Bridgerton Ball controversy • Bedroom found in suspected pill mill doctor office • Absentee voting begins

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - Michigan voters will soon start casting their ballots in the 2024 election as absentee ballots make their way to those who requested them on Thursday.

Absentee voting allows Michiganders to cast their vote by mail. Ballots can also be returned in person to drop boxes, an early voting site, or your local clerk's office by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 - election day.

Voting by mail requires you to request an absentee ballot.

You can do this by registering on the Michigan Secretary of State website, calling your city clerk and asking for an application to be mailed to you, downloading the application from the state’s website and mailing it in, or going directly to your clerk’s office.

If you choose to vote absentee, you’ll get a ballot envelope that contains a ballot, a secrecy sleeve, and ballot marking instructions.

When you get your ballot, mark your vote just like you would in person. Fill out every race as directed on your ballot.

Make sure you sign your ballot or it won’t count. Then mail it back to your clerk’s office by the deadline.

Learn more about absentee voting.

Bridgerton Ball controversy

Detroit's Bridgerton Ball was supposed to be a night of elegance and fun inspired by the popular TV show. 

Despite the expectations, attendees say the event was a flop.

"This event just really lacked effort - it lacked class, and it lacked respect," said Nita Morton.

Nita Morton and her sister are huge Bridgerton fans of the hit Netflix show is set in 1800s London about high society and nobility.  The two of them spent a lot of money - with Morton's sister flying in from Florida, and they had high expectations.

"This is very serious to us," she said. "We were beyond excited. Like I said - she was so excited that she got her dress custom-made."

Morton says there wasn't enough food, and it was served on plastic plates. The decorations were from a dollar store and the bar was blue Kool-Aid they had to pay for. Also, the entertainment was a pole dancer, something Morton felt was inappropriate. 

Event company Uncle & Me LLC had already postponed and changed the location once, before Sunday's ball at Harmonie Club.

The organizers posted on Instagram that they're working to address all concerns.

Secret bedroom found in office of doctor accused of running pill mill

A Taylor police raid of a suspected pill mill doctor's clinic on Telegraph also revealed a secret bedroom in the medical office.

The doctor, who is already accused of multiple crimes for years for doling out painkillers, is now the center of a sexual misconduct investigation against his own patients.

"Who knows how deep this runs," Taylor Police Chief John Blair said after the office was raided this week.

Not 24 hours after Chief Blair said that, the department's phones started ringing with new allegations, as former patients are accusing the doctor of sexual misconduct.

Some of which might have happened in an eerie bedroom set up at the doctor's clinic that investigators stumbled on, during their execution of a search warrant. Video of the room was released from police body camera footage.

The doctor is in custody at Taylor police awaiting charges, and it looks like even more charges than originally thought.

Also, the doctor's 21,000-square-foot mansion in Oakland County was raided. He was apparently making many millions off his alleged criminal activity. We're told he is cooperating with police.

Loved ones grieve man killed in drunk driving crash

A family and friends are struggling after a drunk driver caused a crash that killed a man and severely injured two other people over the weekend.

Alex Tsatos, 28, was headed to a friend's birthday party with other friends on Saturday night when a drunk driver hit their vehicle head-on in the area of North Avenue near 21 Mile in Macomb Township.

Tsatos, who went by Chachi, died from his injuries at the hospital. His friends Terran and Eric were hurt badly in the crash, too. Eric just finished reconstruction on his leg, and his broken pelvis needed to be reattached to his spine.

"He has a long recovery," said Kayla Lecik-Brooks, a friend of the men. "As well as Terran, he has a broken back, some collar bone issues, he is pretty bruised up. He's got knee issues, and two fractured wrists."

The driver who caused the crash is currently hospitalized and awaiting charges.

As Lecick-Brooks mourns the loss of her friend, she has a message for others.

"Stop drinking and driving," she said. "Hold your friends and family super close. Not only today, but every day. And justice for Chachi."

DTE power surge ruins appliances

Some residents in Allen Park say their appliances were ruined when their power surged on Friday.

"I heard a pop in my kitchen that sounded like a .45 round and I jumped up off my couch. It freaked me out," Dave Lovelock said.

He said he began having problems with several home appliances when a crew was replacing DTE power poles behind his house.

"I looked at my stove. My stove said 'improper wiring.' It’s never said that before," he said. "The front of my fridge just got a puddle of water on it and we noticed that the fridge's motor wasn't running. The fridge was dead.

Lovelock said he isn't the only one.

"My neighbor over here - I’ve got a list of my phone, but it was his hot tub, garbage disposal, water filtration system, and his AC, which is only three months old," he said.

At least five other neighbors say they have similar problems.

DTE replied in a statement, saying, "We recognize how difficult and inconvenient an appliance loss is for a customer.  We are currently conducting a secondary review of this situation and will be communicating our findings directly to the homeowner."

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What else we're watching

1. Officials shared summer crime stats with residents of some of Detroit's most crime-ridden neighborhoods on Wednesday. Though they aren't celebrating the numbers yet, they are encouraged to see the decreases in murders and other violent crimes over the summer. 
2. Parker Meadows and Spencer Torkelson homered, and the Detroit Tigers strengthened their bid for an AL wild card with a 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.
3. A Battle Creek man died early Thursday when he hit a tree along the Lodge Freeway in Detroit. Police said he lost control, went up the embankment, and crashed. 
4. A 25-year-old Michigan man is accused of using multiple artificial intelligence porn generators to create child pornography using the face of at least one victim. He found that photo on social media. 
5. The Oak Park Public Library is reopening Thursday after bed bugs were found in several chairs this week. The library said the building was cleaned and exterminated out of an abundance of caution. 

NYC Mayor Adams indicted on federal criminal charges

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges Wednesday evening following escalating federal criminal investigations against his administration – nearly a year after FBI agents seized his phones, according to multiple reports.

"I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target—and a target I became," the Democratic mayor said in a statement obtained by FOX 5 NY's Morgan McKay. "If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit."

Adams is connected to at least four federal investigations, but this indictment could be tied to the probe into whether Adams accepted illegal campaign donations from the Turkish government, sources tell FOX 5 NY's Morgan McKay. We first learned of this investigation in November 2023, when the FBI raided the home of Adams' top campaign advisor, Brianna Suggs.