TUESDAY NEWS HIT - Police departments from two agencies are responding to a barricaded gunman situation on Detroit's west side after an attempted traffic stop ended with a man taking two people hostage inside his home.
Negotiators with law enforcement have been communicating with a man held up in a home on Iliad Street near Fenkell Avenue, located in northwest Detroit.
The man initially made contact with police after calling 911 and informing them he was armed, he wasn't coming out, and he had two hostages with him - an adult man and woman.
"It just changes the severity with hostages inside the location," said one Detroit police officer.
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Barricaded gunman on Detroit’s west side taken man and woman hostage
A man is at a standstill with police after an attempted traffic stop resulted in the suspect driving away and escaping toward his home, shooting at police in the process.
The incident began around 2:30 a.m. when Redford police tried pulling over a vehicle. Instead, the suspect drove away. He eventually parked in front of his home and tried opening the front door.
When he couldn't get in, the man shot at police before breaking a window and climbing into the home.
That's where the man has remained since.
"It's good we're communicating with him right now. He's made some requests and we're trying to accommodate those. As long as we keep up the communication - the hostages have spoken with our negotiators at this time as well so we know they're safe."
Police say the man has a lengthy criminal history that includes violence and weapons.
Health officials now publishing COVID-19 outbreaks in schools, universities
State health officials are now publishing coronavirus data from Michigan education centers where outbreaks are occurring.
The numbers come from 45 health departments that encompass K-12 grade schools and colleges and will include the number of cases and if the cases involve students, staff, or both.
On Monday, outbreak data from Luce Road Elementary in Alma, Keicher Elementary at the Michigan Center, Arrowwood Elementary in Saginaw, Parkside Elementary in Rockford, and Thornapple Kellogg Middle School in Middleville.
All of those districts count six cases or less.
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Mandatory quarantine for 30 East Lansing properties tied to COVID-19 spike at MSU
A mandatory quarantine for 30 East Lansing properties is tied to a COVID-19 spike at Michigan State University. Several fraternity and sorority houses are on the list.
While some universities have counted dozens of cases at Ferris State and Michigan Tech, the really glaring outbreak is in East Lansing where 203 students have been infected with COVID-19.
The severe uptick in cases at Michigan State is entirely among the student body and has been isolated to several locations where gatherings are occurring. The Ingham County Health Department has identified 30 large houses - mostly Greek-affiliated housing - as the sites where transmission has occurred.
Those students are now in a mandatory two-week quarantine.
"The surge in cases we have seen over the past few weeks is alarming. I am disheartened to add that this outbreak is being fueled in part by a lack of cooperation and compliance from some MSU students," wrote health officer Linda Vail in a statement.
Students at MSU are partly the reason that Ingham County has one of the highest transmission rates in the state.
Oak Park boy dies after being shot during 'gunplay'
A 12-year-old Oak Park boy has died after kids got their hands on a handgun and it discharged.
The shooting happened on Saratoga just south of Nine Mile.
Police arrested a 15-year-old boy for shooting the victim.
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Father says 12-year-old was shot while doing school work at girlfriend’s house
The father of a 12-year-old boy who was killed in Oak Park said he brought his son to his girlfriend's house so the boy could do school work when he was shot and killed by a 15-year-old.
The boy's father said the home belongs to his girlfriend and he had brought his son over to do school work.
The firearm is legally registered, however, the boy's father had never seen it before.
Governor, legislature agree on budget framework
Michigan's Democratic governor and Republican leadership have come to an agreement on a budget framework that includes no cuts to K-12 schools or local governments.
That's despite the pandemic's brutal effect on tax revenues that flow to the state.
Chais of the legislative budget subcommittee will now take their spending "target" levels to iron out the bills.
Final votes will come next week, however, not many details were released regarding what cuts will be coming.
Priorities were made or education, health care, and skills training said budget director Chris Kolb.
Carson Hayes, toddler missing for several days found in Florida
The 2-year-old toddler from Detroit who had been missing for more than a week was found safe in Florida with his mom.
His dad Taylor Hayes had raised concerns about his son Carson after he hadn't seen him for a while. A website set up to help find Carson said his mom, 25-year-old Asia Sturgis, had abducted him.
An attorney with the family said Sturgis told police it "was one big miscommunication."
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Toddler Carson Hayes found safe in Florida with mother
A 2-year-old boy who was said to have been taken by his mother who does not have custodial rights was found safe in Florida.
The mother was subsequently let go, but now police know where the boy is staying and they are in the process of taking him into custody so he can be reunited with his father.
It's unclear if the mother will face any charges.
Daily Forecast
Detroit's coldest morning in awhile dipped below 50 degrees. Expect warming to continue through tomorrow into the 80s before temperatures dip back down again.
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Chilly start, warming through Wednesday. Smokey skies obscure the sun a bit!
The chance for rain presents itself midweek.
Western United States has the worst air quality in the world, data indicates
Wildfire smoke has choked the West Coast as firefighters continue to battle massive wildfires spanning several states. According to IQAir, an air quality monitoring system, many U.S. cities had the worst air quality of any major cities around the world as of Monday.
Several major cities were affected, including Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland.
Portland took the number-one spot, reaching hazardous air quality levels. The hazardous category indicates high concentrations of hazardous particles in the air, including smoke, dust and soot.
“In recent days, the air quality in many areas along the West Coast – including San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, which normally have good air quality – has been worse than other parts of the world because of the dense smoke from numerous large wildfires,” Patrick H. Zahn, lead forecaster at Sonoma Technology, an environmental consulting firm in Northern California, said.