Ambassador bridge reopened, Crumbleys back in court, possible lawsuits against Oakland County schools

TUESDAY NEWS HIT - The Ambassador Bridge has reopened following an hours-long shutdown due to a protest among Canadian truckers upset with COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine rules in the country.

The Windsor Police said early Tuesday morning that U.S. bound traffic was open on the bridge and could be accessed from the Wyandotte Street west entrance.

Border wait times listed on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website also reported there were no delays restricting travel across the bridge. 

Authorities in Michigan and Ontario had both begun diverting traffic to the Detroit-Windsor tunnel Monday night and the Blue Water Bridge to avoid the gridlock. The traffic jam is linked to a demonstration by the Canadian Freedom Convoy, a collection of truckers from Ottawa that were protesting Canada's vaccine mandate.

The Prime Minister accused the demonstrators of trying to "blockade our economy" and "our democracy."

Some of the drivers caught in the traffic were sympathetic to the cause. One driver asked why truckers should need to abide by Covid restrictions if they have been "going for two years without spreading it?" 

Others were more upset.

"Okay, you are doing protests. Do it. But don't block other people. Other people do protests on the sidewalk, not blocking traffic," said one driver. 

The weeks-long protest had made news in Canada before spilling into the U.S. Monday when one of the busiest border crossings in the world became affected. It's also a major route for commercial trucks. 

Crumbleys back in court for preliminary hearing

James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of alleged Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, will be court on Tuesday, Feb. 8, for a preliminary exam and we're expected to get an idea of what evidence the prosecution will use in the case.

For the first time in a month, James and Jennifer will both be in court where evidence and testimony from witnesses will be given during the preliminary exam. The parents of Ethan Crumbley were both charged shortly after the shooting at Oxford High School that killed four students and injured several others. A judge will decide if there is enough evidence to permit a trial.

However, the Crumbley's defense team has asked for a delay in the preliminary hearing due to the "mountain of evidence" they say they are still working through. 

Most recently, an assistant prosecutor requested the couple cease any communication between one another in the courtroom. A filing last week said the gestures and hand signals the two had made toward one another were a "serious distraction." Get caught up on all of the facts about the case here.  

Parents weighing legal challenges against school districts of mask rules

Oakland County parents are threatening lawsuits against schools that continue to enforce health department orders about mandating masks within educational buildings. A conservative law firm from Chicago representing the parents is going after Walled Lake Consolidated School District, its school board, and the Oakland County Health Department. 

Demands made by Attorney Erick Kaardal and parents argues the mask ordinances violate state law since the governor's previous budget included a provision that banned county health departments from requiring children to wear masks. 

The school district told FOX 2 it planned to maintain county protocols for masks. The health department said not requiring mask rules places students and staff at greater risk of exposure in counties where the infection rate is lower among students than it is among residents.

The school district has a week to respond to the requests or a lawsuit would be filed next Monday. 

Missing man's search called off after death reported at Sinai-Grace

On Sunday morning, Melvin Richard Field's daughter called Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit to check up on her father. She couldn't visit due to COVID-19 restrictions, so a call had to do. However, the family was sent into panic when they were told he had been discharged Friday.

"They said that he was no longer a patient and that he’d been released on the fourth," said daughter Renee Prevost. Prevost said Field, 75, had progressive dementia and only had the clothes on his back, so the family launched an extensive search. That searched ended Monday when the family found out Field had actually died on Friday.

Prevost said the hospital kept telling her that her father had been discharged. She even filed a missing person report with Detroit police before learning he was dead. "I just want them to be held responsible. I want them to know what they did was completely wrong," Prevost said.

FOX 2 contacted the Detroit Medical Center for comment, and received the following response: "Mr. Field passed away at Sinai-Grace Hospital on February 4 and our staff made numerous attempts to reach out to the family but were unsuccessful. We have since been in communication with the family and offer our deepest sympathies for their loss."

Detroit launches new flood protection program

The city of Detroit is using $15 million from the American Rescue Act for a basement backup protection program, which will install backwater valves and sump pumps to help keep sewage out of basements. 

The growing frequency of severe weather has created greater chances for flooding in Metro Detroit homes, where strong rain and winds have periodically submerged homes in water as aging infrastructure fails to stand up to the surge in rainfall.

This pilot program will begin in the spring in the Aviation sub on the west side near the Dearborn border - and in Victoria Park on the east side - the lowest-lying neighborhood in the city. Phase two will begin this summer in Cornerstone Village, East English Village, Jefferson Chalmers, Morningside, Moross-Morang, Barton-McFarland, Chadsey Condon, Garden View, and Warrendale.

The city will pay up to $6,000 per household - homeowners will pay a deposit of 10 percent of the total cost, landlords will pay 20 percent. Fees will be waived for low-income Detroiters who qualify.

What else we're watching

1. A 2-year-old boy is recovering after accidentally shooting himself in the shoulder with a firearm he found under his bed in Detroit Monday night. Chief James White said the mother would likely face charges over the incident.
2. Ford is now shipping its electric E-Transit, a utility vehicle with a lot of cargo space. The commercial van, built at the automaker's Kansas City Assembly Plant, is part of Ford's growing electric fleet.
3. Several hundred more homes are scheduled for demolition under Detroit's Proposal N. Previous properties that were restricted from demolition but remain blighted are now on the schedule.
4. Royal Oak's Winter Blast is ready to restart next week with some fun winter activities. Admission is free and there will be a bevy of family activities.
5. The Detroit Lions have promoted their tight ends coach to offensive coordinator. It's the first of what will be a key break for Lions as they ready up for a significant 2022-23 NFL season.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

It's going to be cold and sunny Tuesday, but not a lot of action. Warming temperatures on Wednesday will turn expected precipitation into rain, which could last from the afternoon into the evening. 

What did the megalodon look like? Scientists say we still don’t know

A new study has left scientists again wondering what the megalodon, the largest shark that ever lived, looked like after it was previously thought to have resembled the great white shark.

The scientific research from the University of California, Riverside and DePaul University was recently published in the journal Historical Biology on Feb. 6.

Scientists have long believed megalodons resembled the modern great white sharks, which are partially warm-blooded and belong to the lamniform shark order. Megalodons are also a part of this order, and it’s believed they were also partially warm-blooded.