Ford details new UAW offer • Apartment fire displaces dozens of seniors • Detroit 8-year-old shot in head

WEDNESDAY NEWS HIT - A fire that took hours to battle has left dozens of Southgate seniors without a home.

 The fire at the Meadows of Southgate is believed to have started on a second-story balcony around 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.

"Someone called me and said the apartment was on fire. I got here. My dog was still in there," resident Denise Samuels said. "So, I went in there and I got my dog and I ran back out."

Though she was able to rescue her dog, some pets did not make it.

Five people, including three residents and two firefighters, were taken to a hospital with unknown injuries. They are all expected to survive.

Ford details new UAW offer

Ford says its latest offer to the UAW includes record pay and benefits.

This offer comes after the union added another Ford facility, the Chicago Assembly Plant, to the strike last week. Currently, about 25,000 UAW members are on strike nationwide.

According to a release detailing the offer, workers would get a pay raise of more than 20%, along with cost-of-living allowances for inflation.

Additionally, all tiers would be eliminated while wage progression would be reduced by more than half the time it takes to earn top wages. Average new hires will earn six figures by the fourth year. Temporary employees would be included in profit sharing and full ratification bonus, Ford said.

The automaker says this offer is the "strongest offer Ford has made on the key economic issues since Aug. 29."

"Ford’s latest offer provides our 57,000 UAW-represented employees with a record contract and a strong future," the release said. "Ford’s offer includes unprecedented improvements in wages (putting employees among the top 25% of all U.S. jobs, hourly and salaried) and benefits, product commitments for every UAW factory, and job security. At the same time, it preserves Ford’s ability to invest and grow." 

8-year-old shot in head in Detroit

Detroit police are investigating another case of an unsecured firearm after an 8-year-old was shot Tuesday.

Police say they don't know if the child shot themselves or was shot by another child, but four children were inside the home in the 14800 block of Snowden when they were shot in the head. They are now in extremely critical condition.

According to Detroit Police James White, Child Protective Services had been out at the address weeks prior to check in on the care that the kids were receiving.

"It's a tragic, sad situation. We've been here too many times," he said. "But here we are again. It didn't have to happen, we didn't have to have another young child in our community shot, and we should be sick and appalled of it."

White also said one of the adults that was in the home had previously been arrested for illegally carrying a firearm, frequently carries weapons, and owns multiple guns at the home where the child was shot. 

Family dog shot to death by deputy

A family is upset after a St. Clair County Sheriff's deputy shot and killed their dog last month.

Rocko and another dog named Charlotte had gotten out of their yard in downtown Algonac after they got sprayed by a skunk on Sept. 12.  

Owner Maggie Meldrum said she didn't know where the dogs went, and a neighbor called 911. 

Animal control was busy, so a deputy responded.

"We're not just going to ignore that and find out later that these dogs bit somebody, or attacked somebody," said St. Clair County Sheriff Mat King.

King said the deputy found the dogs, unknowingly a couple blocks from where they live, and tried to coax them into his squad car.

"The dog growls and lunges at the deputy, so the deputy backs up and withdraws his weapon, and the animal does it again growling and showing his teeth and lunging at the deputy," King said. "At that point unfortunately, the deputy felt he had no other action he could take other than get bit or attacked."

An internal review found that the deputy did not violate policy.

Bad pool builder - and his attorney - are in over their head

A Macomb County pool builder who faces felony charges for taking money and not doing the work was in court this week.
   
The guy Rob Wolchek put in the Hall of Shame didn't really have anything to say, but his lawyer did.

Rob gets it, lawyers want to protect their clients - but this lawyer decided he was going to take on Wolchek. In this case, the client and his attorney may have something in common which Rob unfortunately had to ask the attorney about.

Brandon Heitmann's head must be swimming with thoughts as he leaves court. Too bad some of Brandon's clients aren't swimming. Brandon is accused of taking money to build pools, but instead left them high and dry.

And while this self-dubbed million-dollar pool contractor is probably expecting to get splashed, Wolchek is also going to dunk his lawyer.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Wednesday is another summer-like day before the temperatures drop.

What else we're watching

1. DTE says a Detroit home explosion was caused by an open fuel line inside the house. One home was destroyed, and seven others were damaged. 
2. Detroit's first 3D-printed home is about to hit the market. The exterior walls are made of 3D printable mortar that was filled with insulation and covered in stucco.
3. Residents with mailboxes by the street are encouraged to shake them and make sure they are secure before winter.
4. Eight children and their mother are safe after a fire at two vacant Detroit houses on Annott Avenue almost spread to their home early Wednesday,
5. This year's Skeletons are Alive kicks off Oct. 6 with a launch party in Northville's Town Square.

Kevin McCarthy is out as speaker of the House: Here's what's next

The House of Representatives is entering uncharted territory after a far-right effort to remove fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy from the speakership succeeded thanks to support from Democrats.

A resolution — titled a motion to vacate — from Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., passed Tuesday with the support of eight Republicans and all the Democrats present and voting. The vote made McCarthy the first speaker in history to be removed from office, a bitter humiliation that came after less than nine months on the job.

The California Republican told his conference shortly after that he would not run for the job again. It is a stunning outcome in the House that shocked lawmakers of both parties and left them wondering what the future will bring.

Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry, now the acting speaker, declared the House in recess until both parties can decide on a path forward. There is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority now that McCarthy has opted not to run for the job again.

Read more here.