Michigan News

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are closing in on an agreement to legalize sports betting and internet gambling in Michigan, with final votes possible this coming week.

The development would be a landmark in a state with a lot of gambling options already. Those include three commercial casinos in Detroit, 24 tribal casinos across western and northern Michigan, and the Lottery.

The state of Michigan has announced a series of meetings that have been scheduled to address the future of education in Benton Harbor.  This follows a plan announced earlier this year in which the state proposed closing Benton Harbor High School. Now an advisory committee is taking input on options.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says no public money should go to private or parochial schools --  even for the costs of complying with state mandates. 

The governor and the state schools superintendent filed a brief today with the Michigan Supreme Court.

They agree with a challenge that says the funding violates the state constitution's ban on public money going directly or indirectly to non-public schools. The only exception is to pay for transporting students.   

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — President Donald Trump will campaign for reelection in Michigan a week before Christmas. His campaign announced Thursday that he will host a “Merry Christmas” rally on Dec. 18 in Battle Creek.

The evening event will be held at the Kellogg Arena.

Trump's announcement came a day after Vice President Mike Pence visited three cities in western Michigan.

Pence vowed that he and Trump would be in Michigan “again and again and again." Trump last visited Michigan in March, when he held a rally in Grand Rapids.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Marijuana sales totaled more than $200,000 on the first day of business at a handful of Michigan shops.

UPDATE:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Crowds lined up for the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in Michigan.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — For more than 30 years and under five presidents, Republican Rep. Fred Upton easily won reelection to his southwest Michigan House seat by touting "common-sense values" and bipartisan accomplishments.

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Church in western Michigan is defending a priest’s decision to deny Holy Communion to a judge in a same-sex marriage.

Judge Sara Smolenski says the Rev. Scott Nolan privately informed her on Nov. 23, about a week after receiving Communion from him at St. Stephen Church in East Grand Rapids. She says she hadn’t been regularly attending the church for months.

Nolan says the teachings of the Catholic faith aren’t flexible. The church recognizes marriage as between a man and a woman.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has scheduled three stops next week in western and southwestern Michigan.

Pence plans to visit Grand Rapids, Portage and Holland on Wednesday, with expected meetings with religious and community leaders. The former Indiana governor also will attend a campaign rally with Sarah Sanders, President Donald Trump’s former spokeswoman.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says her office is replacing self-service kiosks that are unreliable and hard to use.

Benson announced Wednesday that all 93 kiosks across Michigan will be replaced with more user-friendly stations by the end of January. The state also will add 57 machines at branch offices and grocery stores.

Today the Michigan Dept. of Health and Human Services announced there has been another vaping-related death in the state.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to block the creation of a Michigan commission to draw seats in Congress and the state Legislature after the 2020 census.

Republicans sued, claiming illegal provisions in the 2018 amendment to the state constitution. The 13-member commission is an extraordinary change that will take redistricting out of the hands of lawmakers in the state Capitol.

BRIDGMAN, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State Police say a trooper was injured when a suspect’s car struck the officer as the driver sped away from a traffic stop.

Police say troopers had stopped a Jeep Cherokee for speeding along Interstate 94 in Berrien County about 3 a.m. Monday when its driver accelerated and raced away, leaving an officer with minor injuries.

The suspect’s vehicle continued east on I-94 in southwestern Michigan, with police in pursuit, before exiting in Bridgman and getting onto westbound lanes of I-94.

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a 66-year-old southwestern Michigan woman was shot when a bullet tore into her home.

Benton Harbor public safety officers say the woman was lying in bed watching on TV Saturday night when a bullet went through a wall and struck her. She was taken to a hospital, where she’s in critical condition.

Police say several people were seen running from a nearby park, where the gun likely was fired. They add she doesn’t appear to have been a target.

A respected economic report from the University of Michigan says the state’s economy has stalled, but growth is expected to return next year.