Michigan schools, libraries and nonprofit groups are set to receive more than $280,000 in literacy funding, according to a community announcement issued by Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The money is intended to support reading and education programs across the state.

The grants are part of a nationwide single-day award total of nearly $16 million. The funding supports adult, family and summer literacy programs in the 48 states where Dollar General operates.

In Michigan, the grants are expected to affect more than 9,600 people, according to the announcement.

The grants are for nonprofit organizations, libraries and schools. According to the announcement, eligible groups must be within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center.

The money may be used for new technology, books, materials or software. The grants can help groups start literacy programs or expand existing ones.

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Several Michigan organizations received grants of $10,000, the highest amount. Those recipients included:

• Adrian Rea Literacy Center in Adrian
• Arab Community Center For Economic And Social Services (Access) in Dearborn
• Literacy Center Of West Michigan in Grand Rapids
• Houghton Lake Community Education in Houghton Lake
• Livingston County Literacy Coalition in Howell
• Goodwill Industries Of Southwestern Michigan in Kalamazoo
• Kalamazoo Literacy Council in Kalamazoo
• Capital Area Literacy Coalition / The Reading People in Lansing
• The Global Institute Of Lansing
• Van Buren Intermediate School District in Lawrence
• Reading Patch Literacy Foundation Inc. in Niles
• Grace Centers Of Hope in Pontiac
• Oakland Literacy Council in Pontiac
• Literacy And Beyond Inc. in Port Huron
• Gigi’S Playhouse — Detroit LLC in Southfield
• Southgate Community Schools in Southgate

• Minnesota lawmakers are considering a bill to fund a program aimed at reducing non-fatal shootings.
• The program is modeled after a successful Ramsey County unit that increased arrests and prosecutions for these crimes.
• Since the unit’s creation, the solve rate for non-fatal shootings in St. Paul rose from 37% to 71%.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, who helped devise a program to sharply increase arrests and prosecutions of non-fatal shootings, pressed state lawmakers Thursday to pass a bill for $1 million in grants to help other jurisdictions continue the successful experiment.

The bipartisan bill (HF1082), authored by House public safety co-chairs Reps. Kelly Moller and Paul Novotny, is modeled on Ramsey County’s non-fatal shooting unit, which has succesfully reduced gun crime in Ramsey County, and especially St. Paul.

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Previously, police and prosecutors spent few resources investigating non-fatal shootings, which were viewed as less important than homicides and often involved engaging with difficult witnesses.

The logic of the program is straightforward: Non-fatal shootings are essentially failed homicides, and they often spur a cycle of retributive violence. By solving and prosecuting so few of them, authorities lost any chance at deterrance. The non-fatal shootings often escalated to killings.

American Idol‘s latest installment has come to end. After a notable season that brought contestants to Hawaii and featured a tribute to Taylor Swift, Season 24 wrapped with a three-hour long episode that saw hopefuls Jordan McCullough, Hannah Harper, and Keyla Richardson compete for the final spot.

In the end, Missouri native Harper took the crown. In the first round of the finale, Alicia Keys stepped in as a guest mentor for contestants, and Harper performed a bluegrass rendition of the Grammy winner’s chart-topping hit, “No One.” In the second turn, Harper sang a song she wrote herself, titled “Married Into This Town,” and reprised “String Cheese,” another song she penned and memorably sang for her audition, for the last round.