Michigan at 2 a.m.
All times EST.
Roger Schneider is the Michigan news editor. David Runk is the early editor in Detroit. Corey Williams is the late editor.
If you have questions about the report or stories to offer, please call the AP general news and photos numbers in Detroit: 800-642-4125 or 313-259-0650, or email us your stories at apmichigan(at)ap.org. The direct line to the photo desk is 313-259-3647. For communications or computer-systems questions, call 313-259-0815. The Detroit AP fax number is 313-259-4966. Reruns of stories are available from http://apexchange.com or from the Detroit bureau.
John Flesher is the Traverse City correspondent, at 231-929-4180. Larry Lage is the sports editor and can be reached at llage(at)ap.org.
PAGE 1/SECTION FRONT RECOMMENDATION:
— MEAP RESULTS
— DETROIT EX-MAYOR
PHOTO RECOMMENDATION:
— MIFTF101, MIDTN202, DETROIT EX-MAYOR
— MICO101-103, 106, DETROIT FINANCES-SNYDER
— NY130, OBIT-BYRD
— MIGRA101, VATICAN-POPE-MICHIGAN
— MISAG101, TRAQIN CARS DERAIL
TOP STORIES:
MEAP RESULTS
DETROIT — Michigan students scored higher in math, reading and writing last year on the state's annual standardized tests, officials said Monday. Students statewide — particularly third- and eighth-graders — scored higher in reading proficiency, according to the fall 2012 Michigan Education Assessment Program results released by the state Department of Education. Students also scored higher in math at all grade levels, but particularly in grades 3, 4 and 5. Fourth- and seventh-graders improved their writing proficiency scores. By Corey Williams.
Also:
— INDIAN MASCOTS-MICHIGAN — Michigan's House Education committee chairwoman is calling on the state Department of Civil Rights to rescind its complaint to the federal government over the use of American Indian mascots in schools.
— RIGHT-TO-WORK-LAWSUIT — Labor unions are asking a federal judge in Detroit to block part of Michigan's right-to-work law from taking effect in late March. The lawsuit filed Monday is the second to challenge the law in recent weeks.
DETROIT EX-MAYOR
DETROIT —Kwame Kilpatrick turned Detroit's City Hall into a "private profit machine" when he was mayor by rigging city contracts, demanding bribes and even stealing money meant for the needy, a prosecutor said during closing arguments Monday in Kilpatrick's federal corruption trial. Kilpatrick spent $840,000 more than he earned as Detroit's mayor from 2002 until 2008, Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Michael Bullotta told jurors as he summed up the evidence the government presented during the five-month trial. By Ed White.
AP Photos MIDTF101, MIDTN202.
DETROIT FINANCES-SNYDER
DETROIT — A long-awaited review of Detroit's finances and fiscal future is due Feb. 19, but it could reach Gov. Rick Snyder within a couple of weeks or sooner. When Snyder receives it, it likely won't take the Republican governor too long to decide whether the troubled city should be placed under state oversight and saddled with an emergency manager, he told reporters Monday following a Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce event in Detroit. By Corey Williams.
AP Photos MICO101-103, 106.
OBIT-BYRD
DOVER, Del. — Jazz musician Donald Byrd, a leading hard-bop trumpeter of the 1950s who collaborated on dozens of albums with the leading artists of his time and later enjoyed commercial success with hit jazz-funk fusion records such as "Black Byrd," has died. He was 80. He died Feb. 4 in Delaware, according to Haley Funeral Directors in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Mich. Byrd, who was also a pioneer in jazz education, attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School and moved to New York in 1955 after playing in military bands in the Air Force. By Randall Chase and Katie Zezima.
AP Photo NY130.
VATICAN-POPE-MICHIGAN
DETROIT — A Catholic archbishop who worked side-by-side at the Vatican with the man who would become Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that the outgoing head of the church has brought a high level of scholarship and intellectuality to the job. Cardinal Edmund Szoka led the Archdiocese of Detroit before holding top financial and administrative jobs in Rome during which the future pope was in charge of enforcing Catholic doctrine under then-Pope John Paul II. The 85-year-old pope said Monday that he is stepping Feb. 28 down because of declining strength.
EXCHANGE-IRONTON FERRY
IRONTON — Some major changes are planned for the Ironton Ferry, hoped to be made while it is out of the water this winter for its five-year inspection. The Charlevoix County Transportation Authority is working to gain approval from the U.S. Coast Guard for the changes, which include rebuilding the ferry's historic wheelhouse and replacing its engine. By Aebra Coe, Petoskey News-Review.
Eds: An AP Member Exchange.
SPORTS:
BKN--HORNETS-PISTONS
AUBURN HILLS — The Detroit Pistons hosted the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
AP Photos DTP101-104, others.
BKC--T25-WOLVERINES-SPARTANS
EAST LANSING —Tom Izzo says the nation is talking about the Michigan-Michigan State game. For the first time in series history, both teams will play while ranked among the top 10 in The Associated Press' college basketball poll. Bragging rights won't be the only thing at stake Tuesday night when the eighth-ranked Spartans host the fourth-ranked Wolverines. Michigan State will be playing to move into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten against its on-the-rise rival and for another victory that might help NCAA tournament positioning. By Larry Lage.
AP Photos ELJ113-114, WIAM114, NY154-155, INMC107.
BKC--THRILLING BIG TEN
The Big Ten may well be the best league in the nation. It has certainly been one of the most fun to watch this season. The depth of the conference — which has three top 10 teams, five in the Top 25 and eight with at least 15 wins — has led to dozens of high-profile matchups and the most entertaining season in recent memory. It's all whetted the appetite for what should be a fascinating stretch run. By Like Meredith.
AP Photos AAS112, WIAM107, MNGR103.
FBC--RECRUITING RULES-BIG TEN
Big Ten athletic directors and football coaches say they have reservations about loosened NCAA recruiting rules that would allow unlimited contact between recruiters and high school players. The NCAA Board of Directors in January approved rulebook revisions that, among other things, remove limits on the number of phone calls and text messages to prospective recruits. The eased restrictions are set to begin July 1. By Eric Olson.
BBA--JIM LITKE 021113
Detroit manager Jim Leyland arrived at the Tigers' training camp Monday in Lakeland, Fla., exactly 50 years after he first showed up there as a pencil-thin 18-year-old prospect. If you were expecting sepia-tinged memories about a kid from Ohio basking in the sunshine and seeing his dream laid out in front of him, well, you don't know Leyland. Or at least not well enough. "I remember going over to watch the big-league guys as soon as I got there and saw the caliber of play. And shortly after that, I had a good idea I wasn't going to make it — not as a ballplayer, anyway," he said. By Jim Litke.
AP Photo NY156.
