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The Obama administration on Friday directed Volkswagen to recall nearly a half-million cars, saying the automaker illegally installed software in its diesel-power cars to evade standards for reducing smog. The Environmental Protection Agency accused the German automaker of using software to detect when the car is undergoing its periodic state emissions testing. Only during such tests are the cars’ full emissions control systems turned on. During normal driving situations, the controls are turned off, allowing the cars to spew as much as 40 times as much pollution as allowed under the Clean Air Act, the E.P.A. said. “We expected better...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California officials say some 482,000 Volkswagen and Audi diesels were engineered to falsify their emissions for federal tests—a violation that opens the German automaker to a theoretical fine totaling $18 billion. The EPA and California Air Resources Board say the affected models had software in its computer engine controls that could sense exactly when it was being tested for emissions quality. At all other times, it would run the diesels in a different mode with illegal levels of pollution; for example, spewing up to 40 times more nitrogen oxide, a key component of smog,...

Uniformed rank-and-file officers employed by the Detroit Police Department earned an average of $59,511 in 2014-15, which is more than twice the amount a recent TV report stated as the starting salary for the officers. Detroit Police Chief James Craig recently told WWJ TV that he thinks officers patrolling the city’s streets should be paid more. But the only amount mentioned in the story was a starting salary of $28,000. Michigan Capitol Confidential analyzed Detroit Police pay levels found in salary and contract information received in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. The lowest pay levels are in...

The United Auto Workers union will accelerate its bargaining efforts with Fiat Chrysler Automobile in the hopes of hammering out a template for a new labor contract the other two Detroit auto makers will match. The choice of Fiat Chrysler's FCA US unit as the target company for shaping the new contract, disclosed by the union on Sunday, kicks off an intense negotiating period expected in part to focus on a two-tier wage system that has financially benefited auto makers but rankled workers. The UAW's current contract with Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Ford Motor expires on Monday, but labor...

There was just one bad apple among the 171 members of the Detroit public school district’s leadership corps, if the district’s most recent evaluations of its principals, superintendents and administrators are accurate. Despite being called “the nation’s lowest-performing urban school area” by Gov. Rick Snyder earlier this year, just one of its 171 managers was judged to be “ineffective.” The evaluations are for the 2013-14 school year, the most recent year available. There were 96 officials given the highest rating of “highly effective;” 68 were rated “effective,” while six were deemed to be “minimally effective.” Plus the single “ineffective” administrator....

PONTIAC, Mich. — A 25-year-old man told police that he was stabbed after finding his wife in bed with her own father, WWJ reports. It happened just after 3:30 a.m. Saturday when the man arrived at his home on West Rundell Avenue to find his wife, completely naked, in bed with her father, police say. The man then reportedly woke his father-in-law up and the two began to fight. Police say the father-in-law, identified by authorities as Henry Allen Michael of Detroit, allegedly stabbed the younger man in his back with a knife. He then fled the scene in the...

Proposed Mosque In Detroit Suburb Draws Sharp Opposition September 8, 2015 by Steve Friess STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — The nation’s largest concentration of Iraqi Christians, many driven from their homeland by persecution at the hands of Muslim groups, is mounting an intensive campaign to block a proposed mosque in Sterling Heights, Michigan — sometimes by deploying public anti-Islam invective unusual in its bluntness even in this post-9/11 era. The 20,500-square-foot mosque, to be built on four acres by the American Islamic Community Center (AICC), is to stand 60 feet tall along a major thoroughfare in a middle-class neighborhood if the...

Detroit rapper Dex Osama died after a shooting early Monday morning outside a gentlemen’s club on Detroit’s south side, the Independent and other news organizations are reporting, although police have yet to confirm the deceased’s identity. The shooting broke out after a fight between two groups of men around 2 a.m. at the Crazy Horse strip club. When security intervened, the men were pushed outside, where witnesses reported hearing gunshots.

Police say a 50-year-old resident of the neighborhood was going to the ATM at a Citizens' Bank branch when he was approached by two young men that police describe as being around 18 years old. Those young men were armed with a sawed off rifle and a handgun.

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Police say a 17-year-old remains in the hospital in critical condition after the young father he tried robbing shot him several times. It happened late Wednesday afternoon near the corner of Warren and Grayton on the city's east side. Angela Lanier tells 7 Action News her 24-year-old son Joe fired his gun when the teenager tried robbing him while he was sitting in his car. She says he was on the job as an exterminator when the teenager pulled a gun on him for his sunglasses. Joe Lanier says, "The boy tried to rob me, and I...

