Child hospitalized after shooting, Detroit absentee ballots missing, Inkster couple charged with torture

THURSDAY NEWS HIT - Detroit police are investigating a Wednesday night shooting that hospitalized a 7-year-old girl.

The child was hit by a bullet in the back of her head after a drive-by shooting happened in the Morningside neighborhood, in southeast Detroit. The little girl was transported to the hospital by police and had surgery last night.

She remains in critical condition while police investigate. 

The shooting happened in the 3900 block of Bedford, just west of Outer Drive and north of Mack. 

Police suspect the girl was not the target of whoever was shooting. She was sitting on a couch at the time of the shooting.

"Residents in the area should not be concerned at this particular point. We think these individuals were targeting a person at this time. We're not for sure, the witnesses are still giving statements to the detectives," said Commander Eric Ewing of Detroit Police Department.

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Police are looking for a dark blue Dodge Charger and ask if anyone sees anything suspicious, they give them a call. They do not have any suspect or motive information to provide at the time.

Postal Service scrambles after absentee ballots not delivered

Election woes continue ahead of Nov. 3 as some absentee ballots failed to arrive at their residential addresses on time.

The unsettling news has worried some voters who had planned on casting a ballot amid one of America's most contentious elections.

"It’s unacceptable, inappropriate, it’s everything wrong," said voter Maria Lopatkova. "I don’t know who’s tracking it, but they need to do a better job."

Ballots are typically picked up by the U.S. Postal Service at the Department of Elections. However, somewhere in the mix, they got lost in transit.

 "When do we come together as a people and let people’s voices be heard and let everybody’s voice be counted," said voter Veleria Berry. "We don’t have time for 500 ballots to be resent out and be able to be sent back in ample time." 

It's unclear how many went missing, however, Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (D) said it's possible that several hundred ballots got lost in the mail. 

"Upon taking office in June, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy enacted several misguided operational changes that immediately drew condemnation by my colleagues and I in Congress," she said. 

The USPS released a statement saying:

“We are working with the city election clerk to quickly deliver replacement ballots, and ensure the timely delivery of all other ballots in the area for the remainder of the election season.”

 Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey is expected to address the issue Thursday. The news conference will be at 11 a.m.

Worried about a census undercount in Detroit, leaders want to hear from workers

The official census count may be complete, but leaders from Detroit aren't satisfied with what they're hearing from workers.

Speaking during a press conference Wednesday, Mayor Mike Duggan suspected the city had been undercounted and efforts to ensure as many people could be counted were underwhelming. Workers didn't start following up with people who never responded until August and had their door-knocking efforts cut short.

"The truth of the matter is, they started later in Detroit, they understaffed Detroit and they shut it down early for one reason. There appears to be a national strategy to undercount cities and it appears to be hitting Detroit most effectively," Duggan said. 

Completing total census counts in cities is always harder than in suburban districts. Non-response rates are higher and many don't trust what will become of the information they put in. 

The city of Detroit's total response has been abysmal compared to much of Michigan. In 2020, it was even worse.

Detroit's self-response rate was 50%. That means half of the households in the city needed to be tracked down by census workers. But when workers came to help, they found a disorganized system.

Duggan and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) are now urging workers to contact the city and describe their experience counting residents.

"This is about showing up for our neighborhood. This is about showing up for our communities," Tlaib said. "If you worked in Detroit, show up for each other. We need to make sure this current administration doesn't shortchange us because we'd have to live with this count for a decade."

The number to call is 866-20-COUNT.

Inkster couple accused of torturing man

A gruesome story out of Inkster depicts two individuals torturing a man with several instruments; using a dog collar, boiling water, extension cords, and a wooden board to inflict damage.

Police found the man Oct. 22 after he escaped captivity by climbing through the passenger side window. A police report said the victim had scars, bruises, blisters, burns, cuts, scabs all over his body, face, chest, legs, and stomach. He was also missing teeth.

Corey Hill, 30, and Vera Miller, 38, were both charged with multiple counts of torture and unlawful imprisonment after holding the man for four months.

