Lauren Talley

Many Michiganders like to say there are two seasons in Michigan: winter, and construction. We’re in the midst of that second season now, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing.

Crews are working to restore power after heavy storms over two days knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of Michigan homes and businesses.

A federal judge says the University of Michigan is wasting public money and shielding its president from appearing in court in a sexual misconduct case.

Judge Arthur Tarnow called for U of M president Mark Schlissel to appear for a public settlement conference in a case involving a U of M graduate student.

Authorities closed all of downtown Lapeer to traffic as police and fire crews investigate a gas leak.

Update, Thursday, May 30, 7:05 a.m.: The city of Lapeer has reopened its downtown area.

Officials lifted an evacuation order late Wednesday afternoon then re-opened the streets late Wednesday night.

Former Detroit city council member Kwame Kenyatta has died. He was 63.

Kenyatta was known for his community activism in the city, including his advocacy for black empowerment. He was a proponent of African-centered education.

Kenyatta served on the Detroit City Council from 2006 until 2013.

The state of Michigan has agreed to pay $860,000 to settle a lawsuit over the death of a prisoner who killed herself.

Janika Edmond killed herself in 2015 at an Ann Arbor-area women's prison.

The lawsuit says prison staff members failed to respond properly to a threat of suicide after Edmond yelled for a suicide prevention vest.

Dianna Callahan of Flint was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest to involuntary manslaughter.

She was accused of saying, "somebody owes me lunch," after Edmond asked for the vest.

Hunting deer in the city of Ann Arbor will continue as a way to control the deer population.

The Ann Arbor City Council met Monday night and rejected an amendment to stop the deer management program. The vote came after supporters and opponents of the hunts involving sharpshooters voiced their opinions on the issue.

The state's insurance regulator will review how auto insurers use non-driving factors to set rates.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered the Department of Insurance and Financial Services to determine whether it's legal for car insurance companies to use education, credit scores and other non-driving factors when setting rates.

Whitmer also directed the department to look at how auto insurers price policies when medical coverage is coordinated with drivers' health insurance.

Members of the Michigan Senate were busy Thursday passing more bills during the legislature's lame-duck session. Here’s what you need to know.

Members of the Michigan House were busy quickly passing bills in its lame-duck session until 3:30 am Thursday morning. Here's a round up of what they passed.  

Detroit and Buffalo will each receive $50 million from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation to improve waterfront parks.

The West Riverfront Park in Detroit will be renamed for Wilson, who lived in Metro Detroit and was best known for owning the NFL's Buffalo Bills.

Governor Rick Snyder announced Friday the state will stop asking job applicants and people seeking certain occupational licenses to check a box if they have been convicted of a felony.

He also will sign an executive order directing state departments and agencies to remove the felony question box from applications for state employment.

He said the types of state licenses affected include those for plumbers, electricians, barbers and cosmetologists.

A federal appeals court restored a law Wednesday that bans Michigan voters from checking a single box to vote for all of a party's candidates.

That means in the November general election they’ll have to select each individual candidate.

Officials in northern Michigan are working to remove an invasive plant that poisons monarch butterflies.

The black swallow-wort is a vine with heart-shaped leaves and small, dark purple flowers.

Border patrol agents arrested a Canadian man accused of bringing people across the border through a railroad tunnel between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

Prosecutors say five people paid Juan Antonio Garcia-Jimenez $1,500 each to smuggle them in to the U.S.

Hundreds of faculty at Ferris State University plan to strike today – the first day of classes – after negotiations failed to produce a new contract.

The contract with the union representing 450 tenured faculty members expired in June.

A man who built a towing empire in Metro Detroit is now serving time in prison.

A federal judge sentenced Gasper Fiore to 21 months Thursday.

He's among the 20 defendants in an investigation into public corruption in Macomb County.

A lawsuit over a transgender person using the women's locker room at a gym can continue.

The Michigan Appeals Court says Yvette Cormier can argue that her rights were violated under the state's consumer-protection law.

Cormier says a Planet Fitness in Midland terminated her membership after she told other women about a transgender gym member who was using the women's locker room.

Flooding in the Upper Peninsula earlier this month prompted Governor Rick Snyder to declare a second state of disaster for Houghton County.

The declaration will open up additional resources and money for areas that were still recovering from severe flooding in June.

That flooding washed away large chunks of concrete and asphalt, damaged homes, and killed a 12-year-old boy.

Several roads that had already been repaired were damaged again this month.

A Dearborn man has been arrested in Syria on suspicion of fighting for the Islamic State.

American-backed forces captured Ibraheem Musaibli earlier this month.

The New York Times says that authorities are working to prosecute him in the United States. He's currently being held in an undisclosed facility.

Musaibli has been described as a high school dropout who moved to Yemen before traveling to Syria in 2015.

Several mid-Michigan communities have issued burn bans because of the recent hot, dry weather.

In Genesee County, the latest additions to the list include Mount Morris Township, Grand Blanc and Grand Blanc Township.

Some communities in Saginaw County also already have burn bans in place and there are county-wide bans in Bay and Midland counties.

The restrictions will continue until further notice.

The future of the Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle in the Detroit River is uncertain after its contract expired this year.

Belle Isle has hosted the Grand Prix periodically since 1992 and annually since 2012.

This week, race officials will make their pitch to the Belle Isle Advisory Committee to continue the race.

The Grand Prix pays $200,000 each year and race officials say they've improved the island by building two bridges and fixing the roads.

The state says warm weather is partly to blame for an increase in the number of legionella-related illnesses – including Legionnaires’ disease – across Michigan.

From January 1 through July 6, the state Department of Health and Human Services confirmed 135 cases.

That compares with 107 cases during the same period last year.

MDHHS is investigating the cases with local health departments.

The bacteria that causes Legionnaires' grows faster in warming, stagnant waters, so it's most common in the summer and early fall.

Wayne State University has confirmed two contract workers on a construction project have been diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease.

That’s a total of three diagnosed cases in two months.

In May, a university employee was diagnosed with the pneumonia-like illness.

Wayne State began testing its water systems soon after that.

Legionnaires' is not contagious, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It's contracted by breathing in mist containing legionella bacteria.

Students at Flint Community Schools will continue drinking bottled water during the upcoming academic year, but the schools are looking for some help.

That's because some tests this spring showed water in district buildings still has elevated levels of lead.

Students have been drinking bottled water since the city's water crisis became public.

School officials told the Flint Journal they can provide bottled water through the fall, but they're looking for "community and corporate partners" to contribute after funding runs out.

Another Michigan community is pushing back against wind turbines. In Monitor Township, the Board of Trustrees unanimously passed a moratorium on building wind turbines Monday night.

More than 400 residents attended the meeting. Residents said they're concerned the turbines could lower their property values. They're also worried about the noise and possible effects to their health.

Twenty wind farms have already been built in Michigan, including farms in Huron, Saginaw, and Bay counties.

Two people died and one person was injured when a small plane crashed in a neighborhood on Detroit's east side Sunday.