News

By AP

LANSING, MI – State regulators have approved an average 22% rate increase for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan health insurance policies covering about 200,000 people.

The rate increases announced Thursday are significantly lower than the company initially requested for the non-group and group conversation policies typically bought by people under 65 who aren't covered by employer-based or government health plans. Blue Cross had sought rate increases averaging 42% to 56%.

By AP

OWOSSO, MI – The Shiawassee County prosecutor has pleaded guilty to a charge of drunken driving connected to a July 7 crash.

Prosecutor Randy Colbry also pleaded no contest to a second charge of failure to stop at the scene of an accident.

When asked about the incident in court Thursday, Colbry told the judge he was intoxicated from vodka at the time of the accident about 20 miles west of Flint.

By Mark Bashore, WKAR News

EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan Congressman Mark Schauer says he expects over 10,000 people---both supporters and opponents----to take part in a telephone town hall meeting Thursday evening. Speaking Thursday in Lansing before an invitation-only crowd dominated by senior-citizens, Schauer said the approach ensures that all voices are heard:

"We can have a much more productive conversation here, talking, where we don't have someone shouting to make sure we actually can't communicate," he said.

By AP

NEW YORK – Soprano Angela Gheorghiu has pulled out of the first six performances of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Bizet's "Carmen," which opens New
Year's Eve.

The Richard Eyre staging was designed around Gheorghiu, making an unusual foray into a role written for mezzo-sopranos, and her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna.

By AP

BROWNSTOWN TOWNSHIP, MI – General Motors Co. boss Fritz Henderson says a new $43 million plant in southeastern Michigan will assemble battery packs for its new rechargeable electric car.

GM's president and chief executive held a news conference this morning at the plant site in Brownstown Township, 20 miles southwest of Detroit.

GM says in a statement the factory "will produce the lithium ion battery packs for GM's future extended-range electrical vehicles, including the Chevrolet Volt."

By Mark Bashore, WKAR News

Lansing, MI – LANSING, MI (WKAR) - Area health care organizations gathered today in Lansing to address one of their industry's most significant problems: re-hospitalizations. Patients and providers alike are often unprepared for the transition from one health care setting to another. That lack of coordination can lead to sudden readmissions to hospitals that cost billions of dollars a year. But there's a local effort to improve care transitions in mid-Michigan.

AUDIO:

By WKAR

SOUTH BEND, IN – The South Bend Silver Hawks committed four costly errors that led to five unearned runs, three to tie the game in the eighth and two to lose the game in the tenth, as the Lansing Lugnuts triumphed in extra innings, 8-6, last night at Coveleski Stadium. The victory was Lansing's first of the season in 13 extra-innings games. The two teams play the third game of their four-game series tonight at 7:00 p.m.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

EAST LANSING, MI – State House Democrats have unveiled legislation that would help people living well below the poverty line deal with unpaid property taxes instead of going into foreclosure.

By AP

STANDISH, MI – A federal team is visiting a maximum-security prison in Standish that could be used to hold terrorism suspects now detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Representatives of the Defense, Justice and Homeland Security departments on Thursday morning were touring the prison in the Lower Peninsula town 145 miles north of Detroit.

The Standish facility and the military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., are being considered to house the detainees if the prison in Cuba is closed by 2010, as ordered by President Barack Obama.

By AP

BOSTON – Josh Beckett pitched seven strong innings for his major league-high 14th win, Mike Lowell and Jason Bay homered and the Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 8-2 Wednesday night.

The Red Sox won their third in a row and sent AL Central-leading Detroit to its fourth loss in five games. Boston has won seven straight against the Tigers.

By AP

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – State officials are reporting an extensive fish kill in the Black River in Michigan's Thumb area.

Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Mary Detloff said Wednesday the die-off covers a 12-mile stretch of the river in Sanilac and St. Clair counties.

Spokesman Robert McCann of the Department of Environmental Quality says it appears all fish in the affected area were wiped out.

By AP

LANSING, MI – Two Democratic Michigan congressmen plan to discuss proposed health care changes with their constituents by telephone.

Rep. Mark Schauer of Battle Creek said Wednesday he'll speak with residents Thursday evening in a conference call.

Rep. Bart Stupak of Menominee, who already held a July 29 conference call on health care with more than 3,500 constituents, plans to hold a similar call in late September.

By AP

DETROIT, MI – General Motors Co. has confirmed it will assemble battery packs for its new rechargeable electric car at a new factory in southeastern Michigan.

Company president and chief executive Fritz Henderson has called a news conference Thursday at the plant site in Brownstown Township, 20 miles southwest of Detroit.

GM says in a statement the factory "will produce the lithium ion battery packs for GM's future extended-range electrical vehicles, including the Chevrolet Volt."

South Korea's LG Chem Ltd. is making the batteries.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – A state House Judiciary subcommittee is taking testimony about what to do with a Standish maximum security prison scheduled to be closed. The two most discussed options are housing prisoners from other states or federal prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.

By Kevin Lavery, WKAR News

EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan Democrat Carl Levin says he's spending the Senate recess listening to constituents, health care providers and insurance companies to learn more about what people want from national health care reform.

By AP

DETROIT – Five Detroit Public Schools employees have been charged with embezzlement in an ongoing probe the prosecutor says is part of a "culture of corruption" at Michigan's largest district.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Wednesday each is charged with one or more counts of embezzlement.

The defendants are a clerical worker at an elementary school, a person who works in the district's controls office, a truck driver, a high school teacher's aide and a food service coordinator at an elementary school.

By AP

DETROIT – A new program to reduce Detroit homicide and crime rates has resulted in more than 200 arrests in two days.

Detroit Police - working with local, state and federal agencies - made numerous traffic stops, raided drug houses and served warrants on the city's northeast side as part of Project CRUSADERS.

Police Chief Warren Evans says the effort uses data to steer crackdowns in the city's crime hotspots. The first sweep began Monday and will continue Wednesday and Thursday.

By Mark Bashore, WKAR News

EAST LANSING, MI – Area healthcare organizations gathered Wednesday to address one of their industry's most significant problems: re-hospitalizations. Patients and providers alike are often unprepared for the transition from one healthcare setting to another. That lack of coordination can lead to sudden readmissions to hospitals that cost billions of dollars a year. WKAR's Mark Bashore reports on a local effort to improve "care transitions" in mid-Michigan.

By AP

WASHINGTON – General Motors Co. says it has submitted its executive compensation proposal to the Obama administration.

GM, along with several banks and other firms, must submit plans to compensate its 100 highest-paid employees under the terms of its government bailout. The deadline for the proposals is Thursday.

The Obama administration has appointed Kenneth Feinberg to oversee compensation at the firms. Feinberg could reject pay plans he deems excessive, and he is expected to take 60 days to review the proposals.

By AP

KALAMAZOO, MI – The storms that rolled through lower Michigan over the weekend uprooted trees, damaged buildings and left tens of thousands of homes and businesses without power.

But they also brought some much-needed rain to fruit growers in the southwestern Lower Peninsula whose orchards and vineyards suffered through a dry July.

The National Weather Service tells The Kalamazoo Gazette that more than 3.5 inches of rain fell at the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport between Friday evening and Monday morning.