‘Do not drive’: Kent County officials warn motorists not to travel on Christmas Eve
KENT COUNTY, MI -- Ongoing snowfall and intense wind have combined to make Christmas Eve a hazardous time to drive in the Grand Rapids area, officials said. “Our message is, once again, do not drive unless you have to drive,” Kent County Road Commission officials advised in a news release on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 24. Low visibility continues with zero visibility in several rural areas in Kent County. Some areas have reported impassable conditions due to more than a foot of drifted snow on the road, officials said. Ongoing coverage will be placed on state roads and high-volume primary roads that were addressed overnight, but still suffer from hard-pack, icy conditions, officials said.
mlive.comHusband, wife die after overnight house fire
DETROIT – A couple died early Monday after a fire rent through their Detroit home, officials said. Flames didn’t reach the bedroom, but it was full of smoke, officials said. The couple was taken to a hospital where they succumbed to their injuries; it appears they died of smoke inhalation. The identities of the victims have not been released. READ MORE:Police identify Lake Michigan drowning victimDrunken crash in Birch Run Township leaves two hospitalized, one jailedOwosso man stable and alert after being shot twice by MSP trooper
mlive.com‘You grow thick skin:’ Michigan high schools desperate for refs but job has been rough on women
“There should be more female officials, but we can say the same about officials overall without looking at gender,” referee Nichole Dowdall said. After the 2021-22 season, she moved to Arizona, where she intends to continue officiating high school games. The number of officials dropped to 8,090 from 9,254 when high school sports restarted in 2020, with the number of female officials dropping to 997 from 1,130. You see female officials not just in high school, but in college and the NBA. We’re not going to get 10,000 folks to sign up tomorrow, but if we increase our numbers 100 or so a year, we can get back.”Dowdall believes the responsibility to add future female officials belongs to current female officials.
mlive.comSearch ends for grandmother in Alaska after toddler was found in locked car
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Officials have ended their search for a woman whose 2-year-old grandchild was found alone last week in a locked car that stuck in mud on a rural Alaska road, authorities said. The search was changed from “active” to “reactive,” meaning that a search could be launched again if officials receive new information or evidence, the statement said. Authorities were searching for Wilson after her 2-year-old grandchild was found alone and abandoned on Thursday, July 14, 2022, in a locked car on a rural Alaska road. (Alaska State Troopers via AP)APWilson’s car was found Thursday on Stampede Road, off the Parks Highway just outside the small community of Healy. Wilson had been watching the child while the mother was working in rural Alaska.
mlive.comSearch for Alaska grandma halted after toddler found in car
Officials have ended their search for a woman whose 2-year-old grandchild was found alone last week in a locked car that stuck in mud on a rural Alaska road, authorities said. No clues to the whereabouts of Mary Dawn Wilson, 69, have emerged since her Ford Focus was found last Thursday with the child and personal items believed to belong to Wilson, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a statement on Saturday. Authorities believe the child was alone in the car for two days.
news.yahoo.comTaiwanese F-16 fighter makes emergency landing in Hawaii
A Taiwanese F-16 fighter jet made an emergency landing at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Hawaii on Monday afternoon, and the U.S. Air Force pilot who was flying the aircraft was taken to the hospital for treatment, U.S. officials said Tuesday. According to officials, the aircraft appeared to have problems with its landing gear and the pilot declared an in-flight emergency and landed. A netting barrier was used to slow and stop the plane, and the nose gear collapsed after contact with the net, officials said.
news.yahoo.comSaginaw splash pad to reopen this week — minus some amenities
SAGINAW, MI — Recreational water park enthusiasts can rejoice in news that Saginaw officials will open the city’s splash park this week. But they might want to make sure to take care of any urges to use a toilet before venturing there. While the splash pad at Frank N. Andersen Celebration Park will open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 28, bathrooms and changing areas there will remain closed to the public, officials said. The reason: City officials have yet to fill five coordinator position openings responsible for monitoring and upkeep at the site. The city opened the splash pad in 2010 at the site where residents once flocked to a water slide and wave pool beginning in the 1990s.
mlive.comWhite men dominate Ann Arbor city government in hiring and promotions
ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials say they’re committed to diversity, but white men still dominate city government. The city’s staff is overwhelmingly male and disproportionately white, and so are those getting management promotions, according to an analysis of personnel records showing the race and gender of more than 800 city employees.
mlive.comDid Detroit police call you? It might be a scam. Here’s how to tell the difference.
DETROIT — Police here say residents should be wary of phone scammers recently claiming to represent the Detroit Police Department. In a post uploaded to the department’s Facebook page Wednesday, Feb. 9, officials described residents reporting receiving such calls. “We want you to know police officers will never call you claiming you need to pay a fine or warrant, or anything by phone,” the post read. “To avoid falling victim to a scheme, don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize. If the number appears to be the police department’s number, you can call us to confirm the call did not come from us.”The Detroit Police Department can be reached at (313) 596-2200.
mlive.comAs the IRS pushes facial recognition, the government’s own ID service rejects the technology
Dave Zvenyach, director of the GSA’s Technology Transformation Services, told The Post that the agency “is committed to not deploying facial recognition … until rigorous review has given us confidence that we can do so equitably.”
washingtonpost.comHow to report a violation of Ann Arbor’s new tampon law
ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials say they’ve received no violation complaints in the first month of the city’s new ordinance requiring free menstrual products in public restrooms. For members of the public who notice restrooms without tampons or menstrual pads as required by law now — such as at a restaurant or other business — the city suggests first letting the establishment’s management know about it.
mlive.comU.S. and NATO allies intensify diplomacy in push to deter Russian ‘lightning raid’ on Ukraine
President Biden and his European counterparts are rushing to discourage Moscow from a renewed attack on Kyiv, which Britain's Boris Johnson warned could come in the form of a "lightning raid."
washingtonpost.comSpeedrack Products investment expected to create 164 new jobs in west Michigan
Governor Gretchen Whitmer today joined a group of business, state, and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking of Speedrack Products Group’s new manufacturing facility in Walker, thanking the storage systems provider for their continued investment in Michigan that will create 164 new jobs.
