Oakland County

This is the worst day so far in the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan.

New state data shows the number of deaths increased by 52 to 184. And for the first time, more than 1,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in a 24-hour period. Michigan’s total number of coronavirus positive cases is now 6,498.

Oakland County’s Health Division is issuing emergency orders, immediately closing shopping malls and putting playground equipment off-limits as the number of COVID-19 cases in the county rise.   

The county is also imposing new restrictions on people entering child care facilities.

As of Saturday morning, 225 people in Oakland County have tested positive for the virus. On Friday Oakland County recorded its first coronavirus death. The 50 year old man was the fourth person in Michigan to die since the outbreak.

Oakland County’s first COVID-19 patient is "in good shape," according to county officials. The patient was tested Tuesday and the positive result came in late that night. 

Oakland County will try a new approach to providing health services to its un- and underinsured residents.

The plan, called Oakland Health 360, calls for consolidating more services at the county’s two health centers, in Southfield and Pontiac. Those will include a range of health services, including primary care, family planning, dental, and mental health services.

Oakland County has expanded its non-discrimination policy. The policy now includes gender identity, marital, familial, and veteran status.

Dave Coulter is the county executive for Oakland County. He says that expanding the policy is not just the morally correct thing to do.

Interim Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter has had a change of heart: he now says he will run for a full, four-year term in 2020.

Coulter is a Democrat. He was the mayor of Ferndale when county commissioners appointed him to fill the vacancy left by the late Republican L. Brooks Patterson back in August.

Former Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson died on Saturday, but the race to replace him is already becoming complicated and heated--and sparked public criticism from Patterson's team.

By law, Oakland County commissioners have 30 days to appoint an interim successor for Patterson. If they don’t, a special election will be held to fill the remainder of his term through 2020.

The measles outbreak in Oakland County is over.

Officials announced Wednesday that the months-long outbreak has successfully been contained.

Oakland County commissioners may be getting into a big fight over paying a small number of county employees a higher minimum wage. 

Commissioner Angela Powell wants to set a $15 per hour minimum wage for all full-time county employees. The change would affect about one percent of the county workforce.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has stage four pancreatic cancer, but plans to stay in office through the end of his term while seeking treatment.

Patterson made that announcement at an emotional news conference at the county building named after him on Tuesday. He also announced that he won’t run for an eighth term in 2020.

Michigan doctors hope to use the measles outbreak in Oakland County to encourage parents to get more children vaccinated.

Michigan ranks near the middle of the pack among states for measles vaccination rates.

Southeast Michigan’s largest water system is turning to new technology to detect faulty water mains before they fail.

A year ago, a massive water main break disrupted 11 communities in western Oakland County.

In order to avoid similar problems in the future, the Great Lakes Water Authority is launching a pilot program to use acoustic technology to inspect the interior of large water mains. The sensors will try to detect leaks, gas pockets and structural weakness.

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments general assembly has adopted a plan aimed at protecting the region's water resources.

The plan emphasizes the importance of integrated management of water resources to advance tourism, recreation, economic development, protection of natural resources and water infrastructure.

Natural resources priorities include preventing and controlling invasive species and preserving and restoring more than 340,000 acres (137,600 hectares) of wetlands.

The Oakland County sheriff's office says it's responded to five possible school shooting threats in the span of just five days.

Sheriff Mike Bouchard says it's not unusual to get more "copycat" threats after a school shooting like the recent one in Florida.

"It's sad,” he says. “It's incredibly sad to think that other people want to either emulate it, or get attention from it, or think it's ok."

A new lawsuit says Michigan’s property tax foreclosure laws are unconstitutional and amount to “government sanctioned theft.”

The case was filed this week on behalf of two men who lost Oakland County properties to foreclosure.

One of the men, Uri Rafaeli, lost a rental property in Southfield when he miscalculated the amount of interest he owed on 2011 property taxes by $8.41. Oakland County foreclosed, then sold the home for $24,500.

The mandatory boil water advisory affecting more than 300,000 Oakland County residents won’t be lifted Friday as originally planned.

The Great Lakes Water Authority says it’s made “great progress” repairing the broken water transmission main that caused system pressure drop, prompting the boil water advisory to be issued early Tuesday.

The Great Lakes Water Authority says more than 300,000 Oakland County residents currently under a boil water advisory should expect it to last for at least another two days. That's the bad news.

Good news is, repairs are underway, hospital clinics and most schools are reopening, and water pressure has been restored to all but some 35,000 Farmington Hills residents (that's as of Wednesday afternoon.)

Twelve men face federal charges for their alleged roles in an Oakland County-based drug ring that’s linked to at least one overdose death.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Detroit unsealed an indictment against the men Wednesday.

The indictment alleges the men were part of a “drug trafficking organization known as the TEAM.” The “TEAM” was reportedly a merger of two former street gangs who “joined together to distribute heroin” starting in 2010.