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Detroit-area police officer charged with manslaughter in crash that killed 2 men

DETROIT (AP) — A suburban Detroit police officer whose patrol car smashed into another vehicle, killing two men, was charged Friday with manslaughter. Charges against Warren Officer James Burke were filed nearly two months after the 5 a.m. crash. “Our thoughts remain with those whose lives were impacted by this tragic crash,” Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said. “We hope the conclusion of this investigation begins to bring a sense of closure and healing as they continue to navigate this difficult time.” Burke, 28, was driving southbound at a “high rate of ...

Canoeist is paddling the 6,000-mile Great Loop out of gratitude for life

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Peter Frank has paddled from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in June to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland this month in his 1982 Sawyer Loon decked canoe, but he’s still got a long way to go. The 23-year-old is about a quarter of the way on his planned journey of roughly 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers) to complete the Great Loop route. This continuous watercourse includes part of the Atlantic and Gulf intracoastal waterways, the Great Lakes, part of Canadian Heritage Canals and inland U.S. rivers. For Frank, the voyage is largely a way to express his gratitude for ...

Michigan man sentenced to 30 years in prison for role in online child exploitation ring

DETROIT — A Michigan man who admitted to exploiting a girl was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in federal prison in an investigation of a sinister online community that pressures children into committing acts of self-harm and creating sexual abuse images. Richard Densmore ran chat rooms as a member of 764, an international group that targets kids online, particularly children with mental health challenges, the U.S. Justice Department said. “This group seeks to do unspeakable harm to children to advance their goals of destroying civilized society, fomenting civil unrest and ...

US agency ends investigation into Ford engine failures

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s auto safety regulator has ended a 2 1/2-year investigation into Ford engine failures after the company replaced engines or extended the warranty on some vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Monday on its website that its analysis traced the problem to intake valves that can fracture inside some 2.7-liter and 3-liter turbocharged engines. Documents say the probe opened in May of 2022 ended up covering more than 411,000 vehicles from the 2021 and 2022 model years including the Ford F-150 Bronco, ...

Police in Michigan say 4 killed, 17 injured after semitruck crashes into vehicles stuck in traffic

WEBBERVILLE, Mich. (AP) — Four people were killed and 17 others injured late Saturday after a semitruck crashed into more than a dozen vehicles backed up on Interstate 96 in southeastern Michigan, according to state police. Traffic on I-96 near Webberville had been temporarily stopped Saturday as utility crews were completed work on power lines in the area. A semitruck with a trailer was heading westbound around 11:45 p.m. and crashed into the stalled vehicles. “It appears the driver of the semi-truck did not see the backup and could not stop his vehicle in time,” Michigan ...

In Michigan, Harris doesn’t get hoped-for firefighters endorsement amid shifting labor loyalties

REDFORD TOWNSHIP — It was the perfect place to welcome the endorsement of the firefighters union — a gleaming new firehouse in a blue-collar town just outside of Detroit in the key battleground state of Michigan. But by the time Kamala Harris showed up in Redford Township on Friday, there was no endorsement waiting for her. By a slim margin, the International Association of Firefighters declined to back any candidate, a reminder of the Democratic nominee’s struggle to lock down the same support from organized labor that President Joe Biden won four years ago. The Teamsters also ...