By AP

ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols hit his fifth home run in five games, and Adam Wainwright worked seven strong innings to help the St. Louis Cardinals rout the Detroit Tigers and ace Justin
Verlander 11-2 last night.

Pujols's 23rd homer went an estimated 446 feet over the left field wall off Ryan Perry to start the sixth. Chris Duncan followed with a 418-foot shot that gave the light-hitting Cardinals back-to-back homers for the first time all season.

By AP

CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP, MI – Farmers Group Inc. says it will expand its Grand Rapids-area campus, creating 1,600 jobs.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm joined representatives of the Los Angeles-based insurer Tuesday to announce the project.

The announcement was made moments after state officials granted $62 million in tax incentives for the project over 18 years.

By Jerome Vaughn, Michigan Public Radio Network

DETROIT, MI – General Motors has reached a tentative deal to sell its Saab division.

GM has signed a memorandum of understanding with Koenigsegg Automotive for the purchase of Saab. The purchase price has not been released.

Koenigsegg is a small maker of expensive sports cars in Sweden. The company has just 45 employees. It will take over Saab, which has about 3,400 employees.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – State Senate Republicans are expected to approve bigger cuts to the Medicaid health care program for poor families. The Senate Appropriations Committee is poised to vote for a 4% cut in the coming fiscal year to doctors, hospitals, and other Medicaid providers. That's on top of cuts already ordered this year.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – The chair of a special legislative subcommittee says he wants to reform Michigan's system for appointing public defenders before the end of the summer.

State Representative Bob Constan wants to create an independent agency to defend people who are accused of crimes, but cannot afford an attorney. Right now, each county runs its own system, and, in many cases, the fees they pay are some of the lowest in the country.

By AP

LANSING, MI – A Michigan Senate subcommittee has voted to eliminate a scholarship that gives thousands of state students up to $4,000 to help pay college bills.

The elimination of the Michigan Promise Grant would save the state up to $140 million a year. But Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration likely will resist the move started by Tuesday's Senate subcommittee vote.

Lawmakers and Granholm are scrambling to eliminate a projected general fund budget shortfall of at least $1.8 billion for the fiscal year that starts in October.

By AP

LANSING, MI – The state's plan to move the Michigan State Police into a new downtown Lansing headquarters again is drawing criticism.

The agency is scheduled to move into the new $40 million building early next year. The move has drawn criticism since it was approved in 2007.

By AP

OAKFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI – A nest of bald eagles in one southwestern Michigan community is attracting so much attention from bird watchers that officials plan to ban roadside gawkers from
the area.

The bald eagles nesting in Kent County's Oakfield Township about 20 miles northeast of Grand Rapids have been attracting crowds with binoculars and cameras to a 5-foot-wide shoulder of the road.

By Scott Pohl, WKAR News

LANSING, MI – The Lansing Fire Marshal has declared the fire at Buy-Rite Furniture last month to be a case of arson.

AUDIO: The May 3 fire destroyed the South Washington Avenue furniture store. After six weeks of investigation, Fire Marshal Phil Sabon now says arson was the cause.

"Today, we're reporting that the fire was intentionally set, and continually will be under investigation at this time," Sabon says.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – A state House subcommittee will begin work today on a plan to ensure that criminal defendants who can't pay for an attorney are still well-represented in court. A report released a year ago says Michigan has one of the worst public defender systems in the nation.

Laura Sager is with the Michigan Campaign for Justice. She says the public is losing confidence in the fairness of the criminal justice system, and the Legislature needs to act.