EPA regional director won’t comment on settling Flint water crisis litigation
Updated Dec 07, 2020;
Posted Dec 07, 2020
U.S. EPA Regional Administer Kurt Thiede speaks during the press conference at Grand Valley State UniversityÕs Lake Michigan Center in Muskegon, Michigan on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.
Alison Zywicki | azywicki@mlive.com
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FLINT, MI U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Administrator Kurt Thiede detailed the federal government’s commitment to Flint in a news conference Monday, Dec. 7, but he would not comment on whether the federal government is willing to settle hundreds of civil lawsuits filed against it by city residents like the state of Michigan has done.
9 & 10 News
December 22, 2020
CAMBRIDGE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) Police say a UPS worker making deliveries in southern Michigan discovered the frozen body of an 80-year-old man outside his home. Foul play is not suspected. Police believe Richard Kokochak died after an accident or health problem in Lenawee County’s Cambridge Township. A UPS employee discovered Kokochak’s body last week in his curved driveway. Kokochak lived in the house with his partner, who was in the hospital at the time. Police say it would have been difficult for a passerby to see the body.
FLINT, Mich. (AP) The Flint City Council in Michigan has signed off on its portion of a $641 million settlement with residents of the poor, majority-Black city who were exposed to lead-tainted water. Flint’s insurer would kick in $20 million as part of a sweeping deal to settle lawsuits against Flint, the state of Michigan and other parties. The Flint council approved its stake early Tuesday after an hourslong meeting
Flint joins $641M deal to settle lawsuits over lead in water
by The Associated Press
Last Updated Dec 22, 2020 at 10:28 am EDT
FLINT, Mich. The Flint City Council early Tuesday signed off on its portion of a $641 million settlement with residents who were exposed to lead-tainted water.
The city’s insurer would kick in $20 million as part of a sweeping deal to settle lawsuits against Flint, the state of Michigan and other parties. Facing a Dec. 31 deadline, the council approved its stake after an hourslong meeting that raised concerns about whether residents were getting shortchanged, MLive.com reported.
“It’s something. It’s better than nothing,” council President Kate Fields said, adding that she hopes a judge looks at a second resolution approved by the council that questions the claims process and the state’s share of the agreement.
Flint criminal cases will wrap up early next year, says Michigan AG Nessel
Updated Dec 22, 2020;
Posted Dec 22, 2020
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel leaves the capitol building after the Electoral College vote in Lansing on Monday Dec. 14, 2020. Nicole Hester/Mlive.com
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The Flint criminal cases involving the city’s water crisis will be wrapped up in early 2021, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who made the announcement at a Dec. 22 press conference.
Nessel’s office settled Flint’s more than 100 civil lawsuits for $641 million and the Flint City Council signed off on the settlement yesterday after weeks of indecision and debate. The AG gave an update on the cases during a year-end roundup where she discussed the progress her office has made this year, including charging 14 people allegedly involved in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and following up on more than 4,400 complaints of retailer price gouging during the COVID-19 p
The federal judge overseeing a proposed $641 million settlement in the Flint water crisis civil litigation said she will decide by mid-January whether to approve the deal amid concerns from residents and some members of the Flint City Council that the amount is too low.
U.S. District Judge Judith Levy made the announcement Monday after she met via Zoom with scores of attorneys involved in the landmark case following years of court hearings and negotiations. Her decision will be issued in writing, she said, but will allow time for others such as residents to express concerns about the agreement.
The money, which was increased to $41 million this fall, would largely go to victims of the water crisis that emerged after Flint residents learned their drinking water had been contaminated with lead after a source switch to river water in 2014. Levy called the proposed deal “among the most complex settlements I have ever seen.”