Missing 3-year-old taken by her mom, vaccine rollout frustrates seniors, woman plagued by unemployment issues

article

TUESDAY NEWS HIT - The Oakland County Sheriff's Department is looking for a 3-year-old girl who is believed to have been taken by her mother on Monday.

Queen Jaiyana-Eloise Norton had been with her father in Pontiac when she was abducted by her mother who stole the car she was in.

People concerned by Norton's disappearance are asking for the public to keep an eye out for the 3-year-old girl.

She's 3 feet tall, weighs 45 pounds, has black hair and black eyes.

She is believed to be wearing a purple winter coat with a fur collar, a hood, dark leggings, black boots, and a purple-striped winter hat.

Police looking for missing 3-year-old taken by mother

Law enforcement is searching for Queen Jaiyana-Eloise Norton, who is believed to have been taken by her mother sometime Monday. She's 3 years old, 45 pounds, and has black hair and black eyes.

She was last seen in the 300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Pontiac. The vehicle she was taken in is a 2004 light blue Jaguar x-type with a paper plate.

Call police at (248) 858-4950 if you have any knowledge about her whereabouts.

Detroit seniors frustrated by call surge delaying vaccine scheduling

If anyone had any predictions that Detroit's elderly wouldn't be interested in receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, they would be dead wrong.

In fact, so many were keen on scheduling their vaccine appointment that the workers staffing the call center couldn't keep up, leading to delays, disconnects, and calls for more support.

As has been the growing consensus of the United States' vaccine rollout, it hasn't been a smooth one.

"It's past confusing," Quentin Troutman said. "Because somebody dropped the ball. You know people are going to call in."

Troutman, 69, has been trying to get his 90-year-old mom an appointment for a coronavirus vaccine. Ever since his friend and bandmate died, he's taken the pandemic seriously and has been motivated to get the vaccine.

TCF Center offering COVID-19 vaccinations for seniors, but scheduling hits snags

Many Detroit seniors are having trouble getting through on the phone lines.

When the phone lines opened up Monday, he wasn't able to get through.

One of the problems is many who are calling aren't eligible for the vaccine yet, the chief operating officer of Detroit said.

"We do not have the capacity to answer questions from people under 75 or non-Detroiters about vaccinations in general," said Hakim Berry.

Another pitfall to the excitement to receive the treatment is an underwhelming number of doses. The state was promised 500,000 but has only received 80,000.

Brighton woman had unemployment aid stolen, told she owes state thousands

Like most people trudging through the bare-bones format of receiving unemployment from the state, Ayla McKenzie is fed up.

The Brighton 19-year-old has been fighting with the system for nine months since she first applied back in April.

"If this is happening to me, I can't imagine how many other people this is happening to," she said.

Turns out, those problems started with the state aid she had applied for was going to others. Two people were using her personal information to file claims and receiving money.

"I was on the phone with them endlessly for hours and hours a few different times," she said. "And they told me they got it all figured out.

Out of work Brighton woman learns others are receiving thousands in aid in her name

Nineteen-year-old Ayla McKenzie is fed up after dealing with unemployment problems for more than nine months. She works as a waitress and says back in April she had problems filing.

"They just send me a letter saying they sent me the funds, I should have received them, and they overpaid me by about $4,000 and now I have to pay that back," she said. "But I never saw any money."

The tragedy in McKenzie's situation as she sees it is she can still stay afloat amid the duress. She has a support system that can help her weather financial burden. What about those that aren't so lucky?

"I'm in a position where I'm able to get through it because I have such a great support system, but not everyone has that and they aren't able to do anything right now because they can't get through to unemployment in Michigan," she said.

Man leads 100 mph police chase through Metro Detroit

A man wanted for shooting into a Sterling Heights home led several police agencies on a chase through Metro Detroit after local law enforcement began chasing him in Macomb County.

Dashcam footage shows police being called to a home near 15 Mile and Van Dyke where a man and a woman had been arguing. Police say a man had fired shots into the home, got into his car, and sped off.

