VIRUS OUTBREAK-MICHIGAN

Michigan names 1st winners of $50K vaccination sweepstakes

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan officials have announced the first four $50,000 winners of the state’s $5 million COVID-19 vaccine sweepstakes. The winners announced Wednesday live in New Baltimore, Southfield, Detroit and Wyoming. The state launched the sweepstakes with $5 million in cash and college scholarships, as well as a $2 million jackpot, a $1 million prize and daily drawings of $50,000 through July 30 in an effort to reach a goal of a 70% vaccination rate. As of Monday, 62.4% of state residents ages 16 or older had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which amounted to a roughly 0.4 percentage point increase over when the contest was announced, according to the state health department.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-JOBLESS AID

People who got virus-related jobless pay must reapply

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — More than 600,000 Michigan residents who received pandemic-related unemployment aid are being told to update their accounts. The state learned that some reasons for eligibility approved months ago were wrong. The department will determine if benefits need to be repaid. The Unemployment Insurance Agency says the federal government is becoming “more prescriptive” after earlier giving states more flexibility. Michigan has been paying an extra $300 a week in federal aid to the jobless who qualify, on top of maximum state benefits of $362. Rachael Kohl, an attorney with the Workers’ Rights Clinic, says many people receiving letters are back to work. The House Oversight Committee plans to investigate.

QUEST FOR CARP NAME

Worries over racism, waterways inspire push to rename fish

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — What’s in a name? When it comes to Asian carp, quite a lot. For decades, that term has been used to describe four fish species that have infested many U.S. rivers and threaten to invade the Great Lakes. They were imported to cleanse fish farms and sewage ponds but escaped into the wild. Now some government agencies are changing the label to “invasive carp” in the wake of anti-Asian hate crimes that surged during the pandemic. At the same time, Illinois officials and partner groups are planning to give the four species yet another name in a marketing campaign to get more people to eat them.

CLERGY ABUSE

Former priest sentenced in sex abuse cases in Michigan

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (AP) — A former priest has been ordered to spend eight to 15 years in prison in connection with the sexual abuse of teens in the 1980s in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says 75-year-old Gary Jacobs was sentenced Tuesday in Dickinson County Circuit Court in Iron Mountain for second-degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Jacobs also was sentenced in May in Ontonagon County to eight to 15 years in prison following a guilty plea in April to three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The sentences will be served concurrently. The Diocese of Marquette has said Jacobs was removed from ministry in 1988 and left the state.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-RECORDS

U-Michigan loses court decision over withholding pay details

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A judge has ordered the University of Michigan to fill a public records request and release pay information for employees in an office dedicated to diversity and equal opportunity. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher says public disclosure of pay, bonuses and overtime fits the goal of the state’s open records law. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy sued the university after officials wouldn’t disclose all compensation details for employees in the Office of Institutional Equity. The university cited privacy exceptions and other reasons for withholding details about overtime and bonuses. Gleicher at the Court of Claims says those defenses don’t fit.

HOPE COLLEGE-FREE TUITION

Hope College takes big step toward tuition-free campus

HOLLAND, Mich. (AP) — About two dozen students at a small college in western Michigan will attend school without paying tuition in the fall. It’s part of a new plan to ease the financial burden in exchange for contributions after students graduate. Hope College is a private liberal arts school in Holland, 30 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. It has roughly 3,100 students. College President Matthew Scogin says he wants to see graduates leave campus ready to launch a career without being burdened by tuition debt. The goal is to eventually cover tuition for all students through scholarships, which would mean increasing the college’s endowment.

BANQUET HALL SHOOTING-DETROIT

Man arrested in shooting of 6 outside Detroit banquet hall

DETROIT (AP) — Police say a man suspected in a drive-by shooting that left one dead and five others wounded at an unlicensed Detroit banquet hall has been arrested at a hospital where he was attempting to get treatment for a gunshot wound. Detroit 2nd Deputy Police Chief Rudy Harper says Wednesday that staff at the suburban hospital a few miles from the Chalmers Banquet Hall contacted police after the 30-year-old man checked in Tuesday. He was arrested not long after interim Detroit Police Chief James White told reporters Tuesday afternoon they had identified a suspect who opened fire from a vehicle about 2 a.m. at people outside the banquet hall on the city’s east side. At least one person outside the building returned fire at the vehicle.

DETROIT POLICE-EXTORTION

Ex-Detroit officer convicted in vehicle repair scheme

DETROIT (AP) — An ex-Detroit police officer has been sentenced to six years and eight months in federal prison in a scheme where bribes were given by collision shop owners in exchange for referrals of stolen and abandoned vehicles recovered in the city. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Detroit says 49-year-old Deonne Dotson was convicted of extortion in November 2019 but sentencing was delayed until Tuesday due to the coronavirus pandemic. Vehicle owners were unaware that Dotson was receiving money from shop owners when they agreed to have repairs performed at the shops. Five other officers have pleaded guilty to committing similar crimes while employed by the Detroit Police Department.

AP-US-DOCTOR-SEXUAL-ASSAULT-FBI

Watchdog: FBI mishandled Nassar-USA Gymnastics abuse case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI made significant errors in investigating sexual abuse allegations against former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar and didn’t treat the case with the “utmost seriousness.“ That’s according to a Justice Department’s inspector general report. More athletes said they were molested before the the FBI swung into action. The FBI is acknowledging conduct that was “inexcusable and a discredit.” The long-awaited watchdog report highlights missteps at the FBI between the time the allegations were first reported and Nassar’s arrest. USA Gymnastics contacted the FBI about the allegations in July 2015. It took months before the agency opened a formal investigation.

AP-US-GM-BOLT-FIRES

GM warns some Bolt owners to park outdoors due to fire risk

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is telling owners of some older Chevrolet Bolts to park them outdoors and not to charge them overnight because two of the electric cars caught fire after recall repairs were made. The company said Wednesday that the request covers 2017 through 2019 Bolts that were part of a group recalled earlier due to several fires in the batteries. Spokesman Kevin Kelly said the request comes after two Bolts that had gotten recall repairs caught fire, one in Vermont and the other in New Jersey. Kelly said GM engineers are working as fast as they can to solve the problem.