DETROIT (AP) - Charges have been dismissed against a Saudi man arrested at Detroit Metropolitan Airport after a pressure cooker was found in his bag.

Hussain Al Khawahir was arrested May 11th and charged with giving false statements to federal agents and possessing an altered passport. Authorities said he lied about why he was traveling with the pressure cooker.

The U.S. Attorney's Office told the Detroit Free Press in a statement Friday that Hussain Al Khawahir "will go immediately into the custody of U.S. Customs and Border protection for removal" from the U.S.

 The federal budget cuts known as the sequester are hitting home across Metro Detroit.

That’s the message Congressman Sander Levin took on the road in his district Friday.

Levin met with seniors, defense industry employees, and hospital staff in Macomb County. All have been affected to some degree by the sequester.

At St. John’s Macomb hospital, a 2% cut to Medicare payments has taken a $4.5 million bite out of the budget. About 70% of the hospital’s patients are covered by Medicare.

Two Republican congressmen from West Michigan blasted the federal intelligence community for secretly collecting the phone records of millions Americans. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Grand Rapids) and Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Holland) discussed the program during a luncheon in Grand Rapids today.

“I think it’s outrageous,” Amash said, “I think the American people are outraged about it and it has to stop.”

The Obama administration announced a proposal to lift the federal protection of gray wolves in 48 states. 

The director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dan Ashe, said wolves have recovered.

According to Matthew Brown and John Flesher of the Associated Press, Ashe cited the wolf population as having "successfully rebounded."

Ashe said that "science is an important part of this decision, but really the key is the policy question of when a species is recovered. Does the wolf have to occupy all the habitat that is available to it in order for it to be recovered? Our answer to that question is no."

Gov. Snyder seeks a presidential disaster declaration for 16 Michigan counties hit hard by floods this spring. Heavy rains in April and early May led to flooding in many parts of Michigan. 

Governor Snyder declared a state of disaster on May 7. That set the stage for state and federal teams to review damage and property losses in 19 counties. The assessment has led the governor now to seek a presidential disaster declaration in 16 counties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will review the governor’s request.

In a recent piece in Bloomberg, Virginia Postrel (a political and cultural writer) argues that the "cause of art would be better served" if the DIA's major works were in other, 'more deserving' cities.

Her argument:

This week on "It’s Just Politics," it’s all about ch-ch-changes (cue your best David Bowie impersonation here). Changes are afoot vis-a-vis lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in Michigan.

Democrats in the Legislature made news this week by introducing a package of bills to reverse Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage and to recognize same-sex marriages that are legal in other states. All of this is occurring, of course, as we wait for the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings on gay marriage, due sometime this month. There is also a federal case in Michigan that could be affected by the decision.

The big question is: How significant is this new legislation when all of the sponsors are Democrats? We all know Republicans run the show in Lansing; controlling the state House, state Senate and the Governor’s office. And the Republican leadership has shown no signs of wanting to make this issue a priority. When Gov. Snyder is asked about it, he tends to tap dance around the issue, won’t say "no," won’t say "yes." “I’m staying focused on jobs and kids and seniors at this point,” the governor said this week.

Up to half a million Michigan residents could lose their health insurance if the legislature fails to expand Medicaid.

Low-income Michiganders covered by local health plans could lose their coverage in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act. The law was written with the assumption states would accept federal funds to expand Medicaid.

School’s out and summer means sun tans, barbeques, beach days, and…searching for Christmas Trees?

The hunt for the state holiday tree has begun. Michigan needs a 65-foot-tall evergreen that can sparkle on the lawn of the Capitol building in November.

“Everyone laughs that the process starts in June,” said Kurt Weiss with Michigan’s Department of Technology, Management and Budget, “But that’s when the process starts.”

Next week Kevyn Orr will be meeting with creditors to start negotiations in attempts to keep the city from going bankrupt.

According to Matt Helms of the Detroit Free Press, the negotiations will includes over 150 representatives from the city’s major creditors including national banks who hold the city’s bonds, insurers, union representatives, and pensioners.

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) - A man charged by the Michigan attorney general's office with a series of shootings on and off Interstate 96 last fall has a court appearance scheduled in Livingston County.

The hearing for Raulie Casteel is set for Friday before Circuit Judge David Reader.

In a separate but related case in Oakland County, Casteel faces attempted murder among 60 charges linked to shootings in Commerce Township and Wixom. The 44-year-old defendant is set to stand trial in that case in November.

