Nearly 50 homes were destroyed and dozens more were seriously damaged during severe weather last week in southwestern Michigan’s Kalamazoo County, authorities said Monday.

The lost homes included 24 mobile homes near Portage, the county’s emergency management office said in an update.

The National Weather Service confirmed four tornadoes in the region on May 7, including one in the Kalamazoo area, 140 miles west of Detroit.

FEDEX BUILDING IN MICHIGAN DESTROYED BY TORNADO

Federal Emergency Management Agency crews were arriving Tuesday to assess damage in southwestern Michigan.

“This is a traumatic event and a stressful time for many, and allowing us to interrupt their personal recovery efforts to begin our collective recovery as a community is greatly appreciated,” said Mike Corfman, Kalamazoo County’s emergency director.

The weather service said the tornado was an EF-2, which means a wind gust of 111 mph to 135 mph.

“It was one mile an hour short of being” an EF-3, Corfman said.

He said 28 people were still staying at an area shelter.

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“We’re trying to work out some longer-term sheltering for those people,” Corfman said. “Generally, the people that are there, their homes are gone. They just cannot go back, period.”

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – A Michigan man pleaded no contest to sending threatening emails to Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Jason Tolonen, a 51-year-old from Westland, pleaded no contest to one count of Using a Computer to Commit a Crime and one count of Malicious Use of a Telecommunications Services.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Tolonen repeatedly sent “nonsensical, harassing, racist, and threatening” emails to Whitmer’s constituent portal for years.

In November 2023, Michigan State Police searched Tolonen’s home after a threat to “assassinate the president or your governor.” Tolonen admitted to sending the messages. Nessel said he resumed sending similar emails in February 2024.

“Elected officials deserve to serve Michiganders free of fear, and violent threats directed at public servants cannot be normalized,” said Nessel. “I commend Michigan State Police for taking these threats seriously, and my department remains committed to prosecuting these disturbing offenses.”

Tolonen will be required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and refrain from repeated, unwanted contact with any individual, business or governmental entity. Nessel said he would also submit to mental health and substance abuse evaluations, and any recommendation would be incorporated into his sentence.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 12 at 9 a.m.

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Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith didn’t leave any doubt what he thought of Michigan’s recent three-game winning streak against the Buckeyes on the football field. They shouldn’t count at all, given the Wolverines’ recent sign-stealing allegations.

When asked by Ohio State’s NPR affiliate if Michigan’s wins should come with an asterisk, he joked: “Of course I do.”

“The rules are in place to protect the integrity of the game and try our best to create a level playing field,” Smith said on All Sides with Anna Staver. “When those rules are violated, then it affects those principles. We have to keep that in perspective.”

Ohio State won 17 of the 24 editions of The Game in the 21st century, including an eight-game win streak culminating in a 59-27 rout in 2019, but Jim Harbaugh led Michigan to three straight decisive victories over the Buckeyes, winning the national championship last season.

But the Wolverines were also the subject of NCAA investigations, most notably the sign-stealing scheme alleged to have been perpetrated by former UM staffer Connor Stalions that resulted in a three-game suspension for Harbaugh to finish the regular season last year.

The NCAA’s investigation into those claims remains open.

Smith will retire from Ohio State in July after leading its athletic department since 2005, and his final season at the school will find the Buckeyes hosting the Wolverines in Columbus, with the very early consensus being that OSU will be favored in the game.

“We host that team up north this fall, and I’m assuming it’ll be what it’s always been,” Smith said.

“The last time that we had the level of interest in that game was 2006 with No. 1 vs. No. 2. This year, it probably won’t be No. 1 vs. No. 2, but it’ll be No. 1 vs. Somebody, and we need to pack that place. Be in your seat early. Don’t wait until the kickoff. Be in your seat early.”

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