A federal judge has slapped Midland-based Dow Chemical with a billion dollar judgment in a price fixing case. The company allegedly colluded with its competitors to fix the price of urethane.

The collusion allegedly occurred between 1998 and 2003. Urethane is used in automotive, construction, appliance and furniture products.

In February, a jury turned in a 400 million dollar verdict against Dow Chemical. This week, a federal judge tripled the penalty to $1.2 billion.   

Dow plans to appeal the verdict. BASF, Huntsman International and Lyondell Chemical Company have already reached out of court settlements with the plaintiffs.

Buick will be 110 years old on Sunday.  But the brand nearly didn't survive.

In 2009, GM's bankruptcy forced the automaker to cut brands.  The company tried to find buyers for Saturn, Hummer, and Saab, but eventually those sales fell through.

The company also decided it had to choose between Pontiac, and Buick.  Pontiac's customers on average were younger - that's a desirable thing for a brand - and it was outselling Buick.  Yet, GM chose Buick.

Gilda's Club is an organization that consists of groups across the country which provide laughter and support to cancer patients.

The organization is named after Gilda Radner. She was one of the brightest faces in comedy. The University of Michigan alum was in the original cast of Saturday Night Live. She passed away from ovarian cancer in 1989. 

One of her close friends and partner in comedy, Allen Zweibel, spoke with Michigan Radio's Cynthia Canty about Radner.

A group that opened the state's first shelter for underage victims of sex trafficking says there's a need for more such shelters.

Andy Soper is with the Manasseh Project, which opened the 12-bed shelter six months ago.

"We're seeing the growth in the young women getting back up to their grade level in school, working diligently on their therapy and their recovery process, getting jobs, so we're seeing progress and it's wonderful to see," Soper told Michigan Radio.

You're about to read something you might not want to spend much time thinking about, but that doesn't mean it's not important. 

That subject is septic fields. Of the 1.3 million wastewater treatment systems in Michigan, nearly 10 percent have failed. That's about 130,000 systems. 

With thousands of failing septic systems throughout the state, what's that doing to our water?

Michigan is the only state in the Union that doesn't have uniform standards governing how on-site sewage treatment systems should be designed, built, installed and maintained. 

Jeff Alexander recently examined the state of Michigan's septic fields in an article featured in Bridge Magazine. 

Michigan Radio's Cynthia Canty spoke with Alexander about what scientists at Michigan State are finding.

For those unsavory details and more, click the audio link above.  

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports "not stellar" results for the latest group of vehicles to undergo a new "small overlap frontal crash" test.

The test sees how well a vehicle protects an occupant in a situation where just a part of the front of the car hits something. One example would be two vehicles approaching each other, and one strays a little bit over the center line, causing an offset accident.

Some Michigan veterans who have been classified as 100 percent disabled because of an injury could have their property taxes eliminated under a measure proposed in the State Senate (SB104).

State Sen. Glenn Anderson, D-Westland, says the vets would be restricted to 200 percent of the poverty rate to qualify.

"Theoretically, the very highest compensation someone might be receiving could be in the $40,000 to $45,000 range," Anderson says. "But they're going to have additional expenses if they're 100 percent disabled."

Michigan lottery players are dreaming of winning two huge jackpots these days.

More than 700 million dollars is on the line in this weekend’s Powerball and Mega Millions drawings.

Andi Brancato is the spokeswoman for the Michigan Lottery. She says the two big jackpots are pushing lottery ticket sales.

“Maybe you have regular Mega Millions players who think ‘Gee, maybe I’ll get a Powerball ticket as well’,” says Brancato, “and vice versa with the Powerball players.”

When you think about what it took for the United States and our Allies to win World War II, it wasn't just up to the troops fighting in Europe and the Pacific, the war was waged on the home front as well.

And a big chunk of real estate in Ypsilanti was one of the most important spots in the nation for that war effort: the Willow Run Bomber Plant.

It was built by the Ford Motor Company to turn out B-24 Liberator bombers.

At the peak of its war effort, Willow Run turned out one Liberator bomber every 59 minutes. And 42,000 workers kept those bombers coming, earning the plant its nickname of "The Arsenal of Democracy."

Willow Run was also where Rose Will Monroe hired on to work as a riveter. She appeared in a film aimed at getting women out of the home and into the plants to help the war effort, and that led to the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” image and hit song.

These days, the future of Willow Run is cloudy.

It had been a GM plant, but Willow Run was discarded by GM during its bankruptcy woes in 2009.

Now, the Yankee Air Museum is hoping to buy a good-sized piece of the historic plant for a new home, thus saving the plant from the wrecker's ball and helping grow the museum.

Dennis Norton, founder of the Yankee Air Museum, and Ray Hunter, the current Chair of the Museum as well as a pilot and former Air Force colonel, joined us today.

Listen to the full interview above.

Two teens were banned from showing their pregnant bellies in yearbook photos, the Associated Press reported:

A Michigan school district has barred two pregnant students from showing their baby bumps in the high school yearbook — a decision made to keep with the state's abstinence-based approach to sex education, according to the superintendent.

Deonna Harris says she was pulled aside this week by a yearbook staff member and told her photo would have to be re-taken because the previous shot displayed Harris' pregnant belly.

Those who want to opt out of DTE Energy’s smart meter program now face a fee.

According to MLive, the Michigan Public Service Commission “ruled that DTE can charge customers an initial fee of $67.20 and a monthly fee of $9.80 to opt out of the smart meters.”

Melissa Anders reports that:

The Flint School District is planning over one hundred layoffs, the Flint Journal reported.

139 teachers and faculty in Flint will receive pink slips, with the staff cuts going into effect the day after school gets out on June 10.

While the interim superintendent emphasized the possible rehiring of many of these teachers at the end of June, the school district’s deficit reduction plan calls for firing 150 teachers over the next three years.

The Flint School District has three years to chop away at a $15.6-million deficit. If the deficit isn’t eliminated by their 2015 deadline, the district could lose state funding.

Buena Vista schools to reopen

Students in the Buena Vista school district will soon be heading back to the classroom. 

“The state Department of Education has approved the Buena Vista school district’s deficit elimination plan. The state will resume making aid payments, and school is expected to begin again next week for about 400 students,” Rick Pluta reports.

Unemployment rate falls and workforce grows

Michigan’s jobless rate continued to fall as 19,000 people found jobs last month, bringing the unemployment rate to 8.4% in April. The biggest gains were in the leisure, manufacturing, and health services industries while professional and business services declined. The size of the state’s workforce also grew by 2,000 people over the past year.

Department of Civil Rights faces budget cuts over mascot complaint

“The Michigan Department of Civil Rights could see its budget cut by $3 million over its stance on American Indian-themed school mascots. The department recently filed a complaint with the federal government over the mascots … Lawmakers in the state House have introduced a bill that would take money from the department and put it into a fund to help schools pay for any mascot changes,” Jake Neher reports.