Wisconsin man extradited, arraigned in Wolverine Watchmen case
The Wisconsin man charged for his alleged participation in a domestic terrorism plot that included storming the Michigan Capitol and kidnapping elected officials has been arraigned, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday.
NHL officiating: After ref’s audio in Red Wings game, a watershed moment?
FILE - Referee Tim Peel is shown during an NHL hockey game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Islanders in Philadelphia, in this Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, file photo. The league on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, announced that Peel no longer will be working NHL games now or in the future. Every single hockey fan, new and old, probably already knew this was the mentality of NHL officiating, but to hear the proof so loud and clearly was shocking nonetheless. And then, if you think you might actually understand what will be called from game to game, everything will change again in the post season. As a former USA Hockey official, I can tell you NHL games are the farthest thing from what the USA Hockey rulebook and training classes instruct officials to do.
Ford Field COVID mass vaccination site launches Wednesday
DETROIT – Officials said Tuesday’s soft opening of the COVID-19 mass vaccination site at Ford Field was a success. With the site officially opening Wednesday, officials are getting ready for everybody, including those with disabilities or limited English. “We’ve been trying to be really thoughtful when it comes to language access, and people with disabilities making sure we have enough accessible vaccine pods for people with wheelchairs,” said Michigan Lt. Gov. Read: Ford Field COVID mass vaccination site prepared to open to thousandsAround 70 vaccination pods are set up and people who received the vaccine Tuesday said it was a very quick process. More: Registration for COVID-19 vaccine at Ford Field now open -- How to registerRelated News
The Latest: China makes parts of province high danger zones
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING — China has designated parts of Hebei province near Beijing as a coronavirus high danger zone after 14 new cases of COVID-19 were found. The other three COVID-19 cases were in the city of Yantai. Approximately 174 private clinics have also requested vaccines, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said. County health officials fear the incoming Christmas and New Year’s surge. Superintendent Henderson Lewis said a spike in positive cases in the city prompted the “unfortunate but necessary” decision to go back to distance learning.
Details on plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer and the men charged -- What we know
Federal officials became aware of the various alleged plots to kidnap Gov. Federal officials raided a mobile home in Hartland Wednesday belonging to Ty Garbin, who is one of those accused. Recruiting turned into in-person meetings, some federal officials said taking place in a basement of a vacuum store in Grand Rapids where one of the men, Adam Fox, lived. While there were suggestions of going to the State Capitol to take the governor, the men turned their attention to Whitmer’s vacation home in northern Michigan as the place to kidnap her from. The plan was then to take Whitmer to Wisconsin to stand trial for what the men viewed as treason.
US officials: Israel, UAE to sign deal at White House
WASHINGTON Israel and the United Arab Emirates will sign their historic deal normalizing relations at a White House ceremony on Sept. 15, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The officials said senior delegations from both countries will likely be led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Zayad, the brother of the UAE crown prince. The ceremony will come just a month after the agreement to establish full diplomatic relations was announced on Aug. 13. The The historic deal delivered a key foreign policy victory to President Donald Trump as he seeks reelection, and reflected a changing Middle East in which shared concerns about archenemy Iran have largely overtaken traditional Arab support for the Palestinians. That announcement has been followed by the first direct commercial flight between the countries, the establishment of telephone links and commitments to cooperate in numerous areas.
Officials say they haven’t been contacted about any plans to sends DHS officers to Detroit
Officials say they haven’t been contacted about any plans to sends DHS officers to DetroitPublished: July 21, 2020, 6:38 pmPresident Donald Trump said he’s sending 150 agents from the Department of Homeland Security to Chicago because of the spike in violence in that city.
Asian tiger mosquitoes identified in Wayne County
WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – The invasive Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, has again been identified in Wayne County, officials from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Wayne County Health Department announced Friday. The Asian tiger mosquito was discovered in Michigan for the first time in 2017, in an industrial area of Livonia in Wayne County. In 2018, the mosquitoes were again found in Wayne County, in an industrial area of Romulus. These mosquitoes are widespread from tropical to temperate regions of the globe, including many parts of the U.S. This is likely how the mosquitoes have shown up in Wayne County.
Going green: Swiss officials must take trains for some trips
GENEVA For Swiss federal officials, it's no more jetting to Paris for business: They'll need to go greener. Under new rules announced Thursday by the finance department, federal Swiss officials will have to take the train not a plane where available for work trips. The move puts into action a government decree last year that aims to help reduce federal officials carbon-dioxide emissions 30% by 2030. Starting July 1, all federal staffers will be required to take trains for official trips from the Swiss capital of Bern to places like Paris, Florence, Leipzig in Germany and Salzburg in Austria, according to an advisory list of affected cities provided by the department. In some cases, the officials will be required to take the train even though its slower than flying when check-in times and other factors are accounted for.