Associated Press

A Delaware man charged with plotting to kidnap the governor of Michigan is asking to be released from prison as he awaits court hearings.

The News Journal in Delaware reports that federal prosecutors say in court filings that Barry Croft Jr. is a “violent extremist” and that releasing him would be “unreasonable.” Prosecutors describe Croft as one “ringleader” in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

A Michigan man who caused a woman to suffer a traumatic brain injury when he slammed her to the ground after a road-rage incident has been ordered to pay more than $390,000 in medical restitution.

The fine was imposed Wednesday by a judge during a hearing in which Eric Anthony Alvarez, 25, was sentenced to “time served” after spending 321 days in jail and placed on probation for five years, the Grand Rapids Press reported.

Alvarez had earlier pleaded no contest to assault with intent to do great bodily injury less than murder.

A judge has ordered the shutdown of a cafe in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where customers have been supporting an owner who has defiantly served indoor diners despite coronavirus restrictions.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration got a restraining order against Cafe Rosetta in Calumet, a small town in Houghton County.

Since November, bars and restaurants in Michigan have been limited to carry-out service or outdoor dining in an effort to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

The University of Michigan’s Big House has been transformed into The Big Vaccine Clinic.

A few hundred University of Michigan medical professionals and students who work in health care settings received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday at Michigan Stadium, one of the nation’s largest sporting venues.

Known as The Big House, the on-campus stadium welcomed 100,000-plus maize-and-blue-clad fans on fall Saturdays before the pandemic.

For the first time in state history, college athletes in Michigan will be able to get paid for the use of their names and likeness under legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The NCAA currently bars athletes from receiving compensation from the use of their name and likeness, though its leadership announced plans to lessen restrictions in January. However, supporters of the two bills that Whitmer signed Wednesday are hoping to solidify opportunities for student athletes by instituting a state law that begins in 2023.

Even as vaccines are being rolled out to battle the coronavirus, wordsmiths at Lake Superior State University in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula say they want to kick any trace of it from the English language.

“COVID-19” and “social distancing” are thrown in with “we’re all in this together,” “in an abundance of caution” and “in these uncertain times” on the school’s light-hearted list of banned words and phrases for 2021.

A coal-fired ferry that carries people and cars across Lake Michigan between Michigan and Wisconsin has been sold. The Ludington Daily News reports that Interlake Holding Co. announced Wednesday that it bought the SS Badger. The Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based company also purchased a tug-barge called the SS Spartan and the Lake Michigan Carferry and Pere Marquette Shipping companies. The 410-foot SS Badger launched in 1952. It hauled railcars on the Great Lakes from 1953 to 1990. It was converted into a car and passenger ferry that can carry 600 people and 180 vehicles.

The health director of one of Michigan’s most populated counties is retiring after eight years in the job.

Macomb County Health Department Director William Ridella said he had planned to retire earlier in the year but he stayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. He will leave next month.

Michigan’s rate of new COVID-19 cases has been dropping for more than 29 days, a state scientist reported Wednesday.

“It will be important during this holiday season, as well, and New Year’s Eve, to ensure we’re maintaining that social distancing. That will be very important,” said Sarah Lyon-Callo, head of the epidemiology bureau.

“We’re going to be watching these data throughout the holiday season to determine if we’re going to see any sort of case resurgence,” Lyon-Callo said.

A woman angry with a Detroit-area election official sent photos of a dead body and threatened her family, a day after a clamorous meeting at which Republican board members initially refused to certify local results in favor of Joe Biden, authorities said Wednesday.

Katelyn Jones, 23, was charged with making a threat of violence. She sent a series of disturbing messages by phone and on social media that referred to Monica Palmer of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers as a terrorist and racist, the FBI said in a court filing.