Michiganders brave Hurricane Ian • When Warren train derailment will be cleared • Amazon driver carjacked
FRIDAY NEWS HIT - For more than a day straight, Cathy Cordle said it rained. Hunkered down in Orlando, the Farmington Hills woman shared her home with her elderly father as they rode out one of the biggest storm events to ever strike Florida.
"We’ve had really about 24 to 36 hours of straight wind and rain," she said. "It really culminated in the middle of the night, last night."
Two pair had decided to try and enjoy a nice getaway in Disney World. But Mother Nature had very different plans for them. "It was loud, because the wind is loud enough," Cordle said. "And then it’s blowing the rain horizontally so you’ve got the rain hitting the windows directly."
For Ron Moniz and his wife, who had made several trips down to their own Florida property to fix up the home, Hurricane Ian was a worse case scenario.
"There’s a lot of people out there who are hurting right now," Moniz said. "It's sickening - we’ve been watching The Weather Channel for three days. It just makes me sick. (I) can’t sleep. I woke (my wife) Denise up in the middle of the night saying what are we going to do."
The Auburn Hills couple has poured $60,000 into the home. But it got caught in the storm's path. Cell phone video shows how the flood upended their furniture — even the refrigerator. But the couple won't know the full extent of the damage until they get down to Florida and see it for themselves.
"We have insurance - but we didn’t get the hurricane and we didn’t get the flood," he said. "Fort Myers has never really been hit with a hurricane. I think they said 2008, they may have one - but it never came up like this. So you take your chances I guess. I gambled and I lost."
Both Moniz and Cordle's experience are just a taste of the wrath that Hurricane Ian inflicted on Florida.
The storm isn't done yet. After knocking out power to more than 2 million homes, Hurricane Ian, which had turned to a tropic storm after crossing over the peninsula, was elevated back up to a hurricane before swinging back into the the South Carolina and North Carolina shoreline.
Train derailment in Warren to be cleared by Friday afternoon
A derailed train in Warren could take several more hours to clear before traffic can resume in the area that's currently blocked. The derailment created a giant mess of traffic Thursday morning when 16 cars being pulled by a train through Macomb County went off the tracks, piling up across the busy rail line.
It's unclear what caused the pile-up, but the effects were felt immediately when busy roadways in the area of 10 Mile and Gratiot became inaccessible. Officials spoke in front of the train on Sept. 29 on Schoehnerr and Stephens.
"What we can see is there is track destroyed and cars laying on the side. We don't know if the track failed or whether a car failed, but we do know there was no involvement of a car or truck striking the train," said Fire Commissioner Wilburt McAdams.
Initial concerns about a chemical leak were put at ease after officials said only three tankers carrying liquid had gone off the rail, and only one that had unrefined alcohol in it was found to be leaking. Officials hope to have the train moving again by Friday afternoon.
Amazon driver carjacked by gunman in ski mask
An Amazon delivery driver was carjacked at gunpoint Wednesday night. On Michael Fountain's Ring camera, he and his wife received an alert from their doorbell camera - as the frantic driver pounded on their door for help "Please open the door, please open the door!"
Just seconds before – you can see on their Ring camera, her van was stolen. "She later told us he was armed with a gun, he had a ski mask on and took off in the truck," he said. She chose the right home to run for help – Michael is Corporal Michael Fountain. A 37-year veteran with Detroit Police Department.
"It's unfortunate it happened but I'm just glad he didn't hurt her," he said. It was Michael’s house – she was delivering to, and the thief swiped his package as well. The stolen van was found dumped in the neighborhood near Schoolcraft and the Southfield freeway on Detroit’s west side.
"They stole my van at gunpoint," the driver can be heard saying on the doorbell recording. He was careful not to show his face – but this veteran says somebody knows him. Detroit police say they’re actively looking for the suspect who got away with several of those delivery boxes after ditching the van.
