Car crashes into Livonia home, child among dead at triple shooting scene, UM's Howard throws punch

MONDAY NEWS HIT - A vehicle that careened into a Livonia house causing major damage to the building came within a foot of hitting a man sleeping inside. 

The crash, which could be seen from outside the house, left both the man and his wife shaken up. 

"They went airborne, took out our flag pole, went through the whole front of the house, missed my husband by maybe a foot or two because he was laying on the couch," said Cheryl Facione. "If he had been on the love seat, he'd be gone."

"So it just wiped out the whole living room. The kitchen is gone. And into the breakfast nook."

Facione said they had just renovated the house, an annoyance for the couple. But as of Monday morning, she's just thankful her and her husband are okay. 

The crash happened at a home near Arizona and Iowa in Livonia, near Merriman and Joy Road. It happened early Monday morning.

While the couple were sleeping, a car lost control, hit a curb and launched some 20 feet into the home. The driver was taken to the hospital in serious condition, the battalion chief said. 

It's unknown what state the driver was in prior to the crash. 

An investigation is ongoing. 

Child among dead at triple shooting site

Detroit police officers are investigating a triple fatal shooting tonight on Evergreen Rd and Fenkell St. Investigators said the scene does not appear to be fresh. 

Around 5:00 p.m., officers said they responded to a call from a family member who had arrived at the home after not seeing or hearing from the victims in over a week. Police said the family member arrived at the home and saw that the back door was kicked in. He found the two adult victims after entering and immediately called police.

Police said they found two adults and a child with fatal gunshot wounds in the home. The child was struck multiple times. "Everybody here is devastated. The officers and everybody else," said Detroit Police Chief James White.

The adult victims, one male and one female, are said to be in their late 20s or early 30s. The child victim is estimated to be within the age range of 4 to 7 years old. Police spoke to neighbors and concluded that the victims all lived in the home together. The adult female and child are believed to be mom and child. "Every resource we have is going to be dedicated to pursuing and apprehending the person that murdered this baby and the people in this home," Chief White said.

UM's Juwan Howard punches Wisconsin coach

Michigan coach Juwan Howard appeared to throw a punch after arguing with Wisconsin coach Greg Gard during the postgame handshake line following the Badgers' 77-63 victory on Sunday. It was unclear what upset Howard, but Wisconsin was up 15 when it took a timeout with 15 seconds left.

After the game, Howard pointed a finger at Gard. Later on, Howard appeared to take a swing toward Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft, and players from each side got involved in the skirmish. Video of the punch was caught on CBS cameras and was quickly posted on social media.

Johnny Davis scored 25 points for No. 15 Wisconsin (21-5, 12-4), which is battling No. 5 Purdue and No. 12 Illinois for the Big Ten title. Wisconsin outscored Michigan 44-25 over the last 18 1/2 minutes. Steven Crowl’s 3-pointer with 16:06 remaining put the Badgers ahead for good and highlighted a 14-1 spurt.

The national player of the year candidate went on a personal 9-0 run and blocked a shot in a span of 2 minutes, 12 seconds to give the Badgers a 56-41 lead. That stretch included a spectacular drive into the lane in which Davis scored with his left hand and drew contact to set up a three-point play.

Michigan gas prices up slightly

High gasoline prices in Michigan aren't expected to wash away anytime soon with the average driver paying about $50 to fill a 15-gallon tank. Prices were up 2 cents on average following a week of slightly less demand, but higher crude oil prices. 

The most expensive gas could be found in Marquette, where drivers were paying $3.47 a gallon. Metro Detroit was just behind at $3.40 a gallon. The least expensive were communities on the west side of the state in Grand Rapids and Traverse City.

"Despite a decrease in demand, higher crude oil prices helped put pressure on Michigan pump prices pushing them slightly higher," said Adrienne Woodland, spokesperson, AAA-The Auto Club Group. "As crude prices continue to climb, pump prices will likely follow suit."

As always, its market conditions beyond the U.S. that are impacting prices. From a new nuclear agreement in Iran to Russian-Ukraine tensions. The Energy Information Administration said crude oil stocks were 11% lower than this time last year, which is partly why prices are higher. 

Dearborn mosque fire not linked to political or ideological motivations

Investigators have found no indication of political or ideological motivations behind a fire at a Detroit-area mosque set by a man whom police later killed in a shootout. There also is no evidence that Ahmed Taqi acted as part of any group, FBI Special Agent Josh Hauxhurst said Saturday during a community meeting at the Al-Huda Islamic Association in Dearborn where the fire happened, according to The Detroit News.

"He may be the only person who knows why he set the fire," Hauxhurst told about 150 people at the meeting. "We often see telegraphing of motives in cases. We haven’t seen that in this case."

Officers on regular neighborhood patrol noticed the fire at the mosque on Feb. 12 around 1 a.m. Taqi, 37, shot at the officers outside the mosque and ran away, Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said. Officers followed and shot Taqi when he started shooting at them again, Shahin said. Taqi was an Iraqi national and worked as a translator, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud said Saturday.

Dearborn has one of the largest Arab-American populations in the U.S. No threats have been made against places of worship in the city since the fire and shooting, Hammoud added. "The goal here was to demonstrate that what happened one week ago was an isolated incident," he said. Hammoud has said Taqi may have been "experiencing a mental health crisis at the time."

— Courtesy of the Associated Press

What else we're watching

1. Potholes on I-275 are being blamed for dozens of flat tires near the Detroit Metro Airport. Drivers are advised to be wary near Eureka between I-275 and Inkster due to reports of dozens of holes. 
2. State police used their eyes in the sky to track a stolen vehicle this weekend. It turned into a man hunt shortly after the driver lost control and three suspects fled on foot in northern Oakland County. An AR-15 pistol was recovered during the investigation. 
3. A man wrongly convicted of murder who was then exonerated years later now heads an organization that helps out others jailed for the wrong reasons. The group recently finished a home that helps people re-enter society.
4. Detroit police are investigating a shooting involving a 2-year-old on the city's west side. Investigators say the child was shot early Saturday, however they are in stable condition. 
5. COVID-19 case numbers have fallen from an average of 807,000 over a 7-week period to just under 135,000 during the same time span in just over a month, a dramatic fall for a country that was in the middle of the worst of the pandemic in terms of volume. 

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Daily Forecast

Temperatures will hit the low-40s today and even climb into the 50s on Tuesday. Rain is expected both days, which could create problems for Monroe County where ice jams have sparked mild flooding in the area. Conditions will get colder as the week progresses.

Education Department erases $415M in student loan debt for 16,000 borrowers

The Department of Education announced this week it will cancel $415 million in federal student loans by nearly 16,000 borrowers allegedly misled by for-profit colleges.

The borrowers, who attended DeVry University, ITT Technical Institute, Westwood College and the Minnesota School of Business/Globe University, will receive the relief through a legal provision known as borrower defense, which allows individuals to discharge some or all of their student loan debt if their school misled them or otherwise engaged in other misconduct.

"The department remains committed to giving borrowers discharges when the evidence shows their college violated the law and standards," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement Wednesday.

The department found that between 2008 and 2015, DeVry University, a for-profit university headquartered in Illinois, repeatedly misled students by claiming that 90% of its graduates actively seeking employment landed a job in their field of study within six months of graduation. The job placement level was actually closer to 58%, according to the department.

The department has so far identified about 1,800 borrowers who will be eligible for more than $71 million in discharges because they "relied upon DeVry's misrepresentation in deciding to enroll." The number of borrowers who qualify for discharge is expected to grow as the department continues to review outstanding claims from former students. All borrowers with approved claims will receive full relief.