Michigan school districts start remote, fatal stabbing in Shelby Township, redistricting commission sued

MONDAY NEWS HIT - The new year brings a strange start to school in many districts, including the state's largest.

Detroit and several other districts announced they will buffer the end of the holidays with either virtual or no school to give time for faculty to get tested and avoid further possible COVID-19 infection between students. 

Wayne County and Detroit's high COVID-19 infection rate - an all-time high of 36% - would ‘inevitably’ lead to high rates of quarantining students and workers, worsening an already burdened staffing situation at the district, Detroit school officials warned last week.

As a result, classes have been canceled for both in-person and virtual schooling Monday through Wednesday at DPSCD.

The district will reevaluate the situation on Wednesday afternoon.

In the meantime, the district will be having all its staff get tested for COVID-19. Students are encouraged to get tested as well.

The district has free testing available at 10 different sites:

• Henry Ford High School
• Breithaupt Career Technical Center
• DCP at Northwestern (enter through the back of the school)
• Mumford High School
• Pershing High School
• Brenda Scott Academy
• Fisher Upper Academy
• Davis Aerospace High School
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High School
• Western High School

Testing is available from Monday Jan. 3 to Thursday Jan. 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It's also available on Friday, Jan. 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Classes have also been canceled in districts like Romulus, Oak Park, Tecumseh, while Pontiac, Southfield, and Ann Arbor districts will start the year virtually.

Universities in the state are also taking their own approach to kick-starting the school year. In East Lansing, Michigan State University is beginning the semester with remote classes for the first three weeks.

It cited the omicron variant as justification for the move. It joined Wayne State and Oakland University as schools that won't begin class in-person.

The University of Michigan says it will resume in-person classes on Jan. 5. 

1 dead, 2 injured in shooting on Detroit's west side

Detroit police are investigating a shooting that left one dead and multiple others injured Monday morning.

Officers were seen canvassing the sidewalks on Faust Avenue on the city's west side, following a fatal shooting in the area of Schoolcraft Road.

According to police, three were shot and one male died. 

Everyone involved as in their mid-20s. The victims were taken the hospital, but are not cooperating with police, according to law enforcement. There is no suspect in custody.

Michigan DNR reaches deal to groom snow mobile trails

More than 100 miles (160 kilometers) of state-managed trails in the southeastern Upper Peninsula will be groomed as part of an agreement between Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources and the Straits Area Snowmobile Club.

Grooming was to begin as soon as there’s enough snow on them, the DNR has said. The agency earlier had alerted snowmobilers to avoid the area as trails would not be groomed indefinitely while an agreement was being discussed.

The affected trails are in Mackinac and Chippewa counties, connecting the communities of St. Ignace, Trout Lake and Epoufette. "We thank past club leadership for their time and considerable effort over many years to keep snowmobile trails in this part of the Upper Peninsula groomed and open for riders," said Ron Yesney, U.P. trails coordinator with the DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division trails section.

State-designated trails are open through March 31 and grooming occurs when there is enough snow on the ground.

— Courtesy of the Associated Press

Stabbing leaves 2 dead in Shelby Township

Two people died Sunday morning in a stabbing inside a family home in Shelby Township and police are saying a third person is being treated for injuries. The call of the stabbing came in around 8 a.m. Sunday to a home on Woodall in Shelby Township, just south of Auburn Road and east of Ryan Road.

The original call came in as three people stabbed. When police arrived, they had to force their way into the home and reported a woman was screaming for help. 

According to police, a 40-year-old man was pronounced dead at the home. A 62-year-old woman and 63-year-old man were both taken to the hospital. Police said the man later died from his injuries. 

The woman is in critical but stable condition. Police say the stabbings are still under investigation, but there is no threat to the public. No other information about what led to the stabbing was released by police.

Lawsuit filed against Michigan redistricting commission 

As expected, several state lawmakers have filed a lawsuit against Michigan's Independent Redistricting Commission following its approval of maps that rewrite the boundaries of both state and congressional districts.

The lawsuit, filed by members of the legislature that represent Detroit currently or in other capacities, alleges the new maps gerrymander "in the form of cracking, packing, and retrogression against African American communities and therefore diluting their representation of minority communities."

Previously, congressional districts mandated majority-minority districts that enabled minority voters a greater stake in who they elected to represent themselves. 

Last week, the commission approved the drafts of three maps that appear to shift the balance of the legislature to favor Democrats. Michigan was considered to have some of the most gerrymandered districts in the country. 

What else we're watching

1. The FDA is reportedly preparing to consider authorizing the Pfizer vaccine booster shot for teens age 12-15 years old this week as the arena for fighting COVID-19 returns to the classroom.
2. As of 8 a.m., 32 flights had been canceled and another 28 scheduled to arrive at Detroit Metro Airport Monday have been delayed. Holiday travel became a headache for many after travel companies canceled flights amid the surge in omicron cases.
3. Only weeks after the CDC reduced the isolation period for asymptomatic Covid cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci says the agency is considered requiring tests for those persons. 
4. The Independent Restaurant Coalition has notified Congress that 86% of its partners that have not received COVID-19 relief are in danger of closing. A letter sent last month was signed by 3,300 restaurants and bars from all 50 states.
5. Michigan schools are reportedly hiring hundreds of mental health staffers to assist with the increased needs of students and staff struggling to navigate the pandemic and other crises ongoing in the country. The state ranks second-lowest in student to counselor ratio in the country.

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Daily Forecast

It was Michigan's coldest start of the season Monday as temperatures in the teens greeted commuters waking up to their first work week of the new year. Conditions won't get much warmer, but they will remain sunny and a little windy before a new system prepares to move in later this week.

Jan. 6 committee prepares to go public as findings mount in Capitol riot probe

They’ve interviewed more than 300 witnesses, collected tens of thousands of documents and traveled around the country to talk to election officials who were pressured by Donald Trump.

Now, after six months of intense work, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is preparing to go public.

In the coming months, members of the panel will start to reveal their findings against the backdrop of the former president and his allies’ persistent efforts to whitewash the riots and reject suggestions that he helped instigate them. The committee also faces the burden of trying to persuade the American public that their conclusions are fact-based and credible.

But the nine lawmakers — seven Democrats and two Republicans — are united in their commitment to tell the full story of Jan. 6, and they are planning televised hearings and reports that will bring their findings out into the open.

Their goal is not only to show the severity of the riot, but also to make a clear connection between the attack and Trump’s brazen pressure on the states and Congress to overturn Joe Biden’s legitimate election as president.

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