POLICE SHOOTING-MICHIGAN

Sharpton to give eulogy for Patrick Lyoya, shot by officer

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Funeral services have been scheduled for Patrick Lyoya, an unarmed Black man fatally shot following a traffic stop and struggle with a white police officer in western Michigan. The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy Friday for Lyoya at Renaissance Church of God in Christ in Grand Rapids. Lyoya, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was face-down on the ground April 4 when he was shot in the back of the head. Video footage released Wednesday by the police department showed the officer stopping Lyoya for a license plate violation, Lyoya’s attempt to run away before being tackled to the ground, and a struggle over the officer’s stun gun.

MICHIGAN RECYCLING

Report: Michigan more than doubled its recycling rate

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy estimates the state has reached a 35.4% recycling rate, more than double its recycling rate prior 2019. The announcement Monday comes ahead of Earth Day later this week and the release of the state's plan for carbon neutrality by 2050. EGLE Director Liesl Clark said Monday that increasing access to recycling services has helped the state to increase recycling. Now more than 75% of the state’s households have access to either curbside recycling bins or drop-off sites in their communities.

POLICE PURSUIT-FATAL CRASH

Passenger in vehicle fleeing police in Flint killed in crash

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — The motorist who sped off during what started as a routine traffic stop in Flint is injured and his passenger is dead after the vehicle he was driving crashed. In a news release, the Michigan State Police say troopers who pulled over the vehicle just after 12 a.m. Sunday noticed a handgun inside and what appeared to be narcotics when they approached. The release says the driver sped off and the troopers chased the vehicle in their squad car. About 1.5 miles away, the vehicle crashed, injuring the driver and killing his passenger. The names of the two men, both Flint residents, haven't been released.

POLICE SHOOTING-MICHIGAN-RESISTING ARREST

Police stops of Black people often filled with fear, anxiety

Video shows Patrick Lyoya disobeyed an officer during an April 4 traffic stop, tried to run, then wrestled with the officer over his Taser before the officer fatally shot him in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For a number of Black men and women, resisting arrest during encounters with police for minor traffic stops have been deadly. Experts say anxiety levels of the people stopped and even the officers involved can be high, adding to the tension. Jason Johnson is president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund. He says Black men who encounter police often assume they will be victims of brutality.

POLICE SHOOTING-MICHIGAN-VIDEO

Officer's camera misses key moment of Patrick Lyoya's death

Body camera footage of Patrick Lyoya’s fatal encounter with a Michigan police officer shows a close-up view of an intense struggle -- but the video goes dark 42 seconds before the officer shoots the Black man in the head. It’s the latest in a handful of high-profile cases in which body cameras have somehow failed, leaving prosecutors and the public to rely on bystander video for a clearer picture of what happened. One expert says that if it was an accident, it’s likely that vendors, who have been responsive to the technology’s limitations, will make changes to avoid such deactivations in the future. Attorneys for Lyoya’s family are thankful his passenger, as well as doorbell video from a nearby home, recorded what happened.

BC-US-ELON-MUSK-LAWSUIT

Tesla stockholders ask judge to silence Musk in fraud case

DETROIT (AP) — A group of Tesla shareholders suing CEO Elon Musk over some 2018 tweets about taking the company private is asking a federal judge to order Musk to stop commenting on the case. The lawyers also say the judge in the case has ruled that Musk’s tweets about having “funding secured” to take Tesla private were false. They allege that the tweets manipulated Tesla's stock price and cost them money. Musk said Thursday that he had the money to take Tesla private, and he agreed to settle only because bankers told him he had to or they would stop lending money. But the stockholders' lawyers say Musk is trying to influence potential jurors. Musk's lawyer says he truthfully tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private and could have done it.

CHILD FLU DEATH

MDHHS reports 1st flu-related child death this season

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed the first influenza-related child death in Michigan for the 2021-2022 flu season. The agency said Friday that the reported death involves a child from Kalamazoo County who contracted flu strain known as A/H3, the agency said Friday. It did not reveal the age of the child. Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive for the Michigan health agency, says “once children reach six months of age it is recommended they receive two doses of the flu vaccine for their first series.”

EX-PROFESSOR-SEX CHARGES

Ex-Michigan music professor gets prison on child sex charges

DETROIT (AP) — A former University of Michigan violin professor has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to transporting a girl across states lines for sex. A federal judge who sentenced 69-year-old Stephen Shipps on Thursday also ordered the Ann Arbor man to pay $120,000 in restitution. Shipps offered an apology and his lawyer had asked for no prison time. The charges allege that Shipps, who retired in 2019 from the University of Michigan, took a girl across state lines several times in 2002. His indictment in 2020 came two years after the university placed the longtime professor on paid leave after former students accused him of sexual misconduct while he taught them in the 1970s and 1980s in Nebraska and North Carolina.

BIRD FLU-MICHIGAN

Michigan agency: Bird flu found in backyard flock

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Avian influenza has been confirmed in a backyard poultry flock in Livingston County, the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development says. That brigs to four the number of southeastern Michigan counties where the virus has been detected. The department said Friday that the premise where the bird flu was found is under quarantine and the birds have been destroyed to prevent further spread of the disease. The flock contained about 20 birds of multiple species. The department says the finding underscores the “ongoing high risk for the disease in Michigan." It's urging poultry owners “to implement every strategy necessary to protect their flocks.”

AP-US-AUTO-MARKET-INCOME-GAP

Modest-income buyers being priced out of new-vehicle market

DETROIT (AP) — Two years after the pandemic tore through the economy, America’s auto market looks something like this: Prices are drastically up. Supply is drastically down. And gasoline costs drastically more. The result? A widening disparity between the richest buyers and everyone else. The most affluent buyers keep plunking down big money for new vehicles, including the least fuel-efficient among them — trucks, SUVS, large sedans. As for the rest of America, millions are feeling increasingly priced out of the new-vehicle market. They are competing instead for a shrunken supply of used autos, especially smaller, less expensive ones that consume less fuel.

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