October 12, 2020 Near the friendly Village of Luther in rural west Michigan, the FBI says a hateful plot to abduct the state’s governor was afoot. While children were lapping cones at Luther’s Daisy Dips ice cream shop, the FBI in a court filing said bombs made from pennies, fireworks and gunpowder were being detonated in a field in the town to see how useful they might be to kill people. The FBI affidavit stems from a multi-state investigation that began in early 2020 and led to the arrest of 13 people with connections to a militia calling itself the Wolverine Watchmen. MORE A new poll from a partnership of Midwest universities found President Donald Trump closing in on Democratic rival Joe Biden’s lead in key battleground states Trump won in 2016. Baldwin Wallace University’s Community Research Institute released its fourth poll of voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, four swing states that handed Trump an Electoral College victory. The poll, conducted between Sept. 30 and Oct. 8, found Biden with a 7 percentage point lead in Michigan, which shrunk by one point since the previous poll was taken between Sept. 8 to Sept. 22. MORE ►Trump criticizes Whitmer after FBI foiled plot to kidnap Michigan governor Our winter friend or foe, the Polar Vortex, has re-formed and is ready to be watched for the winter. The Polar Vortex is a swirling area of wind that is most often centered over the North Pole. We know however that occasionally the Polar Vortex either moves off the polar region toward southeastern Canada or Asia. The Polar Vortex can also move off of being centered over the North Pole by stretching into two lobes- one lobe dipping toward Asia and one lobe dipping toward southeast Canada. Finally, there is also the occasion of the Polar Vortex breaking up into multiple smaller circulations. MORE ►La Niña is getting stronger for our winter; Updated study shows the effects It began as a mild case of coronavirus in a 32-year-old who has no pre-existing conditions and works part time as a yoga instructor. Today, after four cardiac arrests, 11 days on a heart-lung machine and 30 days at University of Michigan Hospital, Clare Carr feels lucky to be alive. “I’m grateful they were able to save my life,” Clare said. “I’m also scared because I don’t know why I got so sick. I feel like there’s so many unknowns and unanswered questions.” MORE Michigan militia members have been accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and potentially kill other state officials in an effort to overturn the government, according to a criminal affidavit filed in federal court by the FBI. According to an Oct. 6 FBI filing in the U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan, 15 militia members from “several states,” including two from Michigan, met in Dublin, Ohio on June 6 to discuss taking violent action against multiple state governments that they believe are violating the U.S. Constitution. Here is the FBI timeline of what went down: WATCH Get your local news 24/7 Connect with MLive To ensure receipt of our emails, please add newsletters@update.mlive to your address book or safe sender list. |