The victim knew Miller for 11 years and said he had never had issues with her or Hill. When he didn't have a place to stay, he asked them if it was okay he slept on their couch, agreeing to pay $400 a month.

The couple agreed, as long as they were given his bank account information so they could take out the money for themselves.

The torture began shortly after that. Read more here.

Open Enrollment deadline nearing for health care

With more than 300,000 Michigan residents without health care coverage due to the pandemic, the open enrollment period for getting new coverage is extra significant this year.

Without employer-based health care, there are two options available to those not covered: the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid.

"A lot of it has to do with your income eligibility," said Jason Resendev of Consumers for Quality Care  "So if you're at a certain income level you'll be able to get the insurance that's covered, Medicaid is covered insurance."

For others who lost their insurance, they'll likely find themselves enrolling in the ACA.

"The Insurance Marketplace is the national marketplace that you're able to ship for plans under the ACA," said Resendev. "It's where insurers have come together to offer a number of plans.

Open enrollment Closes December 15th so get your notes in order. For more information, go to https://www.healthcare.gov/

VP Mike Pence touts auto industry investment in Flint

In his second visit to Michigan this week, Vice President Mike Pence spent roughly 45 minutes speaking to supporters in Flint on Wednesday.

In addition to highlighting the importance of the election, Pence spent time celebrating what the president had done for Michigan voters.'

"The road to victory goes right through Michigan," Pence said.

Citing new job openings and factory unveilings in Oakland County, Detroit, and Flint, Pence honed in on Michigan's bustling industry as a reason to reelect Donald Trump. He also painted a rosy image of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Before the end of the year, we believe we will have tens of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine in the world," he said.

More campaign stops in Michigan on the way

In case one hasn't noticed, the road to the presidency increasingly looks like it'll involve a win in Michigan. That might explain the series of campaign stops surrogates for both the Republicans and Democrats plan to make this week and weekend.

Tiffany Trump is hosting a 'Breakfast with Tiffany' event in Birmingham at 9 a.m. Eric Trump will be in Lansing at the Hope Sports Complex at 2:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Jill Biden will stump for her husband in Lansing and Westland.

The campaign will continue Friday with the president making a stop in Waterford for his Make America Great Again Victory Rally.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama will join nominee Joe Biden for a campaign stop on Saturday. It's not clear where the two will speak.

Other Stories:

1. Election leaders estimate record-breaking turnout in Michigan
2. Clawson couple fights to keep new restaurant dream alive during COVID-19
3. $15.5M federal grant goes to improving train infrastructure in Michigan
4. Dearborn dentist warns against latest TikTok challenge: gluing on vampire teeth
5. Uptick in COVID-19 cases raise concerns for second wave

Daily Forecast

Clouds return Thursday with a chance of showers and a high of 53 degrees. Your Halloween forecast looks to be perfect, however.

FBI, federal agencies warn ransomware assault threatens US healthcare system

Federal agencies warned that cybercriminals are unleashing a major ransomware assault against the U.S. healthcare system. Independent security experts say it has already hobbled at least four U.S. hospitals this month, and could potentially impact hundreds more.

In a joint alert Wednesday, the FBI and two federal agencies warned that they had “credible information of an increased and imminent cybercrime threat to U.S. hospitals and healthcare providers.” They said “malicious cyber actors” are targeting the sector with ransomware that could lead to “data theft and disruption of healthcare services.”

The attacks coincide with the U.S. presidential election but do not appear to have any connection to it.

“We are experiencing the most significant cyber security threat we’ve ever seen in the United States,” Charles Carmakal, chief technical officer of the cybersecurity firm Mandiant, said in a statement. He’s concerned that the group may deploy malware to hundreds of hospitals over the next few weeks.

Alex Holden, CEO of Hold Security, which has been closely tracking the ransomware in question for more than a year, agreed that the unfolding offensive is unprecedented in magnitude for the U.S. Administrative problems caused by ransomware, which scrambles data into gibberish that can only be unlocked with software keys provided once targets pay up, could further stress hospitals burdened by a nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases.