The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) - The Detroit Red Wings and city officials have announced a $650 million plan for a new arena for the NHL team in Detroit's downtown entertainment and sports district.

Plans for the 18,000-seat arena were announced Wednesday at a meeting of economic development officials to approve the deal. Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch has long said he wanted a replacement for the 32-year-old Joe Louis Arena.

DETROIT (AP) - Chrysler is expected to file papers Tuesday explaining its refusal to recall 2.7 million older Jeep SUVs.

The U.S. government asked Chrysler earlier this month to recall Grand Cherokees and Libertys because the position of the fuel tank leaves it susceptible to rupture in a rear-end crash. The ruptured tank can spill gasoline, which can ignite if an ignition source is present.

The agency says 51 people have been killed in accidents involving the older Jeeps.

But on June 4, Chrysler publicly rejected the recall, saying the Jeeps are safe and the government is creating a new standard for gas tank strength. Tuesday is the deadline for Chrysler to file its formal response to the government's request.

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Operators have restarted the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in southwestern Michigan after finishing repairs to a water tank that leaked slightly radioactive water into Lake Michigan.

New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. idled the plant May 5 after operators found a tank leaking faster than regulations allow. Company spokeswoman Lindsay Rose says it returned to service about 2:10 p.m. Monday.

The plant is in Van Buren County's Covert Township, about 80 miles east-northeast of Chicago,

DETROIT (AP) — A jury has resumed deliberations in the trial of a Detroit police officer blamed for the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl.

The jury met for about five hours Friday before going home for the weekend. Deliberations started again Monday around 9:30 a.m. in Wayne County court.

Joseph Weekley is charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony.

Aiyana Stanley-Jones was shot in the head while she slept on a couch near the front door of a Detroit home. Weekley was leading a pack of officers into the home to search for a murder suspect in 2010.

Weekley claims he accidentally pulled the trigger when Aiyana's grandmother struck his gun. Mertilla Jones denies any interference.

The jury could acquit Weekley or convict him of a lesser crime.

ON LAKE MICHIGAN NEAR POVERTY ISLAND, Mich. (AP) - In a remote part of northern Lake Michigan, divers have started looking at an underwater pit, hoping to find the resting place of the Griffin, a ship commanded by the 17th century French explorer La Salle.

Jurors will get instructions from a judge and then start deliberations in the trial of a Detroit police officer charged in the fatal shooting of a 7-year-old girl.

Joseph Weekley told jurors Thursday that he wasn't reckless when he accidentally fired his gun during a raid, killing Aiyana Stanley-Jones three years ago. He says he was struggling with Aiyana's grandmother over the gun.

The jury is returning to court Friday. Weekley is charged with involuntary manslaughter, a felony, but the jury also can consider it a misdemeanor crime.

Prosecutor Rob Moran says there was no interference from grandmother Mertilla Jones. But defense attorney Steve Fishman says Jones has no credibility because she's told different stories about what happened.

Aiyana was killed when police raided a house to capture a murder suspect.

DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit judge says a lawsuit can go forward against federal authorities accused of violating the rights of Muslims at U.S.-Canada border crossings.

Federal Judge Avern Cohn says he's not ruling yet on the merits of the case. But he denied a request by the government to dismiss it Tuesday.

Some Detroit-area Muslims sued last year, saying they've been held at gunpoint, handcuffed and repeatedly questioned about their religion when returning to the U.S. from Canada. Some have given up on crossing the border.

Cohn says the government might come up with valid reasons for pulling Muslims aside for additional questions at the border. But he says that's not the key issue at this stage of the litigation.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - More than 30 conservative and tea party activists say they won't support Gov. Rick Snyder's re-election because of his support for expanding Medicaid eligibility to more Michigan adults under the federal health care law.

In an open letter to the Republican governor Tuesday, the advocates faulted him for consulting with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Medicaid expansion.

They accuse Snyder of purposefully sticking a "finger in the eye of his own conservative base." The activists - including some of Michigan's better-known tea party advocates - say a "line must be drawn."

Snyder and Republican legislative leaders sent a letter to Sebelius May 29 asking her to meet with them in Michigan. The House is considering legislation that would expand Medicaid but require a federal waiver.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - New legislation would give college graduates an income tax credit for their student loans if they stay in Michigan after graduation.

