Mark Brush

In a new single, young Ann Arbor rapper Prol'e declares that Ann Arbor is "the land of the talented," and he'd like you to put your hands up if you live in 'AceDeuce.'

(warning: explicit lyrics)

From Prol'e's Facebook page:

im a 19 year old rapper , started rapping in elementary school then started recording in middle school. learning from trial error , ive perfected my craft with the tools that i have to create and post great music .

This picture is making the rounds on Facebook.

It was posted on the Michigan Whitetail Pursuit page and has been shared more than 3,000 times.

The animal was so big, I wasn't sure if the photo was manipulated. I checked in with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to find the story behind the photo.

It's legit, according to Ed Golder of the MDNR.

"This picture is of one of our conservation officers from Iron County in the Upper Peninsula. The wolf he is holding was hit by a car near Watersmeet in Gogebic County," said Golder.

"Tribal police were the primary responding agency. The wolf will go to an Upper Peninsula tribe so it can be mounted and displayed for educational purposes.

The wolf -- which was healthy and in good shape -- weighed about 100 pounds but looks bigger in the photo because of its full winter coat."

That's a warm winter coat.

- H/T to Sarah Hulett

House Bill 4187 was introduced by state Rep. Joel Johnson (R-Clare).

It would require that a woman have a "diagnostic ultrasound examination of the fetus at least two hours before an abortion is performed."

Today, State House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) announced the House wouldn't take it up.

More from MPRN's Jake Neher:

Bolger says his chamber will not approve any bills requiring women to have a transvaginal ultrasound when seeking an abortion.

He says a bill in the state House goes too far. Ari Adler is a spokesperson for House Speaker Bolger.

"The speaker is very interested in making sure that women have the latest technology available to them for their support, but he is not in support of requiring a transvaginal ultrasound in order for a woman to have an abortion," said Adler.

House Democratic leader Tim Greimel applauded the move. He called the procedure invasive, unnecessary, and unwarranted.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has been arguing that seven of the eleven school board members on the Detroit school board are holding office illegally and he wants them removed.

He lost a challenge in court early this week.

Chastity Pratt Dawsey reports for the Detroit Free Press that "Wayne Circuit Court Judge John Gillis Jr. denied State Attorney General Bill Schuette’s motion for summary disposition and granted the school board’s motion, effectively allowing the school board to continue to hold office."

In a statement released today, the attorney for the school board, George Washington, called the lawsuit bogus:

George B. Washington, attorney for the Detroit School Board, said “We are glad that this lawsuit has been exposed as the bogus claim that it always was. Attorney General Schuette and Governor Snider [sic] filed this lawsuit to prevent the largely black and Latino citizens of Detroit from having any say over their own schools. The Attorney General should not appeal this decision and he and the Governor should stop trying to destroy elected government in the City of Detroit."

Schuette has argued that the Detroit school board members cannot be elected by district, because state law requires that a school district have 100,000 students or more to elect board members that way.

It's the difference between a "first class" school district, and a "general powers" school district.

He's argued that Detroit hasn’t met that threshold since 2008.

In his decision, Judge Gillis Jr. wrote that the state code does not address what should happen in a district where student enrollment has declined.

Want to know someone's priorities? Follow the money.

Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled his vision for the state by delivering his proposed budget today to the state Legislature.

"Sixty-one percent of the total investments we’re recommending are either for savings or education. This is a responsible budget. This is a budget to look to that long term, and learn from our past mistakes," said Snyder.

Here are some of the highlights of his budget proposals:

Taxes for road repair and maintenance

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will unveil his budget this morning at 11 a.m.

Then the leaders in the Legislature will wrestle with the numbers and push their priorities for state spending and income.

Watch Snyder's budget unveiling here:

Gov. Snyder releases his numbers today

At 11 a.m., Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to unveil his budget to the state Legislature. It'll then be up to those representatives to wrestle with the numbers and come up with a final budget for the state. Among the things he's expected to call for:

• After years of cuts, he'll call for a 2 percent increase in public education funding
• More funding for road construction
• And an expansion of Medicaid

More details emerge on I-75 crash, trooper saves one girl

More details came out yesterday on the deadly pileup on I-75 near Detroit the morning of Jan. 31.