When Denver was rescued in Detroit about a year ago, he was near death. But a man who had been assisted by Dog Aide, a community awareness group that supports pet owners, thought they might be able to save him. And they did. Katelin Thomas, who works with Dog Aide and owns K9 Turbo Training, says when they first saw Denver, they didn't think he could survive in his condition. His body was so stiff that his legs could not even be separated for them to be able to tell if he was male or female, so they simply called...

The Nation of Islam leader said that he and the Detroit rapper had a “beautiful dialogue.” At first glance, Minister Louis Farrakhan and Eminem may look like an odd pairing. But not so much, when you think about how Detroit is such a significant starting point for the Nation of Islam. Both men—Minister Louis Farrakhan and rapper Eminem—have strong ties to the city. The minister and Eminem met in Detroit earlier this week, and according to an Instagram post by an NOI member, the meeting was “over ten years in the making.” Hajj Hasaun Muhammad, describing the meeting as...

Satan worshipers launched a counter-protest against pro-lifers outside the Detriot and Ferndale, Michigan Planned Parenthood locations Saturday. Clad in black robes, members of the Satanic Temple of Detriot drenched bound women with milk, simulating water-boarding to "illustrate the theocratic agenda imposed upon female bodies." The milk symbolized breast milk, one of the protest organizers explained on Facebook. The group attached a symbol of their temple to the American flag and held up a sign that read, "America is not a theocracy. End forced motherhood." At one point during the protest, a man claiming to be a sheriff unsuccessfully attempted to...

Detroit resident Darrell Standberry doesn't navigate streets of the Motor City without his licensed handgun, and it already has saved his life once. “I never leave home without my weapon,” he said. “You never know when or what you’ll encounter.” It was 2011, when Standberry stopped at a gas station on Six Mile Road after attending his son’s football practice. After filling up the tank of his SUV, he left the car running and went inside to pay, only to spot a man jumping in behind the wheel. “I went back over and told him to get out of my...

The Redskins have plenty of work to do. The offensive line, specifically pass protection, would be a good place to start. Robert Griffin III and the Redskins starters managed 10 total yards on their first three series of Thursday night’s preseason game vs. the Lions. On the fourth series, Griffin got sacked on consecutive plays. On the second sack, his fumble was recovered by Gabe Wright of the Lions at the Redskins’ 11-yard line. To make matters worse, the Redskins announced Griffin was then evaluated for a right-side stinger and possible concussion. He was cleared to return to the game...

DETROIT – A suburban Detroit official is trying to extinguish the use of personal flamethrowers, which are being sold online by two Midwest companies, in his city. The companies, located in the Detroit area and Cleveland, claim their devices can be used for recreation or to control weeds and insect hives, clear snow and ice, clear brush and start a bonfire. Warren Mayor Jim Fouts calls the proposed uses "pretty specious" and "silly," the Detroit Free Press reported. Fouts wants to ban the storage, use and possession of flamethrowers in Warren because he believes the devices are dangerous and could...

DETROIT - A prosecutor has declined to charge an Immigration and Customs agent for the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old Detroit man. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday that agent Mitchell Quinn’s actions against Terrance Kellom earlier this year were justified by self-defense. Police said Kellom lunged at Quinn with a hammer before he was shot in his father's west side home on April 27. His father, Kevin Kellom, disputed that account, saying his son was escorted down the stairs by officers and was shot as he was kneeling. “My son was assassinated in my face. I will never...

DETROIT, - Police in Detroit confirmed a tiger was on the loose in a disused plant on the east side of the city and it has now been recaptured. Detroit police said the tiger escaped from a British film crew Monday while they were shooting footage inside the old Packard Plant and the crew was unable to recapture the big cat. Representatives of the plant's owners said the film crew had permission to shoot inside the building, but not to bring wild animals. They said the crew brought the tiger along with a bobcat and a wolf without informing officials....

Our man on Woodward Avenue is shooting everything, and we'll be updating all weekend In past years, we've broken our Woodward Dream Cruise photos into chunks, showing you imports, Fords, Chevys, Mopars and just plain weird stuff in individual galleries. This year, we're covering the "world's largest one-day car show" a little differently: Call it the "shotgun approach." We'll put up as many huge galleries as our servers will handle, and you can sort through the insanity any way you like. As for captions that specifically identify each car ... maybe we'll get to that after the event. There's also...

DETROIT, MI - Engines are roaring, cool cars are cruising and people from Ortonville to Sterling Heights and beyond are already lining Woodward Avenue for Saturday's 2015 Woodward Dream Cruise, billed as the world's largest one-day auto event. Some people are coming just for a few hours at a time to see the sights and sounds, others are even selling their own cruisers. Vinnie Garafalo has his 1967 Ford Galaxie convertible parked along Woodward near a gas station in Royal Oak, where he and a group of others known as the "No Name Car Club" are taking in the scene....