What led to Ascension cyberattack • Fiery I-75 crash • Detroit school principal suspension rattles staff

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - A principal at Detroit's Thirkell Elementary is expected to return after being suspended for violating district policy, and many are not happy.

The district said Stephanie Gaines was suspended for these alleged violations: not reporting that a student brought a Taser to school and returning the Taser to the student; allowing students to work and be paid during instructional time; not reporting that an employee was allegedly under the influence in a timely manner, and for a student being released to a parent who was not the approved caretaker.

"We are asking to send her into a different building so that the toxicity and our time doesn’t continue," said a teacher. "In the words of a famous singer, Whitney Houston, 'crack is wack' and it would be, if you too allowed her to come back into our building to continue the harassment and retaliatory nature towards the staff at Thirkle Elementary Middle School."

According to a letter FOX 2 obtained from the president of the Detroit Federation of  Teachers to the superintendent and school board, Gaines was allegedly described as an authoritarian or dictatorial leader. It said some parents aren’t even welcome.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District released a statement that reads in part, "Principal Gaines has owned her mistakes. She has also established a track record of improvement at a school that is challenging."

What led to Ascension cyberattack

It was an honest mistake that led to a weeks-long cyberattack that stifled operations for Ascension hospitals in Michigan and around the U.S.

According to a statement from the spokesperson at Ascension Healthcare Company said an individual working at one of the hospital system's facilities accidentally downloaded a malicious file they thought was legitimate.

Instead, the attackers created headaches for doctors and nurses who couldn't pull up patient files and struggled to provide timely care in the emergency room.

They were able to hack into seven of the company's 25,000 servers within Ascension's network, possibly giving them access to files with private health information for certain individuals. 

2 sentenced to life for Hutch's Jewelry murder

Marco Bisbikis and Roy Larry will spend the rest of their lives in prison after the murder of popular jeweler Dan ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson.

Both were convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation of murder, and felony firearm last month.

In court on Wednesday, Bisbikis asked for an adjournment – saying he didn't have enough time to review an issue of restitution – but Judge Nanci Grant did not allow it.

Bisbikis argues that he was wrongfully convicted, and it's his constitutional right to review the pre-sentencing report before he was sentenced. Bisbikis, a licensed attorney prior to the murder,  said he objects to the paperwork and says he was wrongfully convicted.

"I will be back, and I will be able to prove my innocence," he said.

Fiery crash closes NB I-75 in Monroe County

North and southbound I-75 have been closed at Otter Creek for hours after a fatal crash Thursday morning.

The crash involving a semi-truck and at least two passenger vehicles happened just before the freeway crosses Otter Creek in the construction zone. The Michigan Department of Transportation first reported the crash just after 4:20 a.m. Thursday. As of 8 a.m., the road is still closed.

Though details about the crash are sparse, Michigan State Police said a truck crossed the concrete barrier from the southbound side of the road and hit numerous vehicles. Both sides of the freeway are currently closed for an investigation. 

It isn't clear which vehicle the victim who was killed was in. An SUV was singed, while the front of another SUV was crushed by the truck, which was flipped onto its side. Near the crash scene, the concrete barrier was destroyed. 

Testimony continues in Samantha Woll murder

Neighbors who found Samantha Woll's body and the first officers at the scene gave their account of what they discovered on the morning of Oct. 21, 2023.

"The skin was blue, the feet were blue. I touched that part of the body to try to get some kind of reaction and I immediately could tell how cold the body was," said Kevin Mull, a neighbor and the first person to find Woll.

He told the court he ran home to get his wife Jessica Robinson and to call 911. She would be the first to identify the victim after spotting her sweatshirt and hair clip.

"We followed the trail of drops of blood back the sidewalk and toward her unit, and it was when we were standing in front of her unit we the door was open," she said.

Testimony resumes Thursday morning.

Live on FOX 2

Daily Forecast

Severe thunderstorms are possible later today as temperatures spike.

What else we're watching

1. Krokodil, a synthetic drug that turns skin scaly, was found in Southeast Michigan for the first time ever.
2. A Redford family is desperately searching for their stolen SUV because a baby's ashes were inside when it was taken.
3. A woman who worked at Michigan Central more than 80 years ago got to see inside finally after it was renovated.
4. Stellantis wants to update emission standards at a controversial assembly plant located on Detroit's east side.
5. Detroit Horse Power plans to build the country's largest urban equestrian center later this year after the Detroit Public Schools Community District approved a sale of 14 acres of land.

Congressional Baseball Game descends into chaos after protesters storm field

Several arrests were made at the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity Wednesday night after people in attendance who appeared to be protesters of climate change stormed the field at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

The game, which raises money for local charities in the D.C. area, features Democrats and Republicans from the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Climate change protesters chanted while holding signs that said "Stop playing games with our future," and they wore shirts that said "End Fossil Fuels" before several people jumped onto the field.