Audit of Michigan nursing home deaths, Woodward road diet, Great Lakes ice coverage
State undercounted nursing home deaths by 30%, new audit report says
A yet-to-be released audit of Michigan's nursing home deaths finds the state may have not reported hundreds or thousands of additional deaths linked to COVID-19 within elder care facilities. The state is already disputing the report, arguing they're misinterpreting death definitions.
THURSDAY NEWS HIT - Hundreds if not thousands of people who died from COVID-19 in Michigan nursing homes may not have been counted by the state, a new report from the auditor general is expected to find.
According to a yet-to-be-released report, Michigan may have undercounted nursing home deaths by 30%. The state is disputing the report's conclusion.
"In my mind, it proved to me to be a very deadly decision and numbers are bearing it out," said Rep. Steve Johnson (R-Wayland).
Johnson, who chairs the House Oversight Committee in Lansing, first called for an audit of nursing home deaths following intense criticism directed toward the state health department for its policy of housing patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in nursing facilities.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel is already pushing back on the report, arguing that it's inaccurate to state the nursing home deaths category were underreported. It "is simply not accurate. I continue to have serious concerns about both the methodology employed to compare long-term care facilities’ self-reported data to death certificate data from Michigan's Electronic Death Registry System and COVID-19 case and death data from the Michigan Disease Surveillance System," she said.
Johnson says he's skeptical of the response, believing the health department is making excuses.
"Everyone has had the utmost respect for auditor general’s office and no one has ever questioned their work before - and that’s what the department is trying to do now, and I think that’s because they know they got caught," he said.
The complete report is expected Monday.
A road diet at Woodward
Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge plan to trim two lanes off of Woodward Avenue in favor of bike lanes and parking as the cities move to make their cities more walkable. The eight-lane roadway used to accommodate about 100,000 vehicles a day.
Now down to 40,000 a day, Ferndale's mayor says it's time to reimagine the city. "We really do need to offer a safer environment to people who live in Ferndale, and who life coming to our walkable city," said Mayor Melanie Piana.
Much of the city accommodates bikers and walkers - but not Woodward, she says. The Michigan Department of Transportation has been working to redo the Woodward corridor between Eight Mile and I-696. The project, which will begin in August, will come with a $2.3 million price tag that's coordinated by MDOT.
Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge will also match that funding with some of their own money. They'll come from gas and vehicle registration taxes.
Study finds racial disparity in police stops, Michigan Police plan changes
An independent study commissioned by Michigan State Police of their own law enforcement policies has found racial and ethnic disparities in the frequency of traffic stops conducted by troopers in 2020.
Researchers at the Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice found Black drivers were significantly more likely to be pulled over than white drivers. Col. Joe Gasper, director of the state police said Michigan drivers deserve unbiased policing, transparency, and accountability from law enforcement. The agency is also working to implement a five point response plan.
It'll include issuing more body cameras, cultural awareness training, and hiring an independent consulting firm to review policies and recommend changes.
"The findings are sobering, yet and they should serve as a baseline as we evaluate the effectiveness of the MSP’s Five Point Plan," said Omar Cuevas, Bridges to B.L.U.E. Citizen Advisory Council.
Great Lakes ice coverage at record low
January has been very cold with temperatures below freezing for most of the month. But in December, temperatures were more than 7 degrees warmer than average. That's put the Great Lakes at risk of their lowest ice cover, ever. At Lake St. Clair, not one of the official Great Lakes but still great nonetheless, it's at 86% coverage on ice and most of it happened over the past week. But it's one of the only ones frozen over.
All the other lakes are shockingly unfrozen, historically unfrozen in fact. Take Lake Michigan and Lake Huron specifically. Right now they are only 8 and 11% frozen. NOAA forecasts that, throughout the season, they'll only freeze up about 10 and 12 percent which would be not only highly unusual but also record-breaking in their minimal-ness.
Ice cover on the great lakes is highly variable from year to year, but on average 53% of the lake waters freeze. Right now we're at 7% with a yearly maximum forecast of only 12% total. Why does it matter?
First off, it immediately impacts winter activities that take place on the lakes - like ice fishing. Second, a change in the freeze-thaw cycle can also impact the sensitive Great Lakes ecosystem, the shipping industry, and evaporation - which then impacts our weather system. The most troubling part, however, is that NOAA has observed a decline in yearly ice overage of roughly 5% each decade, a product of steadily warming atmosphere.
How a serial sex offender was caught
A serial sex offender who was released from prison less than six months ago before striking again in December is back in custody due to the actions of the survivor he assaulted. Detroit police say Junell Mobley was released from parole last October and was supposed to be on a GPS tether.
At some point, he cut his tether and in late December, threatened a woman before sexually assaulting her. When he let her go, she went to the police. "She’s a hero. She’s a hero. And I want to tell her she’s a hero. And I want to tell her thank you for what she did, thank you for coming forward," said Capt. Kimberly Blackwell, who heads DPD's Special Victim Unit.
Detectives retraced her steps and released a surveillance photo of the man, which eventually led to Mobley's arrest. He's now held on a $1 million bond.
While homicides and non-fatal shootings may have been down, sex crimes and rape cases rose in 2021. Those numbers are slightly skewed due to the pandemic, but they still indicate a startling trend. Police are coming up with new programs this year to help others combat sexual violence.
What else we're watching
- FOX 2's Josh Landon had a long-form discussion with ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on his rise, fall, and his new life ahead. See the full interview here.
- A $10 million affordable housing project was announced by Detroit Wednesday. The money will be allocated to the Detroit Housing for the Future Fund, which invests private money into public housing projects.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized an astronomically higher amount of drugs at the Detroit border in 2021. About 2,800% higher. They'll discuss the statistics at their Fiscal Year press conference at 1 p.m.
- Did you see strange sculptures on a west Michigan beach this weekend? Some lucky photographers did and the sights are alien-like. Here's what experts believe is happening.
- The DCFC 2022 schedule has been revealed. As soccer grows in popularity in Detroit, so is the prestige behind the team's success.
Live on FOX 2
Daily Forecast
Conditions are going to mild Thursday - at least relative to the brutal cold that's hit Michigan the past couple weeks. Some flurries are possible and cloud conditions are expected.
Omicron could be headed for a rapid drop in Britain, US
Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.
The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa.
"It’s going to come down as fast as it went up," said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.
At the same time, experts warn that much is still uncertain about how the next phase of the pandemic might unfold. The plateauing or ebbing in the two countries is not happening everywhere at the same time or at the same pace. And weeks or months of misery still lie ahead for patients and overwhelmed hospitals even if the drop-off comes to pass.