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MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT

Text: When’s ‘lynching?’ Michigan governor plot leader said

A man charged with planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was jubilant in 2020 when the state Supreme Court struck down COVID-19 orders. Adam Fox asked his allies in a chat group, “When’s the lynching?” That’s according to evidence introduced Monday. The disclosure came near the end of the first phase of testimony by a key government witness in the trial of four men: Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta. Prosecutors say the four are antigovernment extremists who wanted to grab the Democratic governor at her vacation home in northern Michigan in retaliation for a series of sweeping orders during the pandemic.

DETROIT HIT MAN-TEENAGER

Detroit reaches $7.5M deal in wrongful conviction lawsuit

DETROIT (AP) — The city of Detroit has reached a $7.5 million settlement with a man who spent eight years in prison before a prosecutor agreed to drop four murder convictions. Davontae Sanford was just 15 when he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the fatal shootings of four people in 2007. But the case took a strange turn when a professional hit man stepped forward and said he was responsible for the killings. Sanford insisted he was innocent and took a plea deal only because he felt poorly represented by a lawyer. In 2016, the Wayne County prosecutor dropped Sanford’s convictions citing police misconduct, not a confession from hit man Vincent Smothers.

FOUR DEAD-MOBILE HOME FIRE

Police: Lapeer County mobile home fire leaves 4 dead

DRYDEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Four people have died in a fire at a mobile home in southeastern Michigan’s Lapeer County. The blaze started about 5 a.m. Monday in Dryden Township, about 56 miles north of Detroit. Authorities have not released the names and ages of the victims. Dryden Township police said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

FLINT WATER-SNYDER

Judge: Ex-governor must testify in Flint water civil trial

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A judge has ruled former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and several other officials must testify in a civil trial involving engineering firms being sued over liability for lead-contaminated water connected to the Flint water crisis. U.S. District Judge Judith Levy on Monday denied motions by Snyder, his former advisor, two former state-appointed emergency managers and an ex-Flint city official to quash subpoenas compelling them to testify. Snyder, a Republican, faces misdemeanor charges in the water crisis. His attorney has said Snyder would invoke his right to remain silent if called as a witness in the ongoing civil trial in federal court in Ann Arbor.

EMERGENCIES-PISTOL PERMITS

Whitmer vetoes bill to require CPL processing in emergencies

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed legislation that would have required county clerks to keep processing concealed pistol licenses during state-declared or locally declared emergencies. Republican lawmakers passed the bill after receiving complaints that clerks refused or delayed issuing or renewing permits when the pandemic struck. In a letter to legislators Friday, the Democratic governor said the measure would have mandated that clerks issue licenses without regard to the scope or gravity of the emergency or whether in-person services would jeopardize clerks. Republican Sen. Lana Theis called the veto disappointing for gun owners and said Second Amendment rights can’t be infringed.

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.”