News

By AP

WASHINGTON (AP) – WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republican leaders have accepted a challenge from President Barack Obama and suggested more than $23 billion in spending cuts over the next five years.

The GOP's proposed cuts are being sent to the White House today.

By AP

JERUSALEM (AP) – JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel says it hopes that President Barack Obama's historic speech in Cairo will lead to a "new era of reconciliation" with the Arab world.

In its first reaction to the speech, the Israeli government said it shares Obama's hope that his outreach to the Muslim world will be "the beginning of the end" of conflict and lead to general Arab recognition of Israel.

By AP

NEW YORK – NEW YORK (AP) - Chrysler and soon-to-be-former dealers duke it out in a New York courtroom today.

Chrysler wants a bankruptcy judge to allow it to terminate the franchise agreements of 789 of its dealers.

Dealers protest that the move could shutter their businesses for good.

Judge Arthur Gonzalez is expected to hear testimony from Chrysler LLC executives and dealers during what's expected to be a lengthy hearing.

By Melissa Ingells, WKAR News

FORT WAYNE, IN – (FORT WAYNE, IN) - The Lansing Lugnuts lost the second of four games to the Fort Wayne TinCaps last night, 3-0, at Parkview Field.

The Lugnuts and TinCaps play the third game in their four-game series tonight at 7:05 p.m.

The Lugnuts are 18-32.

By AP

DETROIT (AP) – DETROIT (AP) - Josh Beckett did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning and David Ortiz hit a two-run double, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 10-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

The Red Sox, though, lost Kevin Youkilis to a freak injury in the eighth inning. Youkilis was stretching for a throw at first when Josh Anderson appeared to step on the back of his right ankle.

By AP

PITTSBURGH (AP) – PITTSBURGH (AP) - Detroit Red Wings Red Wings coach Mike Babcock says forward Kris Draper is well enough to play in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals tonight.

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the visiting Wings 4-2 Tuesday night, cutting Detroit's series lead to 2-1.

Another injured Detroit player is doing better as well.

Pavel Datsyuk practiced with the defending champions, and general manager Ken Holland says Datsyuk "looked good."

Holland says Datsyuk's status will be determined after this morning's skate.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (MPRN) - The Michigan Court of Appeals has dismissed a lawsuit filed against 10 police officers and the manufacturer of the Tazer device. It was filed by the family of a man who died in police custody in 2003.

John Lee Thompson died two days after two separate altercations with police officers. One was at an apartment complex and the other was after he was inside the Saginaw County Jail. Both times officers used pepper spray and Tazers to subdue him.

By AP

Lansing, MI – Lansing, MI - (AP) More than $1 billion in federal stimulus money is officially available to maintain budgets at Michigan schools and help reduce the size of other budget cuts in state programs.

The money announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education was anticipated as the state made a formal application for it earlier this spring. The cash is designed to help stabilize budgets and maintain education funding.

By AP

Detroit, MI – Detroit (AP) - A person briefed on General Motors Corp.'s production plans says the automaker is considering temporarily closing more factories this summer to keep inventory levels down as it tries to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

The person says decisions are still being made on which plants would see additional down time in the third quarter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are not final.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

Lansing, MI – Lansing, MI - (MPRN) Motorcycle enthusiasts gathered in Lansing today (Wed.) to protest Michigan's helmet law.

Members of the American Bikers Aiming Toward Education--ABATE--say the state could pull in more than a billion dollars in revenue if it got rid of the law.

By AP

NEW YORK (AP) – NEW YORK (AP) - A hearing on Chrysler's request to terminate the franchises of 789 of its dealers has been pushed back by a day.

U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez will hear arguments Thursday on the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker's motion to eliminate the franchises. Chrysler executives are also expected to testify.

The motion was expected to be heard Wednesday.

By AP

WASHINGTON (AP) – WASHINGTON (AP) - A government official says national security was not compromised when a list of government and civilian nuclear facilities was accidentally posted on the Internet.

The 266-page document was published last month as a transmission from President Barack Obama to Congress. Among the sites mentioned in the posting were a storage facility for highly enriched uranium at the Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee and some sites at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state.

By AP

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil (AP) – FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil (AP) - A Brazilian air force spokesman says more debris from the crashed Air France jet has been spotted.

The new debris includes what appears to be a seven-meter (23-foot) long chunk of the plane. But Col. Jorge Amaral says there were no obvious markings that would identify the jet.

Amaral says no bodies were seen in the latest wreckage spotted about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of where the main debris field lies.

By Scott Pohl, WKAR News

East Lansing, MI – Elmore Leonard might be America's most famous writer of crime fiction.

The author of "Get Shorty" and "Be Cool" is 83 now, and he's just published "Road Dogs", his 43rd novel.

His son, Peter Leonard, has become a published novelist, too. His second book, "Trust Me," just came out.

They'll appear together at a book-signing event Thursday night at the Schuler Book Store in the Eastwood Towne Center.

WKAR's Scott Pohl interviewed both Leonards.

By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – LANSING, MI (MPRN) - Michigan Senate Republicans put drug company immunity legislation on the backburner Tuesday, delaying action until October.

State Senate Democrats say the GOP was showing cowardice by further delaying a vote on the legislation. The bills would repeal the law protecting pharmaceutical companies from being sued over FDA-approved drugs.

But Republicans say Democrats are playing partisan games when they should be focused on budget issues and a collapsing auto industry.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

LANSING, MI – LANSING, MI (MPRN) - A state commission has identified regions bordering Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as the most promising zones in Michigan to locate wind farms.

The regions are the northern tip of the Thumb, and areas north and south of Grand Traverse Bay in northwest Michigan. The report by the Michigan Wind Energy Resource Zone board also identifies more land near the Lake Michigan shoreline and in the Thumb, as well as the Upper Peninsula's Keewanau Peninsula as areas with potential.

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI (MPRN) - A fifth prospect has entered the already-crowded field of G-O-P candidates for governor. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard has formed a campaign committee, and went on an announcement tour Wednesday.

By Rob South, WKAR News

East Lansing, MI – East Lansing, MI - (WKAR) U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says the federal government is making $27 million in grants available to communities struggling due to the decline of American automakers.

By AP

WASHINGTON (AP) – WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is asking Congress for $2 billion to help prepare for a possible swine flu pandemic.

The request is included in a huge funding bill for military and diplomatic efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama requested the new anti-flu funding out of "an abundance of caution" even as the panic surrounding the swine flu outbreak has faded considerably.

Obama also sent lawmakers a request for $200 million in humanitarian aid to Pakistan.

By AP

(FORT WAYNE, IN) – The Lansing Lugnuts beat the Fort Wayne TinCaps Tuesday night at Parkview Field, 4-3.

The Lugnuts and TinCaps play the second game of their four-game series tonight at 7:05.