Disgraced ex-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has failed again in his efforts to reduce the time he's spending in federal prison for corruption.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds on Tuesday denied a motion to vacate the 28-year sentence she handed Kilpatrick in 2013 for extortion, bribery, conspiracy and other crimes during his years in office.

The 48-year-old Kilpatrick said in his motion that the court made errors during his trial that included incorrect jury instructions.

Lawmakers in the state House unanimously passed a group of bills they say will make state government more transparent.  The bills would, in some cases, open the governor’s office up to freedom of information requests. They would also create a new Legislative Open Records Act to allow for some records requests from state lawmakers.

Representative Daire Rendon (R-Lake City) is a bill sponsor. She says Michigan is one of only two states that doesn’t allow for records requests from the governor and Legislature.

“It was necessary for us to be like everyone else and make government more accountable to the state of Michigan,” says Rendon.

A former student at Detroit Country Day School accuses the school of having “a culture of systemic racism” in a new federal civil rights lawsuit.

LaNard Graham, Jr.’s family is suing Detroit Country Day, an elite private school in Oakland County. Graham was a senior student-athlete there until 2016. That’s when the Grahams say they were forced to withdraw after he was allegedly caught smoking marijuana with two other students on campus.

Arrests of undocumented immigrants have jumped over the last two years in the Detroit sector of the northern U.S. border.

According to U.S. Border Patrol statistics, there were  1,930 arrests in FY 2018 (October 1st through September 30).  That's more than two and one half times the number from two years earlier and the three years before that. About two thirds of those arrested in FY 2018 were from Mexico.

A new set of rules takes effect this week for boaters and fisherman in Michigan.

Beginning Thursday, watercraft users will be required to take steps to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared an emergency in Newaygo County.

The county was hard hit by flooding since last week from the combination of heavy rain and snowmelt.

A new digital initiative by the Michigan Department of Transportation makes bridge safety data more accessible to Michiganders.

The Michigan Bridge Conditions Dashboard provides up-to-date information on more than 11,000 bridges throughout the state, including locally-owned bridges. 

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand keeps it simple.

“I’m going to give you just two minutes on why I’m going to win, and then you can ask me any question you want,” Gillibrand told a crowd of about 200 mostly white, suburban Democratic voters in Metro Detroit Monday night.