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AP-US-BENTON-HARBOR-WATER

Michigan official: Benton Harbor water woes ‘inexcusable’

Michigan officials are defending their response to a lead crisis in a corner of the state. They told lawmakers Thursday that steps to reduce corrosion in Benton Harbor’s aging water pipes began in 2019, just a few months after tests revealed troubling lead results. Benton Harbor’s 9,700 residents are being urged to use free bottled water for drinking and cooking, until officials are confident that tap filters can work effectively. Liesl Clark of Michigan’s environmental agency says the ultimate remedy is the replacement of about 6,000 old water lines at Benton Harbor homes. She says the pipes are releasing lead into the water.

FOUR SLAIN-MICHIGAN

Woman arrested in slayings of 4 people in central Michigan

CLARE, Mich. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a woman whom they had been seeking in the deaths of four people in central Michigan. The Mount Pleasant Morning Sun reports that the Clare County sheriff said 54-year-old Judy Boyer was taken into custody Thursday morning. Authorities had been looking for the 54-year-old woman since Wednesday evening. She had not been charged in the deaths as of Thursday afternoon. Two men were found wounded about 4 p.m. Wednesday in Clare after police responded to reports of a shooting. Those men later died. The bodies of an 85-year-old man and 61-year-old woman were found elsewhere on the same property.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-HOSPITAL

Beaumont Health says 370 people could lose jobs over vaccine

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s largest health care provider suspended 1 percent of its workers after they failed to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Beaumont Health had set an Oct. 18 deadline. Crain’s Detroit Business says the 370 employees now have until Nov. 16 to get a shot or they will be discharged. Spokesman Mark Geary says Beaumont hopes they decide to get the vaccine and return to work. An additional 70 employees resigned. At Henry Ford Health System, 400 refused to get the vaccine by an October deadline and lost their jobs.

HAITI-US-KIDNAPPED MISSIONARIES

Haiti gang leader threatens to kill kidnapped missionaries

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The leader of the 400 Mawozo gang that Haitian police say kidnapped 17 members of a missionary group is seen in a new video saying he will kill them if he doesn’t get what he is demanding. The video posted Thursday on social media shows Wilson Joseph dressed in a blue suit, carrying a blue hat and wearing a large cross around his neck. He also threatens Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the chief of Haiti’s National Police while speaking in front of coffins holding several members of his gang who were recently killed. Authorities have said the gang is demanding $1 million per person in the kidnapped group, though it wasn’t immediately clear that included the five children among the 16 Americans and one Canadian.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MICHIGAN

Michigan won’t go further than federal vax-or-test rule

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan will not order employers to adhere to a COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirement that is stricter than one planned by the Biden administration. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration released its stance this week following questions from the business community. Michigan is among states to operate and enforce workplace safety rules instead of the U.S. government. They must be at least as effective as the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s program. Michigan’s regulations cover both private and government workplaces. Democrats in the Legislature, meanwhile, are pushing for the disbursement of unspent federal coronavirus relief aid that was enacted last December.

AP-US-SCI-ENVIRONMENTAL-JUSTICE-SPENDING

Billions in environmental justice funds hang in the balance

Tens of billions of dollars for U.S. environmental justice initiatives originally proposed by Democratic leaders in a $3.5 trillion domestic spending package now hang in the balance as they decide how to trim the bill to $2 trillion. Investments in the Build Back Better plan included expanding access to solar power in low-income communities, lead pipe replacement and cleanup of Superfund sites. But now that the bill’s cost is being reduced, environmental justice activists around the country are worried programs that could improve the health of their communities could be sacrificed.

TESLA-TEXAS CRASH

NTSB: Driver was behind wheel at time of Texas Tesla crash

DETROIT (AP) — A driver was behind the wheel when a Tesla electric car crashed and burned last April near Houston, killing two men, neither of whom was found in the driver’s seat. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board announced the findings in an investigative report released Thursday on the April 17 crash on a residential road in Spring, Texas. Although first responders found one man in the back seat and the other in the front passenger seat, the NTSB said both the driver and a passenger were in the front seats with belts buckled at the time of the crash. The agency said the car was traveling up to 67 mph in the five seconds leading up to the crash.

AP-US-POLICE-REFORM-BRADY-LISTS

Tool for police reform rarely used by local prosecutors

SEATTLE (AP) — The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer has sparked a national conversation on police reform, ranging from defunding departments to enhancing training. But reform activists and civil rights advocates say prosecutors already have powerful tools at their disposal to curb bad behavior by police – using Brady Lists, which stem from a 1963 Supreme Court ruling mandating prosecutors turn over exculpatory evidence to defense attorneys, to shine a light on officers whose names are shrouded in secrecy by their departments and refusing to put forward cases from officers with tarnished histories. But the ruling did not define the steps prosecutors and police departments must take to ensure defendants are informed.

FLINT WATER

Arbitrator: Official wrongly fired in Flint water scandal

DETROIT (AP) — The only Michigan official fired in the Flint water disaster likely was a “public scapegoat” who lost her job because of politics. That’s the opinion of an arbitrator who is ordering $191,880 in lost wages and other compensation for Liane Shekter Smith. She served as head of the state’s drinking water office when Flint’s water system was contaminated with lead. Shekter Smith was demoted and then fired in 2016. The arbitrator noted that state engineers who had a direct role in Flint were suspended with pay and allowed to return to work. The Michigan environmental agency declined to comment Wednesday but said an appeal was being considered.

MICHIGAN COURTS-JUNETEENTH

Juneteenth could become a Michigan court holiday

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court is considering a statewide court holiday on Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery. The court said it will accept public comment and hold a hearing in the months ahead. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas. Congress and President Joe Biden created a federal holiday this year. The Michigan Supreme Court says it’s willing to consider dropping another court holiday, such as Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, to make room for Juneteenth. Justice David Viviano dissented, saying courts have a backlog of cases and already are closed on 12 weekdays.