Breaking down state's new $1B budget bill
On the eve of the November election and on a bi-partisan vote, lawmakers and the governor are spending $1 billion on a variety of fronts. The GOP chair of the Senate budget committee Jim Stamas and the House GOP Speaker Jason Wentworth, joined the governor in pushing for a $1 billion budget bill that goes into a variety of programs:
- $210 Million to cover Covid pay for state troopers
- Up to $5500 for four-year college students
- $2750 for community college students
- $2,000 for students attending trade schools
- $7.5 million for mental health services for first responders
- $15 million for children moving out of foster care
Rep. Steve Johnson was one of about two dozen Republicans who rejected the package calling it, "immoral." But Senate Democrat Curtis Hertel claims this spending is good for taxpayers. "This is a bipartisan deal this is not for one party or party rule. this is all of us working together in Lansing trying to do the right thing," he said.
Political pundit Bill Ballenger was asked why are they doing it in the middle of a campaign? "Because it is in the middle of a campaign," he said. "They want to show they are spending money on behalf of good care for the people of Michigan."
Find more on $1B state budget here.
How Henry Ford's new treatment method saved prostate cancer survivor
Hundreds of miles away in California John Low received the devastating diagnosis of prostate cancer. "The MRI lit it up had a biopsy and then it was confirmed," he said. Low knew he had to fight the battle to win.
"I spent about a year and a half researching how to deal with my cancer and it was very troubling at times," Low said. He called 10 facilities and hospitals before calling Henry Ford and "within 10 seconds I knew where i was going to," he said.
That technology is known as ViewRay which uses MRI-guided radiation to target and destroy cancer. "What makes Henry Ford stand out is we were the first ones to use an MR-guided radiation accelerator," said Dr. Parag Parikh. Earlier this year Low traveled from California to Detroit for eight weeks of treatment.
The technology targets the cancer and works to avoid surrounding non-cancerous tissue. "We feel confident because we can keep track of things like the bladder, rectum and urethra these are all things when they get radiation they get irritated We can avoid this with this technology," said Parikh, director of MR-Guided Radiation, Henry Ford Health.
Learn more about Prostate Cancer Awareness Month here.
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Daily Forecast
It'll be a perfect weather day and weekend with sun, 60s, and not a whole lot else.
What else we're watching
- One of America's longest-running antique shows is going on this weekend in Bloomfield Hills. Both Friday and Saturday will feature the 58th Bloomfield Charity Antique and Collectibles Show at the Cross of Christ Lutheran Church, located at 1100 Lone Pine Road in Bloomfield Hills.
- Detroit city officials are set to announce a big agreement involving the police department. A landmark decision will be discussed Friday at 10 a.m.
- The official language for Michigan's three ballot proposals is now live. They include measures to amend term limits, voting access, and abortion. Read our guide here.
- It's not just I-94 that will be creating headaches for drivers this weekend. Plan on seeing lane closures on I-75 in Detroit, I-96 at the Ambassador Bridge, and M-3 in Macomb County.
- The state of Michigan might actually pay you for your old tires. According to a grant application announced by The department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, people can get some financing for clearing up old and abandoned scrap tire piles.
GOP states sue Biden administration in effort to halt student loan forgiveness plan
Six Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration in an effort to halt its plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans, accusing it of overstepping its executive powers.
It’s at least the second legal challenge this week to the sweeping proposal laid out by President Joe Biden in late August, when he said his administration would cancel up to $20,000 in education debt for huge numbers of borrowers. The announcement, after months of internal deliberations and pressure from liberal activists, became immediate political fodder ahead of the November midterms while fueling arguments from conservatives about legality.
In Washington state, 697,600 residents are eligible for forgiveness, according to The White House.
In the lawsuit, being filed Thursday in a federal court in Missouri, the Republican states argue that Biden’s cancellation plan is "not remotely tailored to address the effects of the pandemic on federal student loan borrowers," as required by the 2003 federal law that the administration is using as legal justification. They point out that Biden, in an interview with CBS’ "60 Minutes" this month, declared the Covid-19 pandemic over, yet is still using the ongoing health emergency to justify the wide-scale debt relief.