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This Hour: Latest Michigan news, sports, business and entertainment

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MEDICAID EXPANSION-SNYDER

Snyder: Mich. could still get Medicaid expansion

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Republican Governor Rick Snyder says he is hopeful he can still broker an agreement with the GOP-led Legislature to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income Michiganians.

Snyder said in an interview with The Associated Press in Washington on Wednesday that he won't delay progress on the budget if it doesn't include Medicaid expansion.

Snyder and the Republican-controlled Legislature reached a tentative budget agreement Tuesday without the expansion.

Snyder is meeting with Obama administration officials about Medicaid, among other topics.

Michigan House Republicans recently introduced a proposal that includes limiting able-bodied adults to 4 years of coverage, which would need a waiver from Obama's administration.

Snyder says there are parts of the proposal he supports but he has serious concerns with the proposed 4-year cap on benefits.

SNYDER-ISRAEL

Michigan Gov. Snyder plans trip to Israel in June

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A spokeswoman for Governor Rick Snyder says Michigan's chief executive is planning a trip to Israel in June.

Sara Wurfel said Wednesday that the governor's staff is "not in a position to share details yet" but will do so once the particulars are worked out.

The Republican official has led Michigan trade missions to Asia and Europe since taking office in 2011. This is first trip to Israel as governor.

In 2008, then-Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm visited Israel and signed an agreement establishing a joint work group focused on energy efficiency and technology to improve water quality.

Business ties between Michigan and Israel include military, auto, medical and agricultural technology industries.

FARRAKHAN-JEWS

Jewish group: Detroit leaders abet Farrakhan bias

DETROIT (AP) - A national Jewish civil rights group has criticized National of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan for making anti-Semitic statements at a Detroit church appearance and is calling on a congressman and other leaders in attendance to condemn the remarks.

The Detroit Free Press says Farrakhan denounced "Satanic Jews" and the "synagogue of Satan" controlling major U.S. institutions. Farrakhan also said President Barack Obama has "surrounded himself with Satan ... members of the Jewish community."

U.S. Representative John Conyers and Detroit City Councilwoman JoAnn Watson attended Friday night's address at Fellowship Chapel.

Anti-Defamation League regional director Heidi Budaj says it's "deeply disappointing ... many Detroit leaders are apparently so willing to turn a blind eye to Farrakhan's anti-Semitism."

The newspaper says Conyers and Watson didn't respond to requests for comment.

PETROLEUM BYPRODUCT-STORAGE

Peters urges probe of Detroit oil waste storage

DETROIT (AP) - Michigan U.S. Representative Gary Peters has taken to the House floor to criticize the storage of piles of an oil-refining byproduct known as petroleum coke along the Detroit River.

The suburban Detroit Democrat failed to win approval for an amendment to legislation on the Keystone Pipeline requiring an investigation of the storage. He said Wednesday that Congress needs to act to protect "families and natural resources like the Great Lakes from the threat of contamination."

Peters and fellow U.S. Rep. John Conyers have asked the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to investigate whether Detroit Bulk Storage complies with state regulations. The department has said it doesn't see an immediate environmental threat.

The piles result from Marathon Oil's refining exports from oil sands in Alberta.

BATHTUB DEATH-FLINT

Murder charge for parents of boy, 1, who drowned

FLINT, Mich. (AP) - Authorities have brought murder charges against the parents of a 1-year-old boy who drowned in their bathtub in Flint.

The Genesee County prosecutor's office says that Aden Wise was getting a bath Monday and was left unattended in a tub full of water.

Prosecutor's spokesman John Potbury said Wednesday that the parents returned to find Aden face down in the water, then called authorities.

Potbury says the prosecutor's office charged 19-year-old Callie Csercsa (SEHR'-shuh) and 29-year-old Jeremy Wise with second-degree murder and second-degree child abuse.

The couple is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in 68th District Court, and they didn't have lawyers of record Wednesday.

WOMAN STRANGLED

Man charged with drug crime in strangling probe

GROSSE POINTE PARK, Mich. (AP) - A man has been charged with drug crimes in Grosse Pointe Park, and a prosecutor says his arrest is linked to the strangulation of a woman next door.

Myron Williams lived next to 35-year-old Sabrina Gianino, who was found dead at her suburban Detroit home last week. Williams isn't charged in her death, but prosecutor Molly Kettler says the marijuana case against him is part of an "ongoing homicide investigation."

She says there may be additional charges. Williams was returned to jail Wednesday on $250,000 bond. He complained that he hasn't had a bath in days.

Williams had been living a few months with a nephew in Grosse Pointe Park. Dell Williams says his uncle has a drug problem.

SCHOOL OFFICIAL-THEFT

Ex-River Rouge schools exec gets 5-year sentence

RIVER ROUGE, Mich. (AP) - A former River Rouge school official has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for a bribery and mail fraud scheme that cost her suburban Detroit district $160,000.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman sentenced 53-year-old Dolores Reid on Wednesday. A jury convicted her November 15th.

The Southfield woman was the River Rouge schools' director of state and federal programs and was accused of accepted thousands of dollars for steering business to a business that tutored students under the No Child Left Behind Act.

She was accused of falsely telling parents of students entering River Rouge High School that the program was mandatory.

UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD-PINNACLE FOODS

62 pickle makers pay $960K for jobless aid fraud

IMLAY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - The state says 62 former workers at a Vlasic pickle factory have pleaded guilty and will make $960,000 in restitution for fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits while continuing to work.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs announced the sentencing Wednesday. It says the 62 people worked for Pinnacle Foods Incorporated in Lapeer County's Imlay Township, about 45 miles north of Detroit.

The Lapeer County prosecutor's office also carried out the investigation. The state says the defendants got probation and restitution orders ranging from $5,309 to $40,670.

Pinnacle Foods is based in Parsippany, New Jersey. Its other brands include Duncan Hines, Birds Eye and Mrs. Butterworth's.

Pinnacle spokeswoman Elizabeth Rowland says the case "is a matter between the state and the individuals."

US-TESLA-GOVERNMENT LOAN REPAID

Tesla uses stock, note sale to repay government

DETROIT (AP) - Electric car maker Tesla Motors says it has repaid a loan from the U.S. government nine years early.

The company says it wired a $451.8 million payment to the government on Wednesday to retire a loan it received from the Department of Energy.

The agency loaned Tesla $465 million in 2010 to make advanced-technology vehicles.

The company used money from a $968 million sale of stock and notes to pay off the debt. The sale took place last week and closed on Wednesday.

Tesla sells only one car, the $70,000 Model S. Earlier this month the company reported its first quarterly profit. Its stock price has more than doubled since the first of the year and closed Wednesday at $87.24.

CANCER SCAM-MICHIGAN

Woman arraigned in fake rape case in Port Huron

PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) - A woman in the Port Huron area has made her first court appearance on a charge of falsely reporting a rape.

It's 1 of 2 criminal cases for 38-year-old Sara Ylen (WHY'-len). She's also accused of fraud by claiming for years that she had cancer.

Ylen was silent during Wednesday's arraignment in St. Clair County District Court. Not-guilty pleas were entered on her behalf.

Authorities say she falsely accused a man of rape last year and used makeup to create what looked like bruises. A June 4th hearing will determine if the case goes to trial.

In November in a different case, a man convicted of raping Ylen was released from prison after nearly 10 years. New evidence showed Ylen had made false rape allegations that same year in California.

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