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NEW YORK - A prosecutor on Monday asked that Bernard Madoff be jailed pending trial, saying the disgraced financier violated an agreement with the court by mailing watches, jewelry, cufflinks and mittens worth more than $1 million to relatives and friends.

Press File PhotoAmtrak passengers finally get off the Pere Marquette train at the Grand Rapids station Dec. 22 after a 12-hour delay.

State officials and the mayor of Holland say they need more information from Amtrak about why a four-hour trip last month turned into a 16-hour ordeal for passengers traveling from Chicago to Grand Rapids.

DETROIT - Chrysler LLC's December U.S. sales plunged by more than half and it sold 30 percent fewer vehicles in 2008 as consumers remained uncertain about the economy and their jobs, dwarfing the steep declines at the other major automakers.

LANSING - There's talk that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's withdrawal as Commerce secretary nominee could be an opening for Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales plummeted 32 percent in December and Toyota Motor Corp.'s fell 37 percent as car and truck buyers continued to steer clear of showrooms due to the dismal economy.

PAW PAW -- It appears the mystery of a heart found at a Paw Paw car wash has been solved.

An official at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing has told Paw Paw police the heart belongs to a deer, Chief Patrick W. Alspaugh said Monday. He said police plan to close their investigation once they receive a written report from the hospital.

Press Photo/Hollyn JohnsonBlanca Vidal and her daughter Rochelle Vidal, 4, originally from Mexico make a holiday reindeer craft during the Family Christmas Party at Kelloggsville Early Childhood Center. The event helps to bring together families who speak English as a second language and receive help from teachers and other native speakers.

WYOMING -- The Kelloggsville Early Childhood Center has reached a tipping point.

The school now has more students who need to be taught English than those who don't. The students come from homes where any number of Hispanic dialects are used, or where Vietnamese, Chinese, Bosnian or Italian are spoken.

"It's diverse," said Tammy Savage, the district's director of literacy and media.

While the district overall has 30 percent of English Language Learners, or ELL, among its total enrollment, the Early Childhood Center has 57 percent.

AP PhotoNathaniel Abraham, 22, appears in 50th District Court in Pontiac on June 10.

PONTIAC — A man who spent his adolescent years in state custody for a rifle-slaying he committed at age 11 received a four-to-20-year prison sentence Monday on a drug conviction.

Nearly two years to the day that he walked out of juvenile detention as a free man, Nathaniel Abraham was ordered back behind bars for trying to sell Ecstasy out of the trunk of his car.

Melanie Sochan | The Saginaw NewsGeorge E. Weber, 73, of Thomas Township with a photograph of his former dog Bear, a Yorkshire terrier, he believes saved his life. His daughter, Kathleen Andersen of Fort Lauderdale, now has the dog.

George E. Weber, 73, found that out when an allergy he had to his dog, Bear, inadvertently led to doctors diagnosing him with atrial fibrillation, a disorder that affects the heart's ability to pump blood and often results in blood clots that can cause strokes.

Bear, a Yorkshire terrier, arrived at Weber's Thomas Township home Feb. 24, a birthday present from his daughter Deborah Moomey of Lansing.

Ryan Garza | The Flint JournalFlint's first security camera went up in August 2007, and Interim Flint police Chief David Dicks wants to add more throughout the city. But neighbors complain that the cameras push crime just out of view.

FLINT, Michigan -- To those living in view of the police security camera at Cecil and Jewell drives on the city's north side, the camera has really cleaned up the neighborhood.

But residents who live just out of the camera's range will tell a completely different story.

"Now what happened is the drug dealers have went on the sides streets because the camera just does not get down those side streets," said Curtis Baker, president of the Northeast Carpenter Road Neighborhood Association. "We have a drug house on just about every street now."

After an extremely disappointing holiday sales season, Borders Group Inc. has removed its top management team and replaced CEO George Jones with Ron Marshall, a former private equity firm executive.

DETROIT — Some might call a quest to revive seldom-used words quixotic or supercilious. For others, it's no less than resplendent.

Like it or not, Wayne State University would be pleased to see or hear any of the above words more often.

Jae C. Hon | AP PhotoTroy Stieve, center, of Ann Arbor and his teammate Lester Marks, right, of Monroe, compete during the World Series of Beer Pong IV in Las Vegas on Sunday. Don't let the smell of beer and the rock music fool you, beer pong is a serious game. With a $50,000 prize on the line, more than 400 teams flocked to the Flamingo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip for a chance to bring their skills out of the bar and into the big time. They wore matching uniforms and talked about focus and strategy. Stieve and his teammate didn't win.

LAS VEGAS - Don't let the smell of beer and the rock music fool you: Beer pong is a serious game. Some dare say a sport.

Granted, they tend to be grinning and drinking when they say it.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- AAA Michigan says gasoline prices have risen 26 cents per gallon over the past week to a statewide average of $1.85.

DETROIT (AP) -- A Michigan native was named Monday to replace Cardinal Adam Maida, who led the Detroit area's 1.4 million Roman Catholics for nearly two decades and forged a close bond with a former pope.

DETROIT — One hundred people will attend President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration, courtesy of U.S. Rep. John Conyers.

The Detroit Democrat tells WDIV-TV that he gave away the tickets Sunday during a lottery set up after about 2,500 people requested nearly 8,000 tickets. Conyers received a total allotment of 190 tickets.

Press Photos/Katy BatdