Michigan

WVPE's latest Photo of the Week captures an icy image that the photographer took on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, in Shipshewana. Cyndi Holther of Sturgis was inspired to take this shot by laying on the cold sidewalk to get just the right angle. To quote her, "Brrr!" She calls the photo "Glass Houses." 

We'd love to see what you are taking photos of.

Email Photo of the Week submissions to us at wvpe@wvpe.org.

Make sure to include your name, where you live, names of people in the photo, date the photo was taken and the location where the photo was taken.

NEW:  

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Attorney General's office is considering whether charges should be filed against a county commissioner who displayed a rifle at a livestreamed public meeting. A spokesman for Attorney General Dana Nessel says the move follows a state police investigation of Grand Traverse County Commissioner Ron Clous' act. During the Jan. 20 meeting, Clous showed the rifle on camera as a caller voiced concern about the far-right Proud Boys group. His gesture prompted a public backlash and international headlines.

CALUMET, Mich. (AP) — A man in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is accused of joining the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Karl Dresch is charged with violent entry and other crimes. Dresch appeared in court by video Wednesday. Dresch was arrested Tuesday in Calumet in Houghton County. The FBI also filed search warrant requests to search his car and home. Those documents are loaded with details about Dresch’s social media posts related to the assault at the Capitol. He joked about the use of tear gas by police. Dresch said, “I love masks now!” The government wants to keep him in custody. 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Online sports betting and casino games will start in Michigan at noon Friday, an expansion of options for gamblers who now wager through offshore sites. State regulators have authorized licenses for all three Detroit casinos and seven of the dozen tribes with “Class III” casinos. Additional operator and platform provider licenses are expected to be approved in coming weeks.

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who has served about seven years of a 28-year sentence for corruption. The announcement Wednesday morning was part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of Trump’s White House term.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced today that she will attend the inauguration Wednesday.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Attorneys for former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder are telling prosecutors that the Flint water case should be dismissed because he was charged in the wrong county. Snyder was charged last week with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. The former Republican governor was indicted by a Genesee County judge who sat as a grand juror and considered evidence presented by prosecutors. Snyder lawyer Brian Lennon says in a letter to prosecutors Tuesday the allegations occurred at the governor's office in Lansing.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A small group of gun-toting demonstrators showed up at Michigan's Capitol, dwarfed by law enforcement on high alert after this month's deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. About a dozen protesters openly carried guns, including some who promoted the anti-government "boogaloo" movement, a slang term adopted by the pro-gun extremist movement that is a reference to a sequel — in their case, a second U.S. civil war.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — One of the world’s longest-running wildlife field studies has fallen prey to the coronavirus pandemic. Since 1959, a research team has spent most of the winter observing the interplay between wolves and moose at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. But Superintendent Denice Swanke said Friday that this year’s mission has been scrapped to protect the scientists and support personnel from possible exposure to the virus. The remote park is closed from Nov.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Washtenaw County woman is the first person in Michigan diagnosed with the COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7. Officials say the variant was identified Saturday by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Laboratories. The woman, whose name and age were not released, recently had traveled to the United Kingdom. Washtenaw County is west of Detroit. Close contacts of the woman have been identified and are in quarantine. Officials said two new cases have been identified from close contacts, but it is not known if they are infected with the variant.

Today officials in Michigan announced that the UK variant of COVID-19 has been detected in a person in the state who lives in Washtenaw County.

Today officials in Michigan announced that the UK variant of COVID-19 has been detected in a person in the state who lives in Washtenaw County.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Airbnb says it will review reservations in Lansing ahead of expected demonstrations at Michigan's state Capitol and may cancel bookings by anyone determined to be part of a hate group or who may have come to the city with violent intentions. The move comes as state government leaders across the U.S. prepare for potential protests ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration and follows the Jan. 6 storming of U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge has set a March 23 trial date for six men charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor in what authorities say was a plot by anti-government extremists who were angry over her coronavirus policies. Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids set the date Friday. The six defendants face a conspiracy charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Five of the six are from Michigan and the other lives in Delaware.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has activated the National Guard, the state police continues to augment its presence at the Capitol and crews will install a 6-foot fence around the 142-year-old building before potential protests ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Michigan State Police Col. Joe Gasper said Friday that an unknown number of demonstrators are expected to gather on the grounds Sunday, a week-and-a-half after the deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has been charged with two counts of willful neglect of duty in the Flint water crisis. Residents' tap water became tainted by lead. A legionella outbreak has been connected by experts to ruinous decisions that turned a river into the city's water source in 2014-15. The indictment filed by the attorney general's office is groundbreaking. According to the state archivist, no governor or former governor in Michigan's 184-year history had been charged with crimes related to their time in that office.

