Michigan counties accused of illegally profiting from tax foreclosure auctions

Counties across Michigan foreclosed on homes for outstanding property taxes, sold them at auction and illegally kept the profits, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court last week. The lawsuit names treasurers from 44 of Michigan’s 83 counties, including Muskegon, Kent and Kalamazoo, where defendants claim the government illegally profited off their inability to pay property taxes. Examples provided in the lawsuit cite cases in which residents owed property taxes far less than what their homes eventually auctioned for. In one case, the lawsuit claims Kalamazoo County profited nearly $275,000 from the sale of two properties seized from the same owner, who owed $29,000 in unpaid taxes. READ MORE

►Massive demo would take down 2,200-plus blighted buildings in Flint

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Gov. Whitmer sues in attempt to strike down Michigan's 1931 abortion law

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is suing 13 county prosecutors in Michigan, with the endgame of getting an old abortion ban pulled off the books and making abortion a constitutional right in the state. Whitmer’s team is filing the 27-page lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court, according to a news release from the governor’s office. Abortion is legal in Michigan right now, but only because of the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision, which legalized abortion nationwide. That ruling has the potential to be overturned or undercut; however, as the court considers Dobbs v. Jackson.

READ MORE

►Most abortions happen in first trimester, and other facts about Michigan abortion rates
►Planned Parenthood sues state AG to reaffirm right to abortion under Michigan Constitution

Michigan drops OT heartbreaker to Denver in Frozen Four

Another trip to the Frozen Four has ended in heartbreaking fashion for Michigan’s hockey team. Denver scored with 5:07 remaining in the first overtime period to beat the Wolverines, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, 3-2 in a national semifinal at TD Garden in Boston. The Wolverines turned the puck over just inside its own blue line, and the Pioneers, the No. 1 seed from the Loveland, Colorado region, took advantage. Forward Carter Savoie was left alone in front and scored on his own rebound to send his team to the national championship. READ MORE
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State rep. blew twice the legal limit for alcohol after driving with two flat tires, report states

State Rep. Mary Cavanagh, D-Redford Township, was driving while two times over the legal BAC limit with two flat tires before she was pulled over and arrested for allegedly drunken driving, according to a police report. Cavanagh is facing her second drunken driving charge after being arrested on Feb. 25 earlier this year after a traffic stop which ended in her arrest, 16th District Court records show. The 30-year-old lawmaker was unable to complete a “walk and turn” test where her eyes appeared “bloodshot and glossy,” an officer wrote in a police report obtained through a public records request with the Livonia Police Department. READ MORE

►Snyder asks U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn order requiring him to testify at civil Flint water trial

Where to find fairy shrimp in Michigan's woods this spring

Their name sounds like sci-fi meets fantasy, but fairy shrimp are every bit as real as the Michigan forests they inhabit this time of year. These translucent, freshwater crustaceans can only be found in Michigan in vernal pools: Small, fish-free ponds of snowmelt and seasonal rains that appear in the woods each spring only to disappear by summer. Referred to as the “coral reefs” of our forests because of the incredible diversity of life they support, vernal pools are a vital ecosystem within the Michigan landscape, yet researchers have only recently begun to study and map their distribution and quality across the state. READ MORE

►Why Michigan's short-lived vernal pools are the 'coral reefs' of our forests

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