Michigan State University broke ground today on a new, $60 million Bio-Engineering building.

The building will serve as place for researchers in different disciplines to share ideas for advancements in medicine and other sciences.

“Let’s not forget that as important as the facility is to our success…it is the people…the researchers, the medical professionals applying their knowledge, curiosity and perseverance that will ultimately triumph,” says Stephen Hsu, vice president for Research and Graduate Studies at MSU.

A search for ex-Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa was called off this afternoon, Joseph Lichterman of Reuters reported. 

On Monday, authorities from the FBI began digging in Oakland Township, MI in search of Hoffa's body. Anthony Zerrili, an 85-year-old alleged mobster tipped off the agency, saying that Hoffa had been hit with a shovel and buried alive in a field near Detroit. 

At a press conference early this morning, Mike Duggan announced he is officially withdrawing from Detroit’s mayoral race.

Duggan, the former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, was kicked off the mayoral ballot last week after the Third Circuit Court ruled that he did not meet the residency requirement in Detroit’s electoral law. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld that decision. Duggan declined to appeal that ruling.

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit City Council member Kwame Kenyatta says he quitting Friday.

Kenyatta didn't give a specific reason to radio station WWJ, but he says the council is virtually powerless now that Detroit is being run by an emergency manager. 

Kenyatta also has been dealing with health problems that he hasn't publicly discussed in detail. After two terms, he didn't plan to run for re-election this year.

Kenyatta has been critical of Mayor Dave Bing and the state's intervention in Detroit's poor finances. He made headlines in 2008 when he gave up on his foreclosed home, one of a handful of council members who had financial problems. 

Detroit council members make about $74,000 a year.

A three day conference is getting underway in Marquette today, looking at the unique needs of cities on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

More than a hundred American and Canadian cities are part of the group organizing the conference.

Dave Ulrich is the executive director of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.

He says this year’s conference is focusing on the effects of climate change on Great Lakes cities, particularly on water levels on the lakes.

We didn’t have an early spring this year, but it looks like an early summer. I say that because while it is still technically spring, the authorities are already engaged in what has been a late summer Michigan ritual, digging up a field to look for Jimmy Hoffa.

Usually, it strikes me as strange that this case still gets so much attention, but this year we’ve been so overwhelmed with news from Detroit that we probably need a little escape.

This week in Michigan politics, Jack Lessenberry and Emily Fox discuss the state of Medicaid expansion in the Michigan Senate, Governor Snyder's trade mission to Israel, and the political future of Mike Duggan in Detroit.

Chrysler waves the white flag

Chrysler is now agreeing to recall some 2.7 million older model Jeeps. At first, Chrysler refused to recall the cars and the company maintains the vehicles are not defective. Safety regulators say 1993 to 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2002-2007 Jeep Liberty Vehicles can catch on fire when they're rear-ended. The design flaw has killed 51 people in fiery crashes.

Michigan counties will receive disaster relief

President Obama has approved a disaster declaration for 16 Michigan counties hard hit by spring floods. The declaration will help communities repair and rebuild roads, bridges and other public infrastructure damaged in the flooding. This does not include assistance for individuals or businesses. State and federal agencies will soon hold briefings across the state to help communities understand and start the application process.  

The Detroit Zoo and the DIA are safe

Legislation was signed into law yesterday allowing the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute of Arts to get millions of dollars in tax revenues as promised from the metro region. Several metro cities were skimming some of the revenue generated by multi-county millages voters approved to support the zoo and the museum.

Our State of Opportunity project focuses on kids and what it will take to get them ahead. At the most basic level, that means ensuring children are healthy. But as Michigan Radio’s Jennifer Guerra reports, nationwide drug shortages could threaten even that most basic task.

We called every neonatal intensive care unit in Michigan, and all but one got back us. Each one has experienced or is experiencing a wide variety of drug shortages in the NICU.

President Obama has approved a disaster declaration for 16 Michigan counties hard hit by spring floods.   