LANSING, Mich (AP) — Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth says the GOP-led Legislature must change the way the state governs and holds elected officials accountable. On the first day of the new legislative session Wednesday, Wentworth said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has damaged public trust due to the strict measures imposed to curb the coronavirus pandemic and that government must act to restore that trust and improve transparency. Michigan has imposed some of the strictest coronavirus restrictions in the country during the pandemic, a point of contention for many Republicans.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the plan is for Michigan restaurants to reopen for indoor dining on Feb. 1, two and a half months after an order to close amid a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The current order prohibiting indoor eating and drinking was extended Wednesday. Non-contact organized sports can resume starting Saturday. Michigan is among just a few states to allow no indoor restaurant dining and is the only one without a detailed plan on how and when reopening can occur, according to the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association.

GOP Congressman Fred Upton from St. Joseph, Michigan, will break ranks with other Republicans in announcing that he will vote in favor of impeaching Pres. Trump. The U.S. House is taking up the issue today. Last night Upton voted against endorsing the use of the 25th Amendment against Trump.

(You can see Upton's statement from his website below.) 

Lansing’s mayor is asking the governor of Michigan to activate the Michigan National Guard in the city next week.

Armed protests are expected to take place in all 50 state capitols ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor sent the request to Governor Gretchen Whitmer Tuesday.

That’s following warnings from the FBI that armed protests would be taking place at state capitols in the coming days.

DETROIT (AP) — The Associated Press has learned that former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they're being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal. The city's water system was contaminated with lead in 2014-15. It was also blamed for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. Two people with knowledge of the planned prosecution said the attorney general's office has informed defense lawyers about indictments in Flint and told them to expect initial court appearances soon.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Federal officials say a bird called the interior least tern is being dropped from the endangered species list. The small, fish-eating bird lives along rivers, lakes and wetlands in the Great Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley. Its numbers plummeted in the late 19th century as its feathers became popular for women's hats. Later, it was harmed by dam construction and other river engineering. Conservation efforts have boosted the interior least tern's numbers in recent decades and its future appears secure.

UPDATE (Jan. 11, 2021):

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan has banned the open carry of guns in the state Capitol a week after an armed mob rioted in the U.S. Capitol and following a protest in the statehouse last year. Moves to ban weapons at the statehouse have been pushed since April, when protesters opposed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions, some armed with long rifles and other weapons, entered the statehouse demanding to be allowed into the legislative chambers. The Michigan Capitol Commission has been reluctant to issue rules for firearms, but it shifted course Monday and issued the order to ban the open carry of weapons.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was quick to issue a statement following the commission's action.

(You can read her release below.)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is strongly encouraging all K-12 schools in Michigan to reopen for in-person instruction by March 1. She stopped short of requiring it Friday, but said face-to-face classes should at least be an option. Many schools, including in large districts such as Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, have been fully remote during the coronavirus pandemic. Teachers are among residents who will be vaccinated starting Monday as the state transitions to the next phase of its vaccine rollout.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A top federal prosecutor in Michigan is urging people to give tips to the FBI if they are aware of people who joined a violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the presidential election. U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider's jurisdiction covers a 34-county area including metropolitan Detroit. He says investigators will review video surveillance and other evidence. Six Michigan men ranging in age from 25 to 64 were arrested by D.C. police.

Today Gov. Whitmer announced that as of Monday people over the age of 65 will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccination.  

All five of the Great Lakes closed out 2020 at lower levels than they were a year ago. But according to new projections from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the upper lakes are still expected to remain high in 2021.

Since peaking in July, water levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron have dropped by about a foot. But those are still 31 inches above their long-term average.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has refused to sign a bill that would have let one-time drunken drivers ask a judge to set aside their conviction, despite the measure’s broad bipartisan support in the Legislature. The Democrat took no action on the expungement legislation Monday, allowing it to die when a 14-day review period expired. Her office gave no reason why. The legislation had passed easily. A key Republican who helped guide the bill through the legislative process expressed outrage.

LANSING, Mich (AP) — College athletes in Michigan will be able to get paid for the use of their names and likeness under legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The NCAA has plans to lessen restrictions in January on barring students from profiting. But supporters of the legislation signed Wednesday are hoping to solidify opportunities for student athletes by instituting a state law that begins in 2023. Whitmer said in a statement that the state has for years benefited from the talent of student athletes and it's time to allow them to reap the rewards of their hard work.

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) — Even as vaccines are being rolled out to battle the coronavirus, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula say they want to kick any trace of it from the English language. “COVID-19” and “social distancing” are thrown in with “we’re all in this together,” “in an abundance of caution” and “in these uncertain times” on the school’s light-hearted list of banned words and phrases for 2021.