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

SCHOOL SHOOTING-MICHIGAN

Authorities: Student kills 3, wounds 8 at Michigan school

OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a 15-year-old sophomore opened fire at his Michigan high school, killing three students and wounding eight other people, including at least one teacher. Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe says investigators are still trying to determine a motive for the shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township. At a vigil at Lakepoint Community Church on Tuesday night, pastor Jesse Holt said news of the shooting flooded in to him and his wife, including texts from some of the 20 to 25 students who are among the 400-member congregation. He says some students were trying to calm them, telling them they had heard gunshots but were OK.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MICHIGAN

Whitmer seeks $300 million for COVID-19 testing at schools

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration is asking lawmakers to quickly allocate $300 million in federal pandemic rescue funding to support COVID-19 testing at schools amid a fourth surge of infections in Michigan. The money was included in the relief law approved by Congress and President Joe Biden in March. It is set to expire next summer and is part of a $2.5 billion supplemental spending request that state budget director Christopher Harkins sent to the Republican chairmen of legislative appropriations committees on Nov. 19. The GOP-led Legislature returned to session Tuesday after a two-week break.

AP-US-MICHIGAN-PIPELINE

Michigan drops oil pipeline suit, refocuses on separate case

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is abandoning a lawsuit aimed at shutting down an oil pipeline that runs through part of the Great Lakes. But she says the state will continue pursuing a separate case with the same goal. Michigan and Enbridge Energy sued each other last year over the governor’s withdrawal of an easement that allows the company’s Line 5 to run through the Straits of Mackinac, where Lakes Michigan and Huron meet. On Tuesday, Whitmer dropped the state’s suit, although Enbridge’s case will remain in federal court. The governor said her action should enable a different suit seeking a Line 5 shutdown to move forward.

AP-US-LEAD-WATER-TESTING

New lead testing method could reveal higher levels in water

ST. LOUIS (AP) — U.S. officials are considering a new method for testing water that could show more places have elevated lead levels than previously believed. The pending change under review at the Environmental Protection Agency is intended to test the water sitting in lead service lines, instead of water closer to the tap. When Michigan used a method similar to the one under review, it saw a spike in samples with elevated lead. The EPA will give an update on its review by mid-December. Environmental groups are hopeful the agency will keep the more rigorous testing in place — or make it stricter.

AP-US-DINGELL-OFFICE-VANDALISM

Michigan office of US Rep. Dingell broken into, vandalized

A suburban Detroit office of U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell has been broken into and ransacked, with memorabilia belonging to her late husband and longtime Congressman John Dingell damaged. Dingell reported the break-in at the office in Dearborn on Monday and said it was being investigated by local and U.S. Capitol police. She says in a news release that the office door and windows were smashed. The Democrat represents Michigan’s heavily Democratic 12th Congressional District and says her office has been receiving threats for months. It comes at a time of deep polarization between Democrats and Republicans.

WOMAN SLAIN-SON ARRESTED

Man charged in mother’s fatal shooting after family dinner

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — A 22-year-old suburban Detroit man has been charged with open murder in the fatal shooting of his 52-year-old mother as she drove him home from a family dinner on Thanksgiving eve. The Oakland County sheriff’s office says Monday that George Harry II also is charged with five counts of attempted murder and using a firearm during a felony after shots later were fired at passing vehicles. Harry of Troy faces arraignment Tuesday. Sonya Harry of Southfield was shot once in the head Wednesday along the city limits of Royal Oak and Pleasant Ridge. George Harry II also is accused of firing shots at three passing vehicles. A woman driving one of those vehicles was struck in the leg.

BENTON HARBOR WATER CRISIS

Benton Harbor starts accepting bids to replace lead pipes

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Benton Harbor leaders say the city is accepting bids from contractors for an ambitious project to replace all lead water pipes no later than 2023 due to elevated levels of the toxic metal in the municipal supply. Because the “action level” for lead has been exceeded, for three years, the estimated 2,800 service lines must be removed over about 15 years under federal and state regulations. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has promised to spend millions of dollars to replace them in 18 months, with work starting next spring. Benton Harbor invited bids last week and released details about the plan Monday.

WOMAN RAPED-ARRESTS

Detroit police: Two men in custody in beating, rape of woman

DETROIT (AP) — Two men were in custody in connection with the rape and brutal beating of a 63-year-old woman outside a closed Detroit church. Police Chief James White told reporters Monday that tips from residents led investigators to the suspects in the Nov. 14 attack. He says the woman was acquainted with both men and was not targeted randomly. White says the victim still is ”fighting for her life.” A 44-year-old man has been charged with assault with intent to commit murder. He has not been charged with sexual assault. White said the investigation into the rape was continuing. The second man was being held on a charge not related to the attack.

WISCONSIN-ELECTION

GOP targets Wisconsin elections system, nonpartisan director

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans are working to discredit the bipartisan system they created to run elections in the state after President Joe Biden narrowly won last year’s presidential race. The political battleground becomes the latest front in the national push by the GOP to exert more control over elections before the 2022 and 2024 elections. Wednesday will bring a flurry of election-related developments in the state, with both the Wisconsin Elections Commission and a partisan legislative panel dissecting the 2020 election. At the same time, Republican lawmakers are continuing to attack the state’s well-regarded election commissioner in a pressure campaign to have her resign, in an apparent attempt to install a GOP partisan.