The credit would be equal to half the amount paid on qualified student loans in a tax year but couldn't exceed 20 percent of the average annual tuition at Michigan's public universities. To be eligible, students would have to be a state resident, a graduate of a Michigan university and have earned a bachelor's degree.

Democratic Senator Glenn Anderson of Westland says his bill introduced last week gives graduates an incentive to stay in Michigan and helps address the "brain drain" of grads leaving the state. His legislation is backed by Democrats along with a couple Republicans in the GOP-led Senate.

BOYNE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Two men who became spouses at a Michigan Indian reservation in a state that bans same-sex marriages have been invited to the White House.

MLive.com reports that Tim LaCroix and Gene Barfield will be guests of President Barack Obama on Thursday at a reception honoring LGBT Pride Month. LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

The men were married in March by the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, of which LaCroix is a member.  Same-sex marriage is prohibited in Michigan, but federally recognized Native American tribes are self-governing and aren't bound by state law.

Barfield and LaCroix say they were shocked to receive the invitation and canceled a scheduled trip to California.

The longtime partners live in Boyne City.

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.

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 U.S. Department of Education has dismissed a complaint from the Michigan Department of Civil Rights over schools’ use of American Indian mascots.

The civil rights department had argued that the images hurt Native American students’ academic performance, and create an unequal learning environment.

But federal education officials say opponents of Indian mascots and logos need to prove that they create a hostile environment for Native American students.

MICHIGAMME TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Tunneling at an Upper Peninsula mine is expected to be completed less than two years after digging started.

The Mining Journal of Marquette reports that Redpath Mining Contractors and Engineers expect to finish their work Friday at the Rio Tinto Eagle Mine in Michigamme Township.

More than two miles of tunnels have been built since drilling started in September 2011. The operation will mine and backfill ore which contains nickel and copper.

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) - Education reform crusader Michelle Rhee says Michigan is making progress toward improving its schools but has more to do.

Rhee is the former chancellor of the Washington, D.C., public schools and founder of an advocacy group called StudentsFirst. She spoke Thursday during the annual Detroit Regional Chamber policy conference at Mackinac Island.

Rhee is a self-described lifelong Democrat who has clashed with teachers' unions, one of the party's key constituencies. During her speech, she called for honoring the teaching profession but demanding more accountability and rewarding the best teachers with more pay.

She also supports school voucher programs, which are unpopular with many Democrats who believe they drain money from public schools.

Rhee praised Michigan's Educational Achievement Authority, which was created to improve the state's lowest-performing schools.

Watch her speech here (scroll one hour in):

DETROIT (AP) - The federal government is investigating Ford F-150 pickups with EcoBoost engines after drivers reported that the engines lost power during acceleration.

The government estimates around 400,000 F-150 pickups from the 2011 through 2013 model years are involved.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 95 reports of engines losing power during hard acceleration, such as when passing. The incidents often occurred in rainy or humid weather. NHTSA has no reports of crashes or injuries.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan utility regulators say gasoline consumption is expected to decline slightly this summer compared with previous years.

The Michigan Public Service Commission's recently released summer energy appraisal forecasts adequate energy supplies and prices this summer.

The group says gasoline sales in Michigan are expected to drop about 1 percent in 2013 after a decline of almost 2 percent last year due to increased fuel efficiency and consistently high gasoline prices.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - For the second time in recent years, the Michigan Legislature is rewriting environmental laws in ways that critics say would make it easier to develop sensitive wetlands. Business interests say the changes would provide adequate protections while boosting the economy.

The state Senate approved a bill this week that would make numerous changes in laws dealing with wetlands such as swamps and marshes, which absorb floodwaters and perform other vital tasks.

DETROIT (AP) - Thieves struck a Detroit church and swiped a brass bell that's more than 100 years old.

The bell belongs to Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church. Officials believe a lock was cut on a fence that surrounds the church grounds Thursday night or early Friday morning.

DETROIT (AP) - The ex-technology chief for Detroit's public libraries and two former business contractors are charged in a $1.4 million bribe and kickback scheme.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the indictments Tuesday.

Forty-six-year-old Timothy Cromer was the library system's chief administrative and technology officer in 2006-13.

The Associated Press left a phone message at his West Bloomfield home Tuesday afternoon seeking comment.