A whiteout caused 12 crashes involving 43 cars on the Interstate. There were 12 injuries and 3 fatalities.

This morning, the Detroit News has more on Michigan State Trooper Seth Swanson's actions:

After failing to find a pulse on the first two children, Swanson went to the other side of the car, broke out the rear window with a hammer and reached in to see if the third child, a 10-year-old girl, was still alive. She had a faint pulse.

He cleared her airway and administered rescue breaths until she finally took a deep breath and regained consciousness.

And more snow is on the way, so drive carefully

Snow is expected for the entire state starting this evening. The middle of the state is expected to get the most snowfall. From the National Weather Service:

This system has the potential to generate heavy snowfall. 7 to 11 inches is expected north of M 46 and near Lake Huron, while 3 to 8 inches is possible for areas across the rest of Southeast Lower Michigan.

Mark Torregrossa from MLive says computer models for storms like this can predict higher snowfalls. His prediction is 4 to 9 inches for the middle of the state, and 1 to 4 inches for the rest of the state.

Michigan courts are arguing over one of those gray areas.

A police officer comes into your home to check on you, but then finds something illegal and charges you with a crime.

That happened to a man in Hazel Park.

According to the Associated Press, police came to check on Eric Hill after a neighbor told police Hill had not been seen for several days and his cats were looking out the window.

Once inside, police discovered marijuana growing in his closet and charged him with drug crimes.

The organizers behind the annual international ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan are going to Minnesota to seek pitches from the arts community there.

The person or group with the winning pitch will receive $5,000 to install their work at the Gillett Bridge in Grand Rapids for this year's ArtPrize event, according to the Associated Press.

ArtPrize organizers say they will hold an "ArtPrize Pitch Night" in Minneapolis. They say the process will be modeled on "5x5" events in Grand Rapids in which entrepreneurs have five minutes to pitch their idea to five judges.

Here's more from their website:

General Motors reported today it sold more than 300,000 vehicles in the month of January, 2013 - it's best month in China ever.

From a GM press release:

General Motors and its joint ventures sold more than 300,000 vehicles in a single month for the first time ever in China last month. January sales totaled 310,765 units, an increase of 26.0 percent from the same month in 2012 and 15.9 percent above the previous all-time monthly high of 268,035 units in January 2011.

Domestic sales by Shanghai GM and SAIC-GM-Wuling, and their Buick, Chevrolet and Wuling brands all set new single-month records as well in January.

The company wholly owns two foreign enterprises in China, and has 12 joint ventures.

It employs more than 55,000 people in China.

Political winds flame gun and ammo sales in Michigan

President Obama called on Congress and the American public to support new gun control plans yesterday in Minneapolis. While public support for some kinds of gun control measures is up, others continue to stock up fearing coming gun restrictions.

MLive reports gun and ammunition sales are surging as gun control political winds blow:

In December, the FBI ran 59,445 background checks for guns sales in Michigan, the highest monthly total in the state since the database started in 1998. The second highest monthly total was October 2001 when the FBI ran 46,270 background checks.

Michigan leaders want changes to state's no-fault insurance

If you're seriously injured in an automobile accident in Michigan, the current insurance laws in the state set you up with lifetime medical and rehabilitation coverage for your injuries. But state lawmakers want that changed.

This morning, the Detroit News profiles Sam Howell. He's benefiting from the state's current insurance laws. The News points out why Gov. Snyder and other lawmakers think changes to the current system are necessary:

Snyder says the reforms are necessary to rein in no-fault auto insurance rates in Michigan that rank among the highest in the country — particularly in Detroit — and tackle a $2 billion unfunded liability in the state's catastrophic auto accident fund the insurance industry says is unsustainable without severe cost controls.

