Michigan News

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed legislation to legalize sports betting and internet gambling. 

The laws enacted Friday take effect immediately, but wagering won't start for a number of months because casinos need to obtain state licenses.

Lawmakers are hopeful sports bets can be placed by the start of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in March.

New tax revenue generated from sports betting and internet gambling will go to public schools and a fund for firefighters who get cancer.

Some of President Donald Trump's staunchest GOP allies say he should apologize for attacking the late Democratic Rep. John Dingell of Michigan.

On Wednesday night as the Democratic-led House impeached him, Trump said from a rally in Michigan that the World War II veteran Dingell might be “looking up” from hell.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham says the president should apologize.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said Dingell had served the country well.

The White House says Trump was “”just riffing."

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) - A defiant President Donald Trump is labeling his impeachment by the House of Representatives “a suicide march” for the Democratic Party. 

Trump spoke at a freewheeling rally in Michigan on Wednesday night as the House voted to impeach him.

He took the stage just minutes before he became the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.

It was a dramatic and discordant split-screen moment, with Trump emerging from a mock fireplace like Santa Claus at the Christmas-themed rally as the debate in Washington was underway.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is suing four companies over the deadly painkiller epidemic. State Attorney General Dana Nessel says Michigan is the first state to sue major opioid distributors under a drug dealer liability law.

The suit filed Tuesday names AmericsourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson and Walgreens.

They have been sued in other states, too.

Michigan is the 49th state to file legal action against the opioid industry.

Only Nebraska hasn't.

Nessel says the opioid crisis has led the state to bear high financial costs.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will file a lawsuit today seeking damages from multiple drug related cases in the opioid addiction crisis.

This is the first time Michigan will take its own legal action related to alleged drug company misbehavior related to opioids.

The lawsuit will be filed in Wayne County, which has been hit particularly hard by opioid abuse.

NILES, Mich. (AP) — A golf course in southwestern Michigan has been sold and could be turned into a residential development.

Signal Point Golf Club near Niles in Berrien County has been around since the 1960s.

It was recently sold to local real estate broker Jim Ringler and partners.

Ringler says it might remain a golf club. But he noted that Signal Point's previous owners at Blackthorn Golf Club in South Bend, Indiana, decided to get out.

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say one person was killed and three more were injured early Sunday during a car crash in southwestern Michigan.

According to a statement from the St. Joseph Public Safety Department, the crash occurred before 6:30 a.m. Sunday.

Authorities believe two of the car's passengers were ejected from the vehicle during the rollover crash.

One of those people died at the location of the crash. The others were taken to a hospital for treatment.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan officials have agreed to double hiring bonuses for dentists who choose to work in state hospitals and prisons in an effort to lure them into a practice that overwhelmingly pays less than the private sector.

The Civil Service Commission voted Wednesday to add another $5,000 hiring bonus for newly hired dentists who complete a year-long probationary period, bringing the total bonus to $10,000.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the state will continue welcoming refugees.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed legislation to ensure that Michigan's 6% sales and use taxes are collected on more items sold through websites such as Wayfair, Overstock and Amazon.

The laws could generate an additional $90 million in revenue per year, mostly for public schools.

The laws require “marketplace facilitators” such as eBay to remit sales and use taxes on behalf of independent sellers that work through their sites.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, a moderate Republican, says he will vote against impeaching President Donald Trump.

Upton, top Democratic target in 2020, issued a written statement Thursday calling the impeachment process “highly partisan and clearly motivated by what I believe is an attempt to overturn the last election.”

He says the time to vote on Trump is next November, not next week. Trump is accused of abusing his power by asking Ukraine to investigate his 2020 rival,

Recreational marijuana sales totaled about $1.6 million in the inaugural week of business at the first retail shops in Michigan.

CONSTANTINE, Mich. (AP) — A man who served 20 months in custody for a wrongful conviction is suing police in southwestern Michigan.

Ray McCann was repeatedly hounded by police during an investigation of a girl’s killing in St. Joseph County.

McCann denied any role in the death of the 11-year-old girl but says he felt pressured to plead no contest to perjury.

The conviction was thrown out in 2017 at the request of a prosecutor. McCann's lawsuit says his rights were violated during a “corrupt scheme” by police. Another man confessed to killing Jodi Parrack.