Gov't weighs gas mileage rules for 2017 and beyond
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is close to saying what sort of gas mileage it envisions for cars of the future. Environmentalists are pushing for an average of at least 60 miles per gallon for new vehicles by 2025, exceeding the mileage of the most fuel-efficient hybrids on the road today. But automakers argue that pushing gas mileage standards up that quickly could force them to raise prices higher than drivers can afford. The administration is expected to give its view Friday in the form of early planning for mileage standards for the 2017 through 2025 model years. Rules already in place will boost the fleet average to 35.5 mpg by 2016, an increase of more than 40 percent over current requirements.
STATE BUDGET-LIQUOR
Michigan to review early Sunday liquor sales bill
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office says there's no guarantee the term-limited Democrat will pop the cork on a bill that would allow Sunday morning liquor sales. Spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Thursday that even though Granholm originally proposed earlier alcohol sales to ramp up revenue, the governor will carefully review the bill crafted and approved this week by state lawmakers. Boyd said "a relatively simple eight-page bill" grew to "58 pages within a matter of hours." Alcohol sales could start at 7 a.m. on Sunday under the bill. That's a change from the current law banning sales from 2 a.m. to noon. Sellers would have to pay an extra $160 for a special license for early Sunday sales. Money from the licenses would go to the state budget.
MINE WASTE
Mines, Michigan regulators reach deal on cleanup
UNDATED (AP) - Michigan environmental regulators have reached a settlement with two Upper Peninsula iron mines over illegal waste disposal. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment said Thursday the Tilden and Empire mines in Marquette County violated state law and their federal permits by dumping waste rock in the wrong places in 2008 and 2009. Under the settlement, the mines will clean up the pollution, replace a pipeline and look for waste rock that might have been dumped before 2008. They'll also pay a $51,000 fine and cover costs of the state investigation. The mines already have spent $8.4 million on cleanup and replacing pipelines to prevent other unauthorized discharges.
SEX OFFENDER SWEEP
Mich. State Police to sweep for sex offenders
DETROIT (AP) - Michigan State Police troopers will conduct a statewide sweep of sex offenders accused of violating requirements of the sex offender registry by not reporting address changes on time. Operation Verify will be held Oct. 18-29 and target as many as 3,400 violators who are not in compliance with the Michigan Sex Offender Registry. Anyone on the registry who's been convicted of sex-crime felonies must verify their addresses quarterly with local police agencies and within 10 days of moving. State police officials said in a statement Thursday the sweep will follow the Oct. 1-15 quarterly verification period. Michigan has about 46,400 people on the sex offender registry, and nearly 43,000 are compliant. Penalties range from 93 days in jail to four years in prison.
DETROIT SCHOOLS-THEFT
MSU football player pleads guilty in laptop thefts
DETROIT (AP) - A Michigan State University football player has pleaded guilty to receiving and concealing stolen property in the theft of laptop computers from several Detroit Public Schools. The Wayne County prosecutor's office said Dion Sims entered his plea Thursday in circuit court. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6. Sims is one of 10 men charged following an investigation into the theft of 104 laptops valued at $158,000 from several Detroit schools. Authorities say the computers were sold online and to acquaintances. The 19-year-old sophomore from Ypsilanti has been suspended indefinitely from football team-related activities. Three others, Danny Tiwaini, Nicholas Tisdale and Christopher Schambre are scheduled for Oct. 1 preliminary examinations.
MICHIGAN IMAM KILLED
No state charges in fatal shooting of Mich. imam
DETROIT (AP) - Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox says he won't file criminal charges in the fatal shooting last year of a Detroit mosque leader during an FBI raid. Cox says FBI agents were justified in shooting Luqman Ameen Abdullah 20 times when they tried to arrest him during a sting operation at a Dearborn warehouse. Cox says the investigation shows Abdullah was armed, resisted arrested and rejected demands to surrender. He says it's "undisputed" that the imam fired a gun at agents. The attorney general's report was released Thursday. The FBI says Abdullah was a leader of a radical Sunni group that wants to create an Islamic state within the U.S. His family has denied allegations that he was anti-government. He was killed 11 months ago.
ATTORNEY DEATH-MICHIGAN
Prosecutor admits 'error' in dead attorney's case
DETROIT (AP) - Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper admits being in "error" when she quickly filed murder and other charges last week against a Farmington Hills widow following the death of her husband. Cooper tells Detroit Free Press writer Brian Dickerson in a column Thursday that she has "egg" on her face after dropping charges Tuesday against 46-year-old Laura Johnson. Cooper said releasing Johnson from jail 20 minutes after a medical examiner ruled Lloyd Johnson's Sept. 22 death an accident due to an unhealed wound from a boating accident was "an act of total contrition." She told The Detroit News that it's not unusual to seek a warrant without a completed autopsy. Cooper's office plans to have outside experts review hospital records and autopsy results.
BAD MUFFLER DEATH
Court stops lawsuit over fatal muffler repair
BRIGHTON, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan Supreme Court has stopped a lawsuit that blamed muffler companies for the death of a Brighton man who inhaled car exhaust in a closed garage. Craig White's family claimed companies that made or marketed a muffler-repair kit had a duty to warn that cars should not be run in a closed space. The state appeals court kept the lawsuit alive with a 2-1 decision in May. But the Supreme Court reversed that ruling with a one-sentence order Thursday. The 54-year-old White died in 2005 while working on his Buick. His wife and son returned home and found him in the closed garage with the car jacked up and running. The Supreme Court adopted the dissenting opinion of an appeals court judge who said it was carbon monoxide that killed White, not the muffler wrap.