The AG's office is prosecuting Casteel on terrorism and other charges in Livingston County.

He's accused in two-dozen random shootings in a four-county area in October. One man was hurt.

Defense attorneys say Casteel is married with no criminal history and has been diagnosed as having a delusional disorder.

The Muskegon Heights school system has been fined nearly $100,000 by the Michigan Department of Education. The department launched the investigation after Michigan Radio reported the new Muskegon Heights charter school district had about 10% of teachers working without a valid teaching certificate or permit. It’s against state law to do that.

Ohio State University president Gordon Gee’s ability to put money in the bank was equaled only by his ability to put his foot in his mouth.  Well, this week he was finally fired – er, retired, entirely voluntarily, of course, not pushed at all.  Nooo.    

Gee has delivered a seemingly endless stream of gaffes, slanders and just plain stupid comments, which culminated in his unexpected departure.  In politics, they say, when a man is shooting himself in the foot, don’t grab the gun.  In that spirit, I’ll let the man’s words speak for themselves.

Up to two thousand people will receive free dental care during a two day event in Saginaw.

Today and tomorrow, more than 300 dentists and volunteers will be treating poor Michiganders in need of dental care at Saginaw Valley State University’s Ryder Center.

Patients will receive fillings, extractions, cleanings and other procedures during the two day event.   

Steven Harris is the chairperson of the event. He says the ‘Mission of Mercy’ event is not only intended to provide much needed dental care, but also to dramatize the need for more state funding.

Wayne County will stop building a $300 million jail complex while it tries to figure out how the project got so over-budget.

The new jail was supposed to save Wayne County money by consolidating several facilities into one new, high-tech one.

Pontiac schools are a step closer to a possible state takeover.

A state board found Pontiac schools in "probable financial stress," following a review led by the state schools Superintendent Mike Flanagan. The board's finding triggers a more comprehensive review of the district's finances. 

The school system's deficit was close to $38 million about a year ago. That's about half of its operating budget, and way over the state's benchmark for determining whether a district is in trouble.

The district's ability to pay its bills has been touch and go. Last month the state released aid it had been withholding to avoid a payless payday.

And the schools system's financial troubles are mounting. A court has ordered a tax levy on property owners in Pontiac and neighboring communities to cover almost $8 million in unpaid health insurance premiums.

If a team appointed by Governor Snyder decides there's a financial emergency in Pontiac schools, the school board would have to choose among a set of options. One of those options is appointing an emergency manager.

  More than a dozen insurance companies want to be part of a health care exchange that provides coverage to Michiganders under the new federal health care law.

Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, McLaren, United Healthcare and ten other insurance companies have applied to be part of the new health care exchange.

Beginning in October, Michiganders will be able to use a federally run exchange to compare the health care plans.  It’s all part of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," which takes effect in 2014.

Representative John D. Dingell began serving in the United States Congress in 1955. He's served 30 terms, and can talk about the 11 presidents he has served  under. 

He is the longest serving member of Congress after 57 years, five months, and 26 days. 

Here's a timeline of his lengthy career, courtesy of Representative Dingell:

Brooms up! This weekend in Genesee County there will be a big exhibition match of quidditch. Yes, that's the sport played by the witches and wizards of the Harry Potter novels.

Since true witches and wizards are in fairly short supply around these parts, this will be Muggle Quidditch, “muggle” being the name applied to all of us non-magical types.

College players from the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern, Miami of Ohio and more will be playing the game at the Deer Run Soccer Complex in Linden Township.

Krystina Packard, a former quidditch player with Michigan State, joined us in the studio to tell us how a game that was created in the imaginative mind of author J.K. Rowling has become a surprisingly serious sport for these muggles.

Listen to the full interview above.

It’s Thursday, the day we talk Michigan politics with Susan Demas, political analyst for Michigan Information and Research Service, and Ken Sikkema, former Senate Majority Leader and senior policy fellow at Public Sector Consultants.

The state budget is on its way to Governor Snyder for his signature, while there is an investment of $65 million in early education, the Governor did not get three of his major priorities met. Medicaid expansion, transportation funding, and Common Core for K-12 education.

"He [Snyder] can't afford to sort of roll over all the time on the conservative agenda items, where he signs everything they want without getting them [conservatives] to agree to pass some of his high priority items," says Sikkema. 

Listen to the full interview above.