The Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Some Michigan residents saw lower heating bills this winter because of reduced natural gas prices and milder temperatures.

The Michigan Public Service Commission announced Friday that households that use natural gas for heating received lower heating bills. Nearly 80 percent of all Michigan households use natural gas to heat their homes.

The Michigan Supreme Court says it will consider the legality of a city's zoning ordinance that prohibits the use, manufacture or cultivation of medical marijuana.

The court issued an order Wednesday agreeing to hear an appeal filed by the city of Wyoming in the Grand Rapids area. Justices want to know if the zoning ordinance is superseded by Michigan's 2008 voter-approved medical marijuana law.

Significantly, the court also plans to consider if the state law is pre-empted by a federal law that makes marijuana use illegal.

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - The lawyer for a man charged in a series of shootings on and off Interstate 96 in Michigan says his client will undergo an independent psychiatric examination.

Attorney Doug Mulkoff told Oakland County Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris on Thursday that he was in the process of arranging the evaluation for Raulie Casteel.

Langford Morris approved a request for a pre-trial date, now set for May 30.

Casteel faces 60 charges, including attempted murder, linked to shootings in Commerce Township and Wixom.

Two dozen random shootings occurred last fall in a four-county area. One man was hurt.

In a separate but related case, the Michigan attorney general's office is prosecuting Casteel on terrorism and other charges in Livingston County.

Defense attorneys say Casteel is married with no criminal history.

Today U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds denied Bobby Ferguson's request that he be released on bond while he awaits sentencing.

Ferguson was convicted alongside former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on multiple felony counts including racketeering.

Edmunds said he might be a flight risk.

More from the Associated Press:

Federal prosecutors opposed the request from Ferguson. His lawyer had argued that Ferguson wasn't a flight risk or danger to the public...

Edmunds last month denied a request from Kilpatrick to be released on bond while he awaits sentencing.

The Detroit Free Press has reported that family members and friends have offered up their homes as collateral to ensure Ferguson would show up for his sentencing hearing.

Apparently, Edmunds was not convinced.

DETROIT (AP) - A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by five Macomb County residents against the Detroit Institute of Arts over admission fees to a special exhibition.

Macomb County Circuit Court Judge John C. Foster ruled Wednesday the residents didn't have standing to sue and said the cultural institution didn't violate the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.

The residents who sued say they're considering more legal options.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) - The Soaring Eagle Casino is planning a new website that won't take bets for money unless Congress changes restrictions on online gambling.

The casino's marketing director Raul Venegas tells the Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant that the website will be for marketing and fun.

Venegas says the casino has "no intentions to offer real money gaming online, but people can play for free."

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that a long-running lawsuit can continue that challenges the system of appointing lawyers for criminal defendants who can't afford them.

In a 2-1 decision released Wednesday, the court says a lower judge was OK to reject the state's contention that the case shouldn't be granted class-action status.

The suit says the rights of poor people have been violated because of the paltry pay for court-appointed lawyers.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A state report says physical hazards remain in the former copper mining region of Michigan's western Upper Peninsula.

The Michigan Department of Community Health says Tuesday it has finished two reports about public health conditions in and around the Torch Lake Superfund site in Houghton County and Keweenaw County.

The site was polluted with waste rock during mining operations from the 1890s to 1960s.The reports include responses to questions raised during a public comment period last year.

One describes physical hazards remaining from mining activities and recommends removing them or restricting access.

The other deals with potential chemical exposure from municipal and private drinking water. It says municipal water is safe and meets applicable standards and regulations, but there isn't enough information about chemical levels in some private wells.

ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) - Authorities evacuated the smaller of two terminals at Detroit Metropolitan Airport for about two hours and detained one person as a bomb squad responded to a suspicious item at a security checkpoint.

The airport says the item was found at a Transportation Security Administration screening checkpoint at 5:50 a.m. at the airport's North Terminal in Romulus. The check-in lobby was shut down.

The bomb squad left the terminal with the item, which had been in an X-ray machine, and travelers were allowed to return about 8:20 a.m.

FLINT, Mich. (AP) - A newspaper's analysis says that many vacant Flint buildings that caught fire since 2008 ended up burning multiple times.

The Flint Journal reports Monday that of the 1,631 suspicious fires at vacant buildings in the city from 2008 to 2012, more than a quarter involved structures that burned multiple times. In all, 416 structures caught fire multiple times during the period.

The report comes as Flint deals with a high rate of fires that's stretched thin the fire department.

The changes affect doctors, 131,000 medical marijuana patients and 27,000 caregivers, who grow the drug for patients.

These new changes were passed during the state legislature's lame-duck session last year. A super majority in the legislature approved the changes that affect the Medical Marijuana Act voters approved in 2008.

Changes for patients

Patients will have to prove they live in Michigan. They can do that through state ID, driver’s license, or voter’s registration card. Their medical marijuana cards will be good for two years instead of one.

ST. IGNACE, Mich. (AP) - The Mackinac Bridge will be lit blue at sundown Tuesday and continue to be illuminated at night for the entire month as part of an autism awareness campaign.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority is working with several corporations and organizations for "Light It Blue Michigan." All costs are paid by private donations.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan says the new corporate income tax returns it's processing are much shorter in length than other business tax returns.

The state Department of Treasury says the returns submitted to date average 17 pages. That's 41 fewer pages than the average Michigan Business Tax return.

The Corporate Income Tax approved in 2011 took effect for the 2012 tax year. Some businesses still file an MBT return because they qualify for certain tax credits.

The state says some MBT returns are longer than 1,000 pages.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan boaters and snowmobilers would be held to the same drunken driving standards as drivers under legislation introduced in the state House.

The bipartisan package of bills was introduced by Republican Reps. Matt Lori of Constantine and Dave Pagel of Berrien Springs and Democratic Rep. Andrew Kandrevas of Southgate. The legislation would set the legal blood-alcohol limit for boat, snowmobile and off-road vehicle operators at 0.08 percent.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan abortion clinics will need a state license and must check to make sure women aren't being pressured into getting an abortion under a new law.

Other regulations taking effect Sunday make clearer the proper disposal of fetal remains.

The state estimates 16 more abortion providers will need to be licensed as freestanding outpatient surgical facilities because they perform at least 120 abortions a year.