Detroit News at noon: Kalamazoo aftermath, snow on way
The Detroit News
It's Monday, February 22, 2015. Snow is on the way, and here's what you need to know.
Kalamazoo shooting
- The man believed to be behind the Kalamazoo area rampage, Jason Dalton, is expected to be arraigned today. Dalton, an Uber driver, drove to three locations in the Kalamazoo area and shot several people, killing at least six and wounding two for no apparent reason, police say. The community remains stunned, and Uber has gone on the defensive.
- Reporter Francis X. Donnelly is out in Kalamazoo and will have the latest.
- The Associated Press is keeping track of the latest mass shootings. For more, click here.
Flint water crisis
- When Gov. Rick Snyder apologized for Flint’s water crisis during his State of the State address last month, Flint City Councilman Eric Mays felt faintly vindicated. Mays was one of the first elected officials to raise questions about the water and, for 13 months, was often a solitary political voice as he railed about its quality, residents said.
- In the meantime, federal officials say there continue to be delays in Michigan and Flint’s compliance with the emergency order issued a month ago by the Environmental Protection Agency in response to the city’s water crisis. The mayor of Flint said the city is doing everything it can to comply.
- As the crisis continues, we're learning more about other cities that are having problems with lead in the water. A decade before Flint, Michigan, there was Rhode Island, a tiny state that took a daring plunge by suing the paint industry to seek money for cleaning up a danger lurking on walls and windowsills in up to 80 percent of its homes.The landmark lawsuit is once again in the spotlight.
- For complete coverage of the Flint water crisis, click here.
Political happenings
- Fresh off a victory Saturday in the South Carolina primary, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign is building a network of grassroots supporters in Michigan ahead of the March 8 primary.
- A Detroit News/WDIV-TV statewide poll conducted a week ago showed Trump capturing 25 percent support and leading a six-man Republican primary race that winnowed to five on Saturday after former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush dropped out following a fourth-place finish in the South Carolina primary.
- Trump had a 10-percentage-point lead over U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in the Detroit News/WDIV survey of 600 likely Michigan Republican presidential primary voters. Although Trump holds the lead among those polled, women are much less enthused than men about the bombastic New York billionaire with less than three weeks until the March 8 election.
- Getting back to Bush, despite amassing a campaign war chest that topped $150 million between his campaign and super political action committee, Bush’s bid to follow his brother and father into the presidency was overshadowed by the rise of Trump’s headline-grabbing campaign. And in Michigan, Bush couldn't attract enough new supporters to make a bid.
- And on the Democratic side: Actor Morgan Freeman narrates a new TV ad for Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign that invokes images of Flint’s water contamination crisis and features Clinton speaking at an African-American church earlier this month.
Amber alert update
- Police are still not confirming whether the bodies of a woman and a child found Saturday in a burned house on the city’s east side were those of missing 4-year-old girl Savannah Walker and her mother. But the man sought by police in their disappearance turned himself in at a Detroit precinct Sunday morning and remains in custody.
In sports
- Sunday was a rough day for our local teams: Michigan fought and fought and it fought some more, but couldn't overcome Maryland, ultimately losing 86-82.
- A career-best performance from the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis, who had 59 points and 20 rebounds, might just be the final straw for a Pistons team fighting to make the playoffs. Detroit looked defenseless in the 111-106 loss. Making this worse, Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton have been Pistons for three days but haven’t played in a game yet. Whether they ever will don a Pistons jersey still is in question. Rod Beard breaks down all the Pistons storylines in his Monday Drive.
- Even though Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard was stellar in Sunday's game against the Rangers, it wasn't enough. The team lost in overtime, getting shut out 1-0.
- Things are looking up for one team, however. The Tigers are back in Lakeland, Florida, for spring training and they've got lots of good pitching options. Like, lots.
- Meet the future Miss Basketball (most likely, anyway): Kysre Gondrezick, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, is closing in on becoming the first player in girls basketball history to average 40 points per game in a single season.
The lighter side
- Have you ever seen an ad for a new car and thought to yourself, "did they even run that name past a focus group?" Mike Martinez and Mike Wayland were wondering about this. Then they talked to an expert on how cars get their names. Check it out in this week's Miked Up podcast.
- Most people, if they were involved in a plane crash, would probably give up piloting. And the Rev. Steven Stam has, but it took two more crashes for him to make his decision.
- Do you have a dog? Is it a Labrador retriever? No, we're not a bunch of psychics... it's just that labs have been America's favorite (pure breed) dogs for a quarter century. And they continue to be tops, although French bulldogs and some lesser-known breeds are climbing the popularity ladder.
Detroit News at noon is a daily roundup of the biggest stories from www.detroitnews.com. Get updates any time by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. We're also on Instagram (@detroitnews) and Snapchat (Search for DetroitNews).