Dashcam video: Suspect leads high speed chase in Metro Detroit

A man wanted after shooting a gun into an occupied home led a high speed cahse through multiple cities late Sunday night.

Around 8:50, Michigan State Police got involved and chased the suspect through Oakland County, eventually crossing into Detroit. Warren police eventually initiated a PIT maneuver which resulted in the vehicle rolling onto its side.

A 22-year-old suspect and a 16-year-old passenger were both hospitalized with minor injuries. The teen was released but the man is now in custody, facing formal charges.

COVID-19 cancels NAIAS for 2nd straight year

The North American International Auto Show was already expected to wait a little longer for their next unveiling when the annual event switched to a summer venue.

But by the time planning was well underway for the world's first June auto show in Detroit, the global pandemic had already torn through so much of the world. By the time it made it to Michigan, the auto show's future was already slippery. A few weeks later, it had been canceled - as had most everything else.

Now, due to COVID-19, NAIAS organizers said the show would be canceled again for 2021.

Motor Bella held at Pontiac track outside hopes to recreate auto show feel

The hope is come this September fans of the Detroit North American International Auto Show will drive north on Woodward to the M1 Concourse in Pontiac for an outdoor show - fit for a pandemic.

Instead, the auto show will take the appearance of an auto-centric event called Motor Bella, which will be in Pontiac between Sept. 21-26.

"The pandemic has caused changes in our society and world in ways not previously imagined, and we all should be looking for new and highly creative ways of doing business," said Executive Director Rod Alberts. "This new event captures that creative spirit. It will provide new mobility experiences and increasingly innovative approaches to tapping into the industry and its products."

Only 25% of Detroit teachers and families feel safe returning to school

For a city scarred by a disease that killed more than a thousand people in a few months, it'll take some trust coaxing its students and educational faculty to return to the classroom.

So far, only a quarter of the teachers and families feel safe reopening in-person learning - even as the governor and the state ramp up learning and effort to restart learning in the classroom by March.

"I think it is going to be very hard especially for the Detroit community to go from 'Stay at home, don't see your relatives over the holidays, to save lives,' to now sending your children to school," Superintendent Dr. Nikoli Vitti said.

Detroit public schools talk about return to in-person learning plans

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants all students for in-person learning by March 1 - leaving educators scrambling to come up with plans.

Vitti, who himself was adamant about keeping an in-person learning option available over the summer, says that the school district needs an infection rate of 5% before faculty and students should feel comfortable returning to learning indoors. That was what he and the teachers federation agreed on in 2020.

Right now, the infection rate is closer to 7%.

"If the numbers go down, we certainly will," Vitti said. "We're looking at the numbers now, I anticipate that we'll open up learning centers which allow children to come to their school, learn online, eat breakfast, eat lunch. My sense is that will happen in January, early February and then offer in-person learning in mid-February if the numbers decline."

Watch Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Before the mid-week warm up when temperatures climb back into the 40s, Tuesday will have chilly conditions getting just above freezing by 4 p.m. Snow and rain is expected on Friday.

Another cold and cloudy day with a couple of 40 degree days on the way!

Some light patchy drizzle is possible this morning.

Poll: 74% of US voters think democracy under threat, 52% want president removed after pro-Trump riot

Most Americans were shaken after last week’s U.S. Capitol riot, and more than half of voters want President Donald Trump removed from office before the end of his term, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

Quinnipiac released the poll results Monday, revealing that 74% of voters believe American democracy is under threat and 52% of voters want Trump to leave the White House.

According to the poll, Trump’s approval rating in the wake of the Capitol riot tied his all-time low from August of 2017.

Trump received a 33% job approval rating, which is a substantial drop from the 44% he received in December of 2020 when delayed signing a $900 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.

Voters were divided on whether they think Trump is mentally stable. Forty-five percent said he is mentally stable, while 48% said he is not mentally stable.