Morning Briefing: Employee overrode alarm 460 times before Huron River Spill

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Morning Briefing

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022

In today's newsletter, the average price for a gallon of gas in Michigan is below $4, let's chat some more about that first episode of "Hard Knocks" and why orange is a wonderful color when you're talking about weather.

Tigers fans were asking for it and now Al Avila is out as GM.

Detroit Tigers fans had not been shy about calling for an end to Al Avila's time as the team's general manager. On Wednesday, owner Christopher Ilitch announced that Avila has in fact been ousted.

Now the process begins to find a new GM, and Ilitch says an "exhaustive search" is in order to find the right candidate. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said he will offer input on the search.

Of course, the entire baseball world is reacting to the news and we have a look at what they're saying. One especially harsh quote: "Now that it’s over we can all agree the worst GM in Detroit sports history." Ouch.

Curated by Jessica Shepherd

A protester holds a sign during a Huron River spill press conference at Heavner Canoe Rental on August 10. (Photo by Ryan Sun)

A Tribar employee overrode an alarm 460 times before the recent Huron River spill.

New information:An employee at Tribar Technologies in Wixom overrode the company’s waste treatment alarms 460 times in the span of nearly three hours on the night which state regulators believe a toxic chemical release to the Huron River initially began last weekend.

The spill: On July 29, a 14,923-gallon rinse waste tank holding about 10,000 gallons of “acid etch material” with about five percent total chromium was emptied into the Wixom wastewater system as a contamination slug, which overwhelmed the sewage plant.

In other environment news: Michigan's Northwoods may be destroyed by even modest climate change, researchers say.

Read more

The average gas price in Michigan has dipped below $4 per gallon.

Prices have dropped:For the first time in five months, the average gallon of regular gas in Michigan costs less than $4. Prices continue to fall as supply is increasing and demand is decreasing, according to AAA. It expects prices to keep dropping.
See where it's cheapest:We have a look at the average prices across the state, showing where the prices are currently lowest (and where they are highest).

Inflation update: U.S. consumer prices increased 8.5% in a year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, down from June’s 9.1% peak. There was also no change in prices from July to July after climbing 1.3% in June.

Read more

We can't stop thinking about (and talking about) the Detroit Lions after the 'Hard Knocks' premiere.

Did you watch?We sure did! And we loved every minute, from Metallica to "Billie Jean" and everything in between. Dan Campbell is a hoot to watch and we are going to replay that Jamaal Williams clip any and every time we need to get pumped up. Here is Kyle Meinke's analysis of episode 1.
Let's talk about it: Immediately after watching the premiere episode, Kyle and co-host Ben Raven sat down for a Dungeon of Doom discussion of "Hard Knocks." Take a listen here, and subscribe to the podcast to get alerts about each new episode.
More football love:Entering the first football season since a tragic school shooting captured national attention, Oxford High School's football team is being guided by love.

Read more

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Torregrossa says the temperature maps will be orange (that's good!) for a while.

Orange you glad about these maps? According to MLive Chief Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa, "Michigan is at the beginning of a long stretch of temperatures almost nobody can complain about." It won't be super hot. It won't get too cold. What more could you want?

Want to take a swim? If you want to take a dip in the Great Lakes this summer, you might want to do it soon. Water temperatures for the year may have peaked.

Speaking of the Great Lakes: A 22-pound invasive carp was captured last week past barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System designed to keep the fish from reaching the Great Lakes. It was just seven miles from Lake Michigan.

Read more

Testimony has begun in the retrial of two men accused in the Gov. Whitmer kidnapping plot.

Jury hears defendant wanted to "build an army:" Prosecutors played statements from defendant Adam Fox on Wednesday as testimony began in the second trial of Fox and co-defendant Barry Croft Jr. "I’m not building a militia, bro. I’m building an army," Fox said in the recording.
Attorneys call defendants "big talkers:" "The FBI and informants turned up the heat, so to speak, putting big talkers together," and pushed for meetings, field-training exercises and online chat groups, attorney Christopher Gibbons told jurors.
Elsewhere in courts news: A former U.P. woman will stand trial on charges she killed Baby Garnet in 1997.

Read more

That's all for Thursday.

Well, that's not really all for the day. It's just all for today's Morning Briefing.
All day (and night) long, you can find the latest Michigan news at MLive.com. If you appreciate the hard work of our journalists, consider becoming an MLive subscriber.
Onward to Friday!

— Jessica Shepherd

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