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UAW strike shows worker pay disparities

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — When Rhonda Naus got a job inspecting Jeep Wranglers fresh off the assembly line, her paycheck added up to roughly half of what her co-workers were making. But with that came an expectation that her temporary status eventually would become permanent with a big jump in wages. Six years later, she’s still doing the same work as her colleagues at Stellantis and still making a lot less. “I knew I had to start at the bottom. I didn’t think I’d be at the bottom forever,” said Naus, who’s among thousands of striking United Auto Workers nationwide pushing ...

US automakers’ sales rose sharply over the summer, despite high prices and interest rates

DETROIT — Automakers posted big increases in new vehicle sales during the summer, despite high prices, rising interest rates and even a limited strike against Detroit companies. Industry sales rose 16.3% from July through September as consumer demand stayed strong, even given an average new vehicle loan rate of 7.4% and an average vehicle price of more than $45,500. Vehicle supplies also continued to recover from shortages of computer chips and other parts that began during the pandemic and are finally abating. With increased selection, more people bought vehicles, despite an ...

Michigan school shooter’s parents cleared to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges

DETROIT — The Michigan Supreme Court turned down an appeal Tuesday that cleared the way for the parents of a teenager who fatally shot four students at Oxford High School to face trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. James and Jennifer Crumbley are accused of making a gun accessible to Ethan Crumbley and ignoring his mental health needs. The state appeals court said in March that the couple could face trial, and the Supreme Court let that decision stand in a one-sentence order. Prosecutors in suburban Detroit had to show only that there was probable cause to put the parents on ...

Man who sought to expose sexual predators fatally shot

DETROIT (AP) — A 40-year-old Detroit-area man who posed as a 15-year-old girl on social media to identify alleged sexual predators has been fatally shot during an argument in a restaurant. Police arrested two males, ages 17 and 18, Saturday in Friday night’s slaying of Robert Wayne Lee of Pontiac, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said. Lee had gone by the name “Boopac Shakur” on social media. His crusade had led to criminal charges against several men — including a jail deputy, but his work also misidentified one person as a sexual predator, according to the ...

Michigan teen shooter eligible for life prison sentence for killing 4 students, judge rules

DETROIT (AP) — A teenager who killed four fellow students at Michigan’s Oxford High School is eligible for life in prison with no chance for parole, a judge ruled Friday, finding only a “slim” chance for rehabilitation after the 2021 attack. Judge Kwamé Rowe announced the decision over video conference, weeks after hearing from experts who clashed over Ethan Crumbley’s mental health and witnesses who described the terror of the day in sharp detail. He will be sentenced in Oakland County court on Dec. 8, a day when survivors and families can tell the judge about how the ...

Michigan group cites insurrection clause in suit against Trump

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press LANSING — A liberal group on Friday filed a lawsuit in Michigan contending that former president Donald Trump is disqualified from regaining his old job based on a rarely used, post-Civil War provision in the U.S. Constitution. This is the first time an organization with significant legal resources has sought to block the GOP frontrunner’s campaign in a swing state. Free Speech For People argued that Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and encouragement of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol violated section ...