THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 |
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In today's newsletter, Michigan State Police halt blood tests for marijuana over accuracy concerns, U.S. Education under secretary gets first-hand look at Michigan university's prison degree program, and despite BP oil refinery fire, Michigan gas prices keep sliding. |
It's a new month, let's try something new |
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Twenty-one of the 4,000 beagles rescued from a Virginia research facility have been adopted by West Michigan families since arriving in early August. Read more about their journey here. (Harbor Human Society) |
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Michigan State Police halt blood tests for marijuana over accuracy concerns |
The Michigan State Police Crime lab notified prosecutors across the state that there’s a problem with marijuana testing in blood. The toxicology test confuses CBD, which does not induce a high, with THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana. Potential impact: State police have not revealed what they believe caused the problem but say it has existed since at least March 2019. Several thousand criminal cases may be impacted by the revelation.
More in public interest: Four police officers are facing criminal charges stemming from the alleged assault of a handcuffed Saginaw man during a traffic stop earlier this year. |
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U.S. Education under secretary gets first-hand look at Michigan university’s prison degree program |
Seeing is believing: Following a four-hour tour on the grounds of Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility, James Kvaal, under secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, came away feeling “impressed” with the Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI) program, which is conducted in partnership with the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Why the visit? Kvaal and his office were interested in how Second Chance Pell grants have affected the program as the department is reinstating Pell eligibility for prisoners in 2023.
Program background: CPI is a five-year program, run through Calvin University, that gives an opportunity for a Christian liberal arts education to prisoners. In May, the program hosted its first graduation ceremony, highlighting the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022. |
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Despite BP oil refinery fire, Michigan gas prices keep sliding |
Still going down: Regular fuel is selling for $3.84 per gallon on average in Michigan – three cents cheaper than last week and 39 cents cheaper than a month ago. Despite recent events: Prices haven’t been impacted so far by a nearby oil refinery being temporarily shut down due to a fire. The BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana, had to close Aug. 24 when a fire to an electrical system led to a loss of utilities in other parts of the refinery. Other sources of fuel:While the Whiting facility is the sixth-largest in the nation, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said there’s fuel flowing to the Great Lakes region from two other refineries in Illinois. |
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Rentals top $1,800 a night to stay in Ann Arbor for Michigan football games. |
Rise in demand: The University of Michigan’s first home football game is just around the corner, meaning fans are seeking places to stay in Ann Arbor. And their rising demand for vacation rentals is pushing rates to as much as $1,800 a night, according to vacation rental company Vrbo.
A weekend gateway for football fans: Rates for football weekend rentals in Ann Arbor, a fall destination due to Wolverine home games, are more than double this year compered to 2019, with the average daily rate reaching $573, Vrbo officials said. With the boom in traffic, here's how to navigate street closures and construction for the big day.
Speaking of the Wolverines: Are you wondering why is Michigan football’s nonconference schedule so bad? It ranks as one of the easiest in college football, how did we get here?
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Michigan expects to have omicron-targeted COVID booster shots next week |
Getting more shots: After getting authorized by FDA, Michigan expects to have doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters as soon as early next week.
How many? Michigan has been allocated up to 189,900 doses of Pfizer’s bivalent booster, which includes the same mRNA base from the developer’s original vaccine, plus components of the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. The latter variants account for nearly all cases throughout the country in recent weeks.
More in COVID-19: The U.S. government will stop taking orders for free-at-home COVID-19 tests starting Friday.
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Thanks for joining us on another edition of Morning Briefing.
Remember, you can always find the latest Michigan news at MLive.com. And here's a link to become an MLive subscriber.
A three-day weekend is just around the corner, until then, have a great day!
— Jamie Rewerts |
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