News

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

EAST LANSING, MI – AUDIO:
Attorney General Mike Cox is calling for the creation of a new, independent state agency to root out fraud and corruption in the Medicaid program.

The Republican attorney general and candidate for governor says six other states have named a Medicaid inspector general to search through Medicaid records to weed out abuse, fraud, and waste.

Michigan spends about a billion dollars a year on Medicaid.

By WKAR

LANSING, MI – The South Bend Silver Hawks beat the Lansing Lugnuts yesterday 5-3 at Oldsmobile Park. The Lugnuts next head out on the road for a three-game series at Quad Cities followed by a three-game set in Burlington. Tonight's game against the River Bandits starts at 8.

By AP

DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Detroit and Avery Johnson have ended talks about filling the Pistons' head coaching vacancy.

The person, who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the talks were private, says the two sides could not agree on the length of a contract and the salary.

By AP

DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - Marcus Thames hit a three-run homer to power Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers to an 8-5 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Verlander (9-4) struck out 11 Tuesday night to run his AL-best total to 141, the most by a Detroit pitcher before the All-Star game in 37 years. He gave up five runs and seven hits over six innings.

Miguel Cabrera and Placido Polanco also homered for the Tigers.

Three relievers combined for two innings to set up Fernando Rodney's 18th save in 18 chances.

By Scott Pohl, WKAR

LANSING, MI – John Astin has been a star since he brought the character of Gomez Addams to life on the 60's TV show "The Addams Family."

His lengthy resume has branched off from the stage and screen to the classroom in recent years. He's on the faculty at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, helping shape the school's theater program.

Astin is in Lansing to perform in "Bluff" Wednesday night through July 26th at the BoarsHead Theatre.

By Kevin Lavery

Lansing, MI – About 100 postal workers will picket in downtown Jackson Wednesday to protest a proposal to move mail processing operations. The US Postal Service is considering moving automated machinery and personnel from Jackson to Lansing. It would also close the postal store in downtown Jackson. Anthony Donoho is the vice-president of the American Postal Worker Union Local 273. He says such a move would hurt every postal customer south of Interstate 94.

By Laura Weber

Lansing, MI – A report from the National Wildlife Federation says Michigan needs to maintain control of its wetlands program, or it will put 100,000 acres of inland wetlands at risk of being destroyed.

Governor Granholm proposed saving the state money by returning Michigan's wetlands protection responsibilities to the federal government. The Army Corps of Engineers can look after wetlands connected to the Great Lakes, but it does not look after inland wetlands.

By Rick Pluta

Lansing, MI – An out-of-court settlement has ended an almost-decade long fight between a water bottling company and a conservation group. The litigation concerned the Ice Mountain plant in Stanwood, about 45 miles north of Grand Rapids.

By AP

TITTABAWASSEE TWP., MI – The Federal Aviation Administration says a regional jet has made a safe emergency
landing at MBS International Airport.

FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory says an emergency was declared aboard Northwest Flight 2902 flying from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to MBS shortly after 11 a.m. Monday. She says the plane landed without incident about 20 minutes later.

By AP

DEWITT TWP., MI – A motorcycle-riding Clinton County sheriff's deputy died in a traffic accident on his way to work.

DeWitt Township police Chief Brian Russell says Douglas Alward was killed on northbound U.S. 127 Monday after he hit a deer that jumped in front of him, was thrown from his motorcycle and was struck by a semitrailer.

Alward's wife, Alicen, tells the Lansing State Journal her husband would ride his motorcycle from his Lansing home to the agency's headquarters in St. Johns.

By WKAR

LANSING, MI – The Lansing Lugnuts defeated the South Bend Silver Hawks 5-3 yesterday at Oldsmobile Park. The two clubs wrap up their four-game series tonight in Lansing.

By AP

DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - Mike Jacobs hit a go-ahead solo homer in the ninth and closer Joakim Soria held on, giving the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.

Willie Bloomquist drove in three runs for the Royals, connecting on a home run in the sixth and a two-run triple in the eighth.

Detroit's Ryan Raburn homered in the sixth and had an RBI double in the eighth, making it 3-all.

By AP

ANN ARBOR, MI – University of Michigan economists say the state's hard times will stick around for the rest of the year and into 2010.

Economic forecaster George Fulton says he and colleague Joan Crary "see some improvement, but it will continue to be slow and difficult."

They predict unemployment will average 15.8% in 2010, the highest rate since the current counting system began in 1970.

By AP

DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - Mayor Dave Bing says he is bringing in one-time political opponent and Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans as Detroit's third police chief in less than a year.

At a news conference Monday morning, Bing says the 60-year-old Evans will replace James Barren, who was fired Friday. Barren was brought out of retirement and appointed chief in September by then-Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. after Ella Bully-Cummings retired.

By Mark Bashore, WKAR News

LANSING, MI – For decades, Michigan's community colleges have been centers of vocational education. Now, during a debilitating recession, a collaborative new program promises to expand that role. Participants, which include Lansing Community College, say the Michigan New Jobs Training Program could breathe life into the state's shattered manufacturing economy. But as WKAR's Mark Bashore reports, planners want to avoid the problems of a similar Iowa program.

By Associated Press

Detroit, MI – (AP) - Two Boston newspapers are reporting the Celtics
have reached an agreement with free agent Rasheed Wallace. Wallace,
who played the last six seasons in Detroit, has averaged 15 points
and 6.9 rebounds in 14 NBA seasons and averaged 12 points and 7.4
rebounds last season in Motown.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

EAST LANSING, MI – The federal government has released the first round of funding for Michigan to hire and train workers to help low-income families save money on their heating bills.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – A new law allows homeowners to freeze foreclosure proceedings for 90 days while they try to work out new payment arrangements with their lenders. The law took effect yesterday.

AUDIO: Homeowners who freeze their foreclosures have to contact credit counselors who, in turn, will help them negotiate new terms with their lenders. Lenders are required to cooperate.

By AP

DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - A city fund intended to cover emergencies was used for expenses that included a publicist hired by ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick during the text-message scandal that drove him from office last year.

Records obtained by the Detroit Free Press under the Freedom of Information Act show the city issued 900 so-called quick checks from the fund to cover routine or questionable expenses.

By AP

DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - Detroit's police chief says he feels like he's been kicked in the stomach after learning he was being fired by the mayor.

James Barren told WXYZ-TV for a Saturday report no reason for the firing was given, and he didn't ask.

Assistant Chief Ronald Fleming told reporters Saturday that Barren told him Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans would take over as chief starting today. Fleming said he also was leaving the department.