As Michigan Radio's Lester Graham has reported, many things influence overall insurance rates in the state, and some argue if these benefits are capped, taxpayers will step in to foot the bill:

Opponents also say capping injury benefits will force the most severely injured accident victims to turn to Medicaid and welfare once they reach the insurance cap and exhaust all their family resources. They estimate it will shift $30 million a year to taxpayers.

Snowmobile event in upper Michigan canceled in wake of Caleb Moore's death

Michigan's Turtle Creek Casino and Hotel near Traverse City was planning to hold a snowmobile freestyle event this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 8 and 9), but the group overseeing the event has canceled in the wake of the tragic death of snowmobile freestyler Caleb Moore.

More from the Detroit Free Press:

The ISOC, which overseas and promotes snocross racing with the AMSOIL Championship Snocross series, has also withdrawn snowmobile freestyle competition from Wisconsin's Lake Geneva Resort stop March 15-16.

Moore, 25, died in hospital from injuries suffered when his snowmobile landed on top of him after he crashed attempting a back flip on his 500-pound machine in men's snowmobile freestyle Jan. 24 in Aspen, Colo. It was the first death in the 18-year history of the X Games.

The Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to take up a bill this week that would expand DNA testing in the state.

Senate Bill 105 would require people to provide a DNA sample when they are arrested for committing or attempting to commit a crime that is considered a felony or "for which the offender may be punished by imprisonment for more than one year."

The bill was introduced by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) last week.

Schuitmaker’s office says the bill would make DNA collection the same as fingerprint collection.

The Michigan Public Service Commission today approved replacing a 16o mile section of an oil pipeline that ruptured in 2010.    This is the third and final phase of the project. 

The company is expected to install the new pipeline later this year.  It will stretch from Berrien County in the west to St. Clair County in the east.    The new pipeline will replace the section of pipe that broke near Marshall nearly two and a half years ago.

Enbridge’s pipeline replacement project has run into some opposition, mainly from people who don’t like having no say over having the pipeline built on their property.

“Enbridge is working with homeowners on addressing some concerns where they can…they are making changes to accommodate people’s concerns," says Judy Palnau, a Michigan Public Service Commission spokeswoman.

The Kalamazoo River continues to recover from the 2010 oil spill. 

Cleanup crews have removed more than a million gallons of crude oil from along more than 30 miles of the river.

Enbridge issued a statement praising the MPSC's decision:

This replacement project will restore the ultimate capacity of the Line 6B pipeline to meet increasing demand for additional transportation capacity, which is largely driven by current and planned refinery upgrades and expansions in Michigan, Ohio and eastern Canada. In addition, the replacement project will reduce the amount of future maintenance activities that would otherwise be required to maintain the integrity of the pipeline. Construction is expected to begin in the spring.

More from the Detroit Free Press:

The Michigan Public Service Commission has given Enbridge Energy the final OK to build the company’s massive oil pipeline across Michigan.

The commission’s order, which was issued today, is the last of three approvals the company had sought, and includes sections in Oakland, Macomb, Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Jackson, Ingham and St. Clair counties. The order allows the company to complete 110 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline and 50 miles of 30-inch diameter pipeline.

U.S. 23 was shut down in both directions just south of Flint after a multi-vehicle accident was caused by a snow squall. At least 20 vehicles were involved. The Detroit News reports traffic is back up and running on northbound 23 :

A dispatcher at the Flint post of the Michigan State Police said traffic was moving again on northbound U.S. 23 as of 2 p.m., and that southbound would be reopened as soon as several cars were towed from the roadway.

Crews from the Genesee County Road Commission were also called in to erect barricades to move traffic away from the area.

And WOOD-TV reports that weather conditions caused a shut down on I-94 westbound near Paw Paw, Michigan just before 2 p.m. when two semi-trucks collided.

The National Weather Service reports that snow is expected to continue to fall across much of the state into tomorrow.

As a strong cold front moves offshore over the Atlantic, the cold air behind it will help produce lake effect snow across the Great Lakes region on Thursday and Friday. As much as 5-10 inches of lake effect snow is possible through Thursday night, with additional accumulation expected on Friday. In addition, temperatures 20-40 degrees below normal are forecast for the Upper Midwest.