News@noon: Tigers roaring back; men of valor

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016, and today Gov. Rick Snyder is giving an update on the situation in Flint.

He praised the speed at which the pipes are being replaced, but also reiterated that Flint water is safe to drink with a filter, but cannot be consumed if there is no filter. For complete details, check out the story and follow Jonathan Oosting and Michael Gerstein.

In the meantime, the U.S. House has struck a deal that could provide assistance to Flint, hoping to avert a shutdown of the federal government later this week.

Here's what else we're following today:

Telling their story

• Faith Harris-Green wants to make sure her children are known for more than the fact that they were killed by her husband. The mother of four was recently released from the hospital, but she decided not to speak to the media today at a scheduled press conference. She sent a statement instead. Here's what she had to say. 
• Her husband Gregory Green allegedly tied her up, shot her and stabbed her before making her watch as he killed her two older children. He is in jail awaiting trial. 

Schuette on schools

• Struggling Detroit schools are subject to closure by the end of the current academic year if they were among the worst performing in the state the past three years, Attorney General Bill Schuette said Wednesday in an official legal opinion.
• Schuette’s opinion contradicts a third-party analysis that Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration had said would prevent the state from shutting down any Detroit public schools until at least 2019 because they had been transferred to a new debt-free district as part of a financial rescue package legislators approved this year.

Bribery in Detroit

• The city’s ex-director of information technology services pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting more than $29,500 in bribe payments from two information technology companies providing services and personnel to the city. Charles L. Dodd Jr., who had been with the city since December 2007, resigned on Monday. He appeared before U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland on Tuesday afternoon and pleaded guilty to one count of federal program bribery. 

In the cross-hairs

• Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson finds himself and presidential hopeful Donald Trump in the cross-hairs of a political flier from the Oakland County Democratic Party. Asking “Are You Embarrassed Yet?” on one side and “You Should Be” on the other, the 6-by-11-inch red, black and white flier was sent out to an unknown number of voters this past week. Black and white photos depict a scowling Patterson and an open-mouthed Trump, accompanied by inflammatory quotes both have allegedly made over the past four years.

A new trial 

• Hours after 12-year-old Christina Brown’s body was found lying in a pool of blood on her apartment’s bathroom floor, Lamarr Monson told police he didn’t do it. The next day, he signed a confession stating he was the killer. But did he do it?
• Monson, 44, has served 20 years in prison after he was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 30-50 years. His attorneys say someone else killed Brown, and are asking for a new trial. A hearing was held Tuesday before Wayne Circuit Judge Shannon Walker, but no decision was made.

A Tigers comeback?

• The Detroit Tigers thrashed the Cleveland Indians 12-0 last night, moving one game behind the Orioles in the hunt for a wild card playoff spot. 

• Call this a reprieve if you want, or maybe a rebate. But whatever it was, and whoever that was on the field masquerading as the AL Central Division champs Tuesday night, they were a sight for sore eyes for Tigers fans. And maybe — just maybe — the Indians’ hangover can be the Tigers’ cure as they try to shake off a staggering weekend and scramble into the postseason, bucking the odds in what looks to be a three-team race for the final wild-card berth. 

'Men of valor'

• Martial arts instructor Jason Wilson became a sensation in August when a video of 9-year-old Bruce Collins III went viral, racking up nearly 1.5 million YouTube hits. In the 5-minute clip, Wilson commands Bruce to punch through a wood block. Bruce takes five swings, before succeeding and breaking down in tears. “Why are you crying?” asks Wilson, as the tears fall. “That’s what this is about son. It’s OK to cry. We cry as men.”
• Wilson, a 46-year-old native Detroiter, has been helping boys break through emotional barriers since he launched the Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy in 2008.

'Hamilton' on 'SNL'

• Alexander Hamilton is coming to “Saturday Night Live.” NBC said Wednesday that Lin-Manuel Miranda will host “SNL” on Oct. 8. Miranda created and starred in the Broadway sensation about the first U.S. treasury secretary.

Detroit News at noon is a daily roundup of the most talked-about stories on detroitnews.com. For more anytime, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, Instagram (@detroitnews), Snapchat (Search for "Detroitnews") and LinkedIn.