John Flesher, Author at Daily Hampshire Gazette

FILE - Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker speaks during a press conference at the Grand Rapids Police Department, Wednesday, April 11, 2018 in Grand Rapids, Mich. Prosecutor Chris Becker said he will announce Thursday, June, 9, 2022 whether charges will be filed in the death of Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head by Grand Rapids Police Officer Christopher Schurr. (Cory Morse/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, File)

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Michigan officer charged with murder in death of Patrick Lyoya

by John Flesher Associated Press, and Ed White Associated PressJune 9, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A prosecutor filed a second-degree murder charge Thursday against the Michigan police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head following an intense physical…

A TV display shows video evidence of a Grand Rapids police officer struggling with and shooting Patrick Lyoya at Grand Rapids City Hall on Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Lyoya, 26, was shot and killed about 8:10 a.m., on April 4, after what police said was a traffic stop. (Grand Rapids Police Department)

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Chief IDs officer in fatal shooting

by John Flesher Associated Press, Bernard Condon Associated Press, and Ed White Associated PressApril 25, 2022

FILE - Michigan Office of the Governor, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Mich. on Oct. 8, 2020. Jurors on Friday, April 7, 2022, acquitted two men and deadlocked on two others accused of plotting to abduct Whitmer in 2020. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, File)

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Whitmer kidnap plot: 2 men acquitted, hung jury for 2 more

by John Flesher Associated Press, and Ed White Associated PressApril 8, 2022

FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2019, file photo, thousands of snow geese take flight over a farm field at their winter grounds, in the Skagit Valley near Conway, Wash. The Biden administration on Monday, March 8, 2021, reversed a policy imposed under former President Donald Trump that drastically weakened the government's power to enforce a century-old law that protects most U.S. bird species. Trump ended criminal prosecutions against companies responsible for bird deaths that could have been...

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US reinstates suspended wild bird protections

by Matthew Brown Associated Press, and John Flesher Associated PressMarch 8, 2021

This photo combo shows top, from left, Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta and Adam Dean Fox, and bottom, from left, Daniel Harris, Barry Croft, and Ty Garbin.

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Six indicted in alleged plot to kidnap Mich. governor

by John Flesher Associated PressDecember 17, 2020

FILE - This June 30, 2017 remote camera image released by the U.S. Forest Service shows a female gray wolf and her mate with a pup born in 2017 in the wilds of Lassen National Forest in Northern California. Trump administration officials on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020, stripped Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in most of the U.S., ending longstanding federal safeguards and putting states in charge of overseeing the predators. (U.S. Forest Service via AP, File)

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US ends protections for gray wolf across most of nation

by Matthew Brown Associated Press, John Flesher Associated Press, and Jim Mone Associated PressOctober 29, 2020

FILE - In this June 7, 2018, file photo, a puddle blocks a path that leads into the Panther Island Mitigation Bank near Naples, Fla. The Trump administration on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, revoked an Obama-era regulation that shielded many U.S. wetlands and streams from pollution but was opposed by developers and farmers who said it hurt economic development and infringed on property rights. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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Trump administration drops Obama-era water protection

by John Flesher Associated PressSeptember 12, 2019

FILE - This Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, file photo shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration building behind FDA logos at a bus stop on the agency's campus in Silver Spring, Md. The Food and Drug Administration’s first broad testing of food for a worrisome class of nonstick, stain-resistant industrial compounds found high levels in some grocery store meats and seafood and in off-the-shelf chocolate cake, according to unreleased findings FDA researchers presented at a scientific conference...

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FDA food sampling finds contamination by ‘forever chemicals’

by Ellen Knickmeyer Associated Press, John Flesher Associated Press, and Michael Casey Associated PressJune 3, 2019

In this Dec. 4, 2014 photo released by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a wolf from the Snake River Pack passes by a remote camera in eastern Wallowa County, Ore. A proposal to strip gray wolves of their remaining federal protections could clip the predators' rapid expansion across vast swaths of the U.S. West and Great Lakes. (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife via AP)

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Wolves prove resilient, but proposal could curtail expansion

by Matthew Brown Associated Press, and John Flesher Associated PressMarch 15, 2019

FILE - This June 30, 2017 remote camera image released by the U.S. Forest Service shows a female gray wolf and her mate with a pup born in 2017 in the wilds of Lassen National Forest in Northern California. U.S. wildlife officials plan to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, re-igniting the legal battle over a predator that's run into conflicts with farmers and ranchers after rebounding in some regions, an official told The Associated Press, Wednesday, March 6,...

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US plans to lift protections for gray wolves

by Matthew Brown Associated Press, and John Flesher Associated PressMarch 7, 2019