Michigan News Digest

Here's a look at how AP's general news coverage is shaping up today in Michigan. Questions about today's coverage plans are welcome and should be directed to the AP-Detroit bureau at 800-642-4125 or 313-259-0650 or [email protected]. For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit Coverage Plan at newsroom.ap.org.

A reminder this information is not for publication or broadcast, and these coverage plans are subject to change. Expected stories may not develop, or late-breaking and more newsworthy events may take precedence. Advisories, digests and digest advisories will keep you up to date. All times are Eastern.

Some TV and radio stations will receive broadcast versions of the stories below, along with all updates.

TOP STORY:

JUVENILE LIFER-GIRLFRIEND

CASSOPOLIS, Mich. — A judge set aside a life sentence for a man who was convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend when they were teenagers and burying her body in southwestern Michigan. The decision by a Cass County judge means Robert Leamon, 43, will get a new sentence and a chance for parole. “It's just devastating,” said Cindy Slates, the sister of Rebecca Stowe, who was 15 when she disappeared from the Niles area in 1993. SENT: 330 words.

AROUND THE STATE:

JUDGE-MISCONDUCT

BRIGHTON, Mich. — A judge who was removed from office for misconduct could get a jail sentence for perjury in her divorce case. Theresa Brennan is scheduled to appear in Livingston County court Friday. Developing.

FLINT MEETING-NAZI SALUTE

FLINT, Mich. — A Flint city councilman gave a Nazi salute to the council's leader and compared her to Adolf Hitler during a contentious meeting this week. Councilman Eric Mays and President Monica Galloway had been verbally clashing during Monday's meeting when Galloway sought to move on to another point on the agenda. Mays then accused Galloway of being rude to him, told her she was acting like Hitler and performed the salute, The Flint Journal and Detroit News reported. SENT: 225 words.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL-HAZING

WARREN, Mich. — Three Detroit-area high school students who were suspended during an investigation of hazing by football players are back in class, a lawyer said. SENT: 210 words.

EMINEM-SURPRISE ALBUM

Rapper Eminem once again dropped a surprise album, releasing “Music to Be Murdered By” on Friday — along with a video that calls for changes to gun laws. The follow-up to 2018's “Kamikaze” — also released without warning — was announced on Twitter just after midnight. SENT: 280 words.

LAKE MICHIGAN-INDIANA EROSION

OGDEN DUNES, Ind. — An Indiana state agency has declined to declare that a beach erosion emergency exists along Lake Michigan due to high water levels and a series of powerful winter storms. State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, and state Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City, had asked Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to declare a disaster in Indiana’s lakeside Porter and LaPorte counties due to beach erosion. But in a letter issued Wednesday, the executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Stephen Cox, said the damage to public resources along the shoreline is insufficient to open the spigot of federal disaster funds that typically follows a state emergency declaration. UPCOMING: 300 words.

WINTER WEATHER

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A plane slid off the taxiway at Kansas City International Airport on Friday due to icy conditions that also have closed schools, universities and government offices as a sprawling winter storm hits large sections of the Midwest and beyond. SENT: 190 words, photos, video.

BUSINESS:

TESLA-UNINTENDED ACCELERATION

DETROIT — The U.S. government's auto safety agency is looking into allegations that all three of Tesla's electric vehicles can suddenly accelerate on their own. An unidentified person petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asking for an investigation into the problem. An agency document outlining the allegations shows 127 owner complaints to the government that include 110 crashes and 52 injuries. By Tom Krisher. SENT: 680 words, photo.

TOYOTA-INDIANA FACTORY

PRINCETON, Ind. Toyota has completed a $1.3 billion project modernizing an Indiana factory to boost vehicle production and adding 550 jobs, the company announced Friday. The project at the Princeton assembly plant in southwestern Indiana included retooling, new equipment installation and adding advanced manufacturing technology so it could increase production of the Highlander SUV. Toyota said the project grew by $700 million and 150 new jobs from what it first announced for the factory in early 2017. SENT: 225 words.

VOLKSWAGEN INNOVATION HUB

Volkswagen is partnering with the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create the company's first innovation hub for developing new technology in North America, officials said Friday in a statement. Initial work at the hub in Knoxville will include research opportunities for UT doctoral students and will focus on electric vehicles and developing lighter components from composite materials, according to a joint statement from the three partners. SENT: 240 words.

SPORTS:

HKN--PENGUINS-RED WINGS

DETROIT — After losing at Boston on Thursday, the Penguins try to rebound against the last-place Red Wings. By Noah Trister. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. Game starts at 7:30 p.m.

BKC--WISCONSIN-MICHIGAN STATE

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State's Cassius Winston is on pace to break the Big Ten career record for assists, set by Mateen Cleaves in 2000, when the 15th-ranked Spartans host Wisconsin. By Larry Lage. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. Game starts at 7 p.m.

BKC--T25-MICHIGAN-IOWA

IOWA CITY, Iowa — No. 19 Michigan, loser in two of its last three games, visits Iowa. 700 words, photos. Game starts 9 p.m.

BKC--BIG TEN THIS WEEK

What to watch in Big Ten basketball this weekend. By Eric Olson. SENT: 500 words, photos.

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