WAYNE COUNTY

Heavy, wet snow — part of a storm system that spawned tornadoes in the Houston area — has covered roads, vehicles, houses and buildings from central and northern Indiana into much of southeastern Michigan.

Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local election officials in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Michigan’s largest district court and bail reform advocates have settled a class-action lawsuit against bail practices in Detroit, where hundreds of defendants are jailed for no other reason than their inability to afford court-imposed bail.

A prosecutor has decided not to charge Detroit officers in the fatal shooting of a Black man who was man recorded by police body cameras as he shot at an officer.

Here are some of the most powerful videos and photos of the storms found on social media. Tornado wiped out some chicken houses in Wayne County Mississippi (about 14 miles east of Laurel). @NWSMobile @spann @NWSJacksonMS pic.twitter.com/ejgi0KUVy0 — Spinks Megginson (@rzweather) March 17, 2021TORNADO VIDEO: Tyrone Thomas Jr. sent us this video of a tornado between Waynesboro and Laurel. https://t.co/gu0tyfieXa pic.twitter.com/Oo0Kkr83Af — WLBT 3 On Your Side (@WLBT) March 17, 2021TORNADO VIDEO: This was sent in by Lennye Smith near Highway 583 in Brookhaven. 🌪🌪 https://t.co/MIfRnbDypX — #WVTM13 (@WVTM13) March 17, 2021Incredibly dangerous situation unfolding in Alabama.

A member of the audience holds a "Justice for All" sign during West Virginia Gov. Instead, state Republican leaders ordered a redo on candidate applications and insisted Marcum return home for an in-person interview. County Republicans claim the West Virginia GOP — which created its own shortlist for the seat — intervened to anoint a political favorite, a charge the governor denies. Booth's name appeared in place of Marcum's on the list that state GOP officials submitted to Justice. “I guess the swamp has made its way down to West Virginia.”

DETROIT – When one thinks of the opera, images of a parking garage are unlikely to come to mind, but some unexpected creativity during the pandemic allowed people to experience the opera from their vehicle. This proves it: When you can’t pack people into a theater, you find another way to perform. Michigan Opera Theatre opened its season in late December this way. Each act performed on a different level of the opera house garage. Watch nextREAD: Michigan Opera Theatre names Yuval Sharon new artistic director

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan election officials on Monday certified Democrat Joe Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state amid President Donald Trump’s brazen attempts to subvert the results of the election. “That is the clear mandate of state law,” he said. Under state law, it has the narrow responsibilities of reviewing vote numbers from Michigan’s 83 counties and certifying them. The campaign, in its filings, asked for urgent consideration so they could challenge the state election results before they are certified next month. Pennsylvania county election boards were voting on Monday, the state deadline, about whether to certify election results to the Department of State.

It also comes as an increasing number of Republicans were publicly acknowledging Biden’s victory, after weeks of tolerating Trump’s baseless claims of fraud. The president had grown increasingly frustrated with the flailing tactics of his legal team. President-elect Biden won the State of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20th,” Michigan Gov. The campaign, in its filings, asked for urgent consideration so it could challenge the state election results before they are certified next month. Pennsylvania county election boards voted Monday, the state deadline, on whether to certify election results to the Department of State.

The Republican National Committee and the state Republican Party want the board to adjourn for 14 days to investigate alleged irregularities in Wayne County, the state's largest and home to Detroit. “Michigan election law clearly requires that the state’s electors must be those nominated by the party that received the most votes — not the Legislature,” says a stock email House Republicans are sending in response to people who contact their offices. Experts on Michigan election law have said the state board's authority is limited in scope and that it must certify the results now that all 83 counties have reported theirs to the state. The deadline is Dec. 13, but that is five days after the federal “safe harbor” date — when Congress cannot challenge any electors named by that date in accordance with state law. In fact, election officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the election went well and international observers confirmed that there were no serious irregularities.

Some answers to basic questions about the canvassing and certification process:Q: WHAT HAPPENED TO HOLD UP THE CERTIFICATION? Hartmann said he changed his vote to certify the election because canvassers agreed to seek an audit of Detroit’s election performance. The software allows poll workers to look up a voter’s registration record, confirm the registration and assign a ballot to that voter. Other potential problems include ballot scanners that get jammed or ballots that cannot be read because voters filled them out improperly. The issue would then go before the Michigan Court of Claims, according to former Michigan Elections Director Chris Thomas.

(AP Photo/David Eggert, File)DETROIT – President Donald Trump summoned Michigan's Republican legislative leaders to the White House for an extraordinary meeting Friday amid a long shot GOP push to subvert the democratic process that handed the battleground state to Democrat Joe Biden. If Trump succeeds in convincing Michigan's state board of canvassers not to certify Biden’s victory in the state, state lawmakers could be called on to select electors, but such a brazen move would be unprecedented and possibly illegal. Asked at a Lansing news conference about the plan for legislative leaders to visit Trump, Democratic Gov. Palmer and Hartmann initially voted against certification Tuesday, leaving the county Board of Canvassers deadlocked at 2-2 along party lines. But Trump and his allies have spent two weeks raising false claims of fraud and refusing to concede to Biden.

Republicans Monica Palmer and William Hartmann initially voted against certification Tuesday, leaving the Wayne County Board of Canvassers deadlocked at 2-2 along party lines. But he said he was bombarded with phone calls and emails from random Trump supporters urging him not to approve the election results. Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox reacted swiftly after the initial Wayne County deadlock. An email landed immediately at the AP, with Cox saying she was proud that the party's work had caused GOP canvassers to refuse to bless the election results. This certifies the entire state, said Thomas, who added that by not certifying the county results, the state board would “would basically nullify the entire election” in Michigan.

The state vote certification process is usually a routine task, and the ultimate resolution in Wayne County propels Biden toward formal victory in Michigan. Republicans are also trying to stop formal certification of the election results in other swing states, including Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Each state certifies its election results and the Electoral College meets Dec. 14 to codify the results. In Michigan, Trump allies and Republican poll challengers have spent days launching unsuccessful litigation. In a more rural county, Mohave, election certification was delayed until Nov. 23 in a sign of solidarity with the remaining election challenges in the state.

(AP Photo/David Goldman)WHY AP CALLED MICHIGAN FOR BIDEN:Democrat Joe Biden has won the electoral battleground of Michigan, the third state that President Donald Trump carried in 2016 that the former vice president has flipped. Biden had a 70,000-vote lead on Wednesday evening, a margin over Trump of about 1.3 percentage points. Michigan is among a handful of battleground states where Trump prematurely claimed early Wednesday that he was “winning” the contest with Biden. With Biden winning both Michigan and Wisconsin, all eyes are on Nevada and Pennsylvania. Voters who cast mail ballots have favored Biden.