze in downtown Hastings that was reported about 3:30 a.m. when a police officer spotted it at Vinnies Woodfired Saloon. Crews had to tear down part of the building to extinguish the fire. Deputy Police Chief Julissa Kelly tells WOOD-TV that the fire also caused fire and smoke damage to at least three other businesses. No injuries were immediately reported. Investigators believed the blaze might have started from a wood-fired oven that is typically left burning.

GIRL SHOT-DRIVE-BY-MICHIGAN

Girl, 7, fatally shot in drive-by outside Detroit-area home

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a 7-year-old girl died after being shot in the head while sitting in the rear seat of a car in the driveway of her home northwest of Detroit. The Oakland County sheriff’s office says Saturday that Ariah Jackson was returning home from school Friday in Pontiac when a male passenger in a late model, orange Chevrolet Blazer fired at least six shots at her family’s car. Ariah was struck once in the back of her head. Her mother’s head was grazed. Ariah was rushed in a patrol car to a hospital, where she later was pronounced dead. A person of interest has been identified in the shooting.

UNEMPLOYMENT AGENCY-AUDIT

Audit flags problems with hiring of unemployment workers

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — State auditors say Michigan’s unemployment agency did not require worker background checks or quickly deactivate former contract and state employees’ computer access to the confidential benefits system amid unprecedented jobless claims early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Their review released Friday flagged four material conditions, the most serious type of finding. The audit concluded that the agency did an insufficient job both “onboarding” and “offboarding” thousands of workers to help with the deluge of new and continued claims. The Unemployment Insurance Agency agreed mistakes were made and pledged to make improvements.

SCHOOL SHOOTING-MICHIGAN

Prosecutor: Don’t name Michigan teen during parents’ trial

A prosecutor is asking a judge to rule that a Michigan teen charged in a fatal school shooting shouldn’t be named in court during his parents’ separate criminal trial. Prosecutor Karen McDonald filed a motion Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court requesting that Ethan Crumbley’s name not be spoken openly in court or used in writing in the case against James and Jennifer Crumbley. McDonald said she wanted to avoid giving any notions of fame or notoriety to their son, who is accused of fatally shooting four students last year at Oxford High School. McDonald said in a statement that “shooters want to be famous.”

MAN SHOT-POLICE

Police: Man shot after pointing gun at officers near Detroit

REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Police responding to a reported domestic assault in a suburban Detroit community have shot and wounded a man they say pointed a long gun at officers. WDIV-TV reports that the man was shot about 2:20 a.m. Saturday at a mobile home in Redford Township, just west of Detroit. Officers entered the home and then exited after seeing the man’s weapon. Police said he was shot after following the officers. He was listed in stable condition at a hospital. No officers were wounded.

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT

Informant gives key details about plot against Gov. Whitmer

Jurors in Michigan have heard from an Army veteran who became an FBI informant after hearing members of a militia talk about killing police. Dan Chappel says four men wanted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer before the 2020 election. Chappel says they believed Whitmer might get extra security if Joe Biden won the election and the governor was in line to get a job in Washington. Chappel is a major witness for prosecutors in the trial of four men charged with a kidnapping conspiracy. Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta are on trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prosecutors say they turned their anger toward government into a plot to kidnap Whitmer over her COVID-19 restrictions.

TRUMP-MICHIGAN

Trump holding Detroit-area rally for candidates April 2

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump plans to hold a rally in suburban Detroit April 2 to support candidates he has endorsed in Michigan’s elections this year. He announced Friday he’ll headline a rally in at the Michigan Stars Sports Center in Macomb County’s Washington Township at 7 p.m. that day. Trump is backing Matthew DePerno in the race for attorney general and Kristina Karamo for secretary of state. Both are in competitive races for GOP nominations on April 23 when Republican delegates will endorse nominees at a state convention in Grand Rapids.

TAX CUTS

Gov. Whitmer vetoes Republicans’ $2.5B tax cut legislation

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed Republicans’ proposal to permanently cut the state income tax, make more seniors eligible for deductions and restore a child tax credit. She said Friday it would strip funding for basic government services. The veto, which was expected, may prompt negotiations between Republican legislative leaders and the Democratic governor, who has called for more targeted tax breaks for retirees and lower-wage workers. While Michigan has a budget surplus, her administration says it’s largely one-time revenue that can’t be counted on in future years. Republicans accused Whitmer of missing an opportunity to help residents grappling with inflation.

9/11 VICTIM-PHOTO FOUND

9/11 victim photo search leads to Michigan school yearbook

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Albert Ogletree was a name represented by an image of an oak leaf at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York until a bit of sleuthing led to a 1966 Michigan high school yearbook. The Detroit Free Press reports that on Tuesday the museum added Ogletree’s Romulus High School freshman year photo to its Memorial Exhibition Gallery. His photo was one of only two of the nearly 3,000 that the museum had not been able to locate since it opened in 2014. Ogletree was working in a cafeteria in the World Trade Center’s North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists flew a hijacked plane into the building.