DOJ: Feds to investigate Detroit girl's shooting
DETROIT (AP) - The Justice Department says federal authorities plan to investigate the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old Detroit girl during a police raid on her home. The department said in a letter this month to House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers that it asked the FBI to investigate the May 16 shooting. The letter says the department's Civil Rights Division will review the results. The Michigan Democrat said in a statement Wednesday announcing the investigation that the shooting "has shaken the entire city community." Detroit police declined to comment. Aiyana Stanley-Jones was killed by an officer's bullet when police stormed her house searching for a homicide suspect. State police have been investigating.
SERIAL STABBINGS
Task force creates suspect list in Mich. stabbings
DETROIT (AP) - A task force searching for a serial killer linked to a string of 20 stabbings that include five deaths is putting together a list of potential suspects. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton tells The Associated Press the task force is making progress in the search for a man believed responsible for 16 stabbings in Michigan, three in Virginia and one in Ohio. Leyton says police are "working hard to whittle down the potential list of individuals" in the case. The task force is headed by Michigan State Police and now includes the FBI. It had received 469 tips as of Wednesday afternoon. The attacks started May 24 in Flint in Genesee County. Leyton likely will be the Democratic candidate for state attorney general in November.
FATAL SHOOTING-TAUNT
Judge cuts charge to manslaughter in burglar death
DETROIT (AP) - A judge has cut the charge to manslaughter for a Detroit homeowner on trial in the shooting death of a man he caught breaking into his house. The ruling came Wednesday in the second-degree murder trial of Tigh Croff. Over prosecution objections, Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Hathaway threw out the murder charge, saying Croff was provoked before the shooting. Hathaway says Croff had been victim of at least two other recent burglaries. Police say the 31-year-old Croff returned home Dec. 28 to find 53-year-old Herbert Silas and another man in his back yard. Authorities say Croff chased Silas to the next street, where they say the drunken burglar taunted Croff before Croff shot him. Closing arguments are expected Thursday.
MEDICARE FRAUD-MICHIGAN
Clinic operator sentenced for $2M Medicare fraud
LIVONIA, Mich. (AP) - The FBI says an operator of a southeastern Michigan medical clinic has been sentenced to four years, eight months in prison for conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatkoff sentenced 36-year-old Carlos Grana of Miami on Tuesday. Zatkoff also ordered Grana to pay $2 million in restitution. Grana managed the Careplus LLC medical clinic in Livonia. He pleaded guilty in April. As part of the deal, Grana admitted he paid recruiters $100 to $150 per Medicare beneficiary referral. He says he told the recruiters to pay the patients $50 each. Grana says the patients got medically unnecessary tests. The FBI says Medicare paid $2 million for unwarranted services.
HOUSING AID-MICHIGAN
US gives Michigan $128M for jobless homeowners
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The Obama administration says more money is headed to Michigan to help unemployed homeowners avoid foreclosure. Michigan is expected to get about $128 million from the grants announced Wednesday. The state is one of several getting extra help because its unemployment rate is well above the national average. The new money is in addition to $154.5 million in federal money awarded to Michigan earlier this year to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. The additional money could allow Michigan to add 13,000 homeowners to its program. The latest grant is intended to be used for programs helping unemployed homeowners pay their mortgages while they search for jobs or participate in job training programs.
GOVERNOR'S RACE-STAFF
Snyder, Bernero hire new gov. campaign spokesmen
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The two men running for Michigan governor have hired new spokesmen for the general election campaign. Democrat Virg Bernero has chosen Cullen Schwarz to be his communications director. Schwarz now is U.S. Rep. Gary Peters' spokesman. Bernero's new campaign manager is Walt Herzig, who ran the 2006 Michigan Democratic campaign that helped re-elect Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Ex-Bernero campaign spokesman Jamaine Dickens will become spokesman for the Democrats' coordinated campaign. Republican Rick Snyder has hired ex-Michigan Republican spokesman Bill Nowling, who most recently was House Republicans' communications director. Nowling will replace Jake Suski, who's leaving to pursue other plans.
AG RACE-SCHUETTE
Democrats nab Schuette on Duty website in AG race
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - For years, Bill Schuette (SHOO'-tee) has used the slogan "Schuette on Duty" to campaign for Congress, the state Senate, the Michigan Court of Appeals, and attorney general. Now, the Midland Republican has lost the website www.schuetteonduty.com to the Michigan Democratic Party, which also bought the right to use the name with other extensions. Democrats plan to use the site to criticize Schuette. Schuette campaign manager Rusty Hills brushes off the move, saying he's sure voters will find Schuette's official site www.billschuette.com. Schuette still has to win the attorney general nomination over Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop at the Aug. 28 GOP state convention. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton is expected to be the Democratic nominee.
BILL COSBY-DETROIT
Bill Cosby: Robert Bobb should stay with district
DETROIT (AP) - Comedian Bill Cosby says he believes Detroit will triumph over school violence and low graduation rates with more parent support and continued leadership from Robert Bobb. In an interview Wednesday with the Associated Press, Cosby said the community needs to support another term for Bobb, the state-appointed emergency financial manager. Bobb's term with the Detroit Public Schools ends in March. Cosby visited neighborhoods with Bobb last year for the district's "I'm in" campaign. Cosby says Bobb is "for real and he is powerful." Cosby will return to Detroit as grand marshal of the campaign parade Aug. 26. The district launched an expanded "I'm in" campaign this year to boost enrollment and retain students.
LAKE MICHIGAN-GARBAGE
Garbage washing up again on western Mich. beaches
PERE MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Garbage washing up on Lake Michigan beaches has some in western Michigan wondering if it's a return to the summer of 2008, when Wisconsin trash rolled in. The Ludington Daily News says shoreline residents in Mason and Manistee counties have found the trash. A resident of Mason County's Pere Marquette Township says she's picked up bottles, straws, cups, cigarette butts and syringes. Garth Aslakson of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says this week's litter may also have come from Milwaukee. The U.S. Coast Guard is checking out the Wisconsin side of the lake. Garbage showed up two years ago in scattered locations as far south as Saugatuck and as far north as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. That's a roughly 200-mile zone.
