FRIDAY NEWS HIT - Friday brought a wet end to the week as 4 inches of rain was expected to fall over Metro Detroit. With thunderstorms drenching Detroit and parts of Oakland and Macomb County, a flash flood warning was declared by the National Weather Service that would remain in effect until 10:15 a.m. this morning.
The heavy rains caused flooding on many of the main highway arteries leading in and out of Detroit, which led to accidents blocking several lanes on I-94 and I-96 that were still being tended to by police early in the morning.
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Vehicles submerged in flooded highways in downtown Detroit
Police have blocked off ramps leading on to and off of M-10 in downtown Detroit due to flooding.
You'll find a running list of accidents being updated here. As of 7:49 a.m., some of the main accidents and inaccessible lanes included:
- Both EB and WB I-96/Jeffries at Beech Daly closed due to flooding. First reported 7:12 a.m.
- NB 75 at M-10/Lodge. Accident, shoulder blocked. First reported 7:23 a.m.
- WB 696 at Gratiot. Accident. First reported 7:37 a.m.
- Woodward flooding between West 13 Mile and Normandy. First reported at 7:29 a.m.
- SB US-23 accident. Left lane blocked at 6 Mile. First reported at 7:20 a.m.
- M-59 Hall Road at Van Dyke Avenue closed due to flooding
- WB I-94 at Cadieux. Stop and go traffic back to Vernier Rd. Two lanes blocked. First reported 5:52 a.m.
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Viewer video of ‘Mini lake’ on I-96 westbound
Footage submitted by Kyle Heiob showed water rising on I-96 westbound lanes before Beech Daly.
Detroit teachers, district agree on 2020-21 school plan
With only a little time to spare, the Detroit School District has finally settled on a learning plan for the upcoming fall semester. Among the most important details of the agreement is that in-person learning will be offered at the district. Contrary to other large school districts in the state, Detroit schools offering face-to-face learning makes it one of the biggest districts to have the option.
In return, teachers can receive up to $3,000 in hazard pay and classrooms will have to abide by social distancing rules. In order for that to make that rule work, class sizes will be shrunk to 20 students per teacher.
The district will also have to provide voluntary COVID-19 testing for students, on top of the mandatory testing for employees when entering buildings.
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Detroit schools, teacher union come to agreement on 2020 school year
The district and the teachers union reached an agreement or the 2020 school year that includes hazard pay for teachers and smaller class sizes. Teachers will be allowed to decide if they want to teach in person or not.
The rules agreed upon will be continuously reviewed by a committee made up of both teachers and district administrators to ensure precautions are being taken throughout each building and classroom.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers initially voted to go on strike if the union couldn't come to an agreement with the district. Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti has been a strong proponent of allowing in-person learning, a line which protesters from the school said was too far and endangered students, teachers, and families.
$10K reward offered in case of murdered Detroit parents
The FBI is sponsoring a $10,000 reward for information in the case of a family of five that was shot in southwest Detroit on the Fourth of July that killed both parents.
The shooting happened while the family was heading back from a gathering around 1 a.m. As they were driving northbound on Homer Street, a line of vehicles got behind them and was a little too close. A Detroit police detective said Maria Gonzalez, the family's mother, suggested to Francisco, the father, to pull over and let the cars pass.
Detroit Police believe the last vehicle to pass is the one they believe fired shots into the family's car.
Maria died at the scene, while Francisco died days later.
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Police release more details about suspected road rage shooting that killed 2 parents, injured 3 kids
Detroit police gave more details at a news conference about a suspected road rage shooting that targeted a family of five on the 4th of July.
"The pain and suffering my family has been going through is something you never expect. They were a family that worked hard, did nothing but care about their children and try to better themselves, just as any individual I think would want to in this world, but unfortunately were in the middle of something they never thought would happen," said the parent's nephew Edgar Gonzales during a press conference Thursday.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the boys.
People are encouraged to contact Detroit Police Homicide Unit at (313) 596-2260 or Crime Stoppers if they know anything.
Whitmer sends National Guard to Wisconsin
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has authorized the use of two companies from the state's National Guardsmen and women to assist with unrest in Wisconsin.
The move came after a request from Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers for assistance due to growing unrest turning from peaceful protests into destructive riots in Kenosha, the city where a Black man was shot seven times in the back by police officers.
Adding to the controversy, a 17-year-old from Illinois shot three protesters, killing two of them days after protests began. He's been charged with murder.
Whitmer can call the soldiers back at any time.
Former UAW leader charged in FBI probe of autoworkers union
A former UAW president has been charged in a growing investigation by the FBI after more than a dozen individuals were charged in a corruption scheme that worked its way all the way to the top of the union.
Dennis Williams, who was president of the UAW, was the 15th person to be charged.
"This is the president of the UAW doing this, the president is stealing the money," said US Attorney Matthew Schneider.
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US attorney says investigation into UAW is not over
A former UAW president is the latest charged for stealing money from members to pay for a lavish lifestyle. And now, possible federal oversight could be coming in the wake of this scandal.
"I'm sure the men and women of the union who were on strike and getting strike pay, I'm sure they looked at this and saw why are these guys drinking $1,000 bottles of booze, who does that? It's ridiculous," he said.
Schneider says Williams' co-defendant is former UAW President Gary Jones who already pleaded guilty and is awaiting his sentencing.
Daily Forecast
Unsettled weather Friday morning leads to a wet end of the week. Temperatures are expected to be a bit milder this weekend, remaining in the 70s.
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Friday morning flooding!
A day of unsettled weather leads to a different feel this weekend.
Trump formally accepts Republican re-nomination from RNC stage at White House
Facing a national moment fraught with racial turmoil and a deadly pandemic, President Donald Trump accepted his party's renomination on a massive White House South Lawn stage Thursday night, boasting of helping African Americans and defying his own administration's pandemic guidelines to address a tightly packed, largely maskless crowd.
As troubles churned outside the gates, Trump painted an optimistic vision of America’s future, including an eventual triumph over the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 175,000 people, left millions unemployed and rewritten the rules of society. But that brighter horizon can only be secured, Trump asserted, if he defeats Democrat Joe Biden.
Trailing Biden in opinion polls, he blistered the former vice president's record and even questioned his love of America.