Heavy rains in April and May inundated communities across the state. 

The president’s disaster declaration will help communities repair and rebuild roads, bridges and other public infrastructure damaged in the flooding. The disaster declaration does not include assistance for individuals or businesses.

The Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute of Arts will now get millions of dollars in tax revenues as promised from the metro region.

Several metro cities were capturing some of the revenue generated by multi-county millages voters approved to support the zoo and the museum.

The cities claimed they were allowed to by state law. A Wayne County Circuit Court decision supported that claim.

Annmarie Erickson is the Chief Operating Officer of the art museum. She credits the public’s outcry for the new legislation signed into law today. 

Helping blind children and adults connect with nature: that's Donna Posont’s mission.

She's the director of a group called Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind and one of their projects is called Michigan Birdbrains. The project involves teaching blind individuals how to identify birdcalls, and then taking them out on nature walks to find the birds. Not only does this help participants gain confidence, but it also promotes environmental consciousness. 

Donna Posont joined us today to discuss the project further.

Listen to the full interview above.

In 2013, if you want to let the world know you're someplace having a good time, you might whip out your smartphone and tweet it or post a check-in or status update on Facebook.

97 years ago, you might write a message, roll it up, tuck it in a bottle and toss it into the St Clair River.

That's what a couple of young Detroiters did when they were having fun one summer's day at Tashmoo. That was a very popular amusement part on Harsen's Island on the northern end of Lake St Clair.

And why do we know about this message in a bottle? Because Dave Leander found the bottle as he was diving in the St Clair River.

Wildlife managers could have a harder time controlling spawning Asian carp, if they escape into the Lake Michigan from Chicago-area shipping canals. That's according to a report released by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Elizabeth Murphy is a hydrologist with the USGS. She co-authored the study.

Murphy says new data shows fertilized Asian carp eggs can incubate in waterways that are only 16 miles long. That’s a lot less than the 62 miles scientists thought the drifting eggs needed.

Detroit's Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, has laid out his plan to restructure Detroit's finances, and he has spread the pain around.

He ended payment on unsecured debt, he is negotiating with creditors to take significantly less than the money they're owed, and he's looking to city employees and retirees to sacrifice financially as well.

Update 6/19: 

The search is over, Reuters reported this afternoon. FBI officials left the field in Oakland Township without a body.  

Update 4:25 p.m.:

Detroit News reporter Tony Briscoe is tweeting live from the dig.

A split decision from the state Court of Appeals will keep Detroit mayoral candidate Mike Duggan off the ballot.

More from the Detroit News:

The three-member panel upheld an earlier decision last week that removed Duggan from the Aug. 6 ballot. The ruling said Duggan violated the City Charter’s residency requirements when he filed his paperwork for the post. The panel affirmed Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Lita M. Popke’s earlier decision.

Duggan was certified last month to run for mayor by the Detroit Election Commission, despite questions about whether he moved to Detroit from Livonia in time to meet residency requirements. Accountant and mayoral candidate Tom Barrow first raised the complaint.

Duggan and his team are working on their next move. This e-mail went out to reporters this afternoon:

After receiving word that the Michigan Court of Appeals has affirmed Judge Popke's ruling that he is ineligible to appear on the August 6th ballot for Mayor, Mike Duggan will take the rest of today to consider his options and address the media at 10:00 AM Wednesday, June 19, 2012 at his campaign headquarters at 2751 E. Jefferson Ave.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway said today the trial of Detroit Police officer Joseph Weekley ended with a hung jury.

Weekly was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of seven year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in 2010.

According to Elisha Anderson of the Detroit Free Press, the jurors sent a note to Hathaway earlier today as they deliberated, saying there was no "significant movement." The jury was "stuck."

Ford Motor Company recently started testing its cars with the help of robots.

The company does robotic testing on vehicles for durability at the Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo, according to a recent story from MLive.

Michael Wayland reported that Ford has used robots to test drive eight of its vehicles, including several truck models as well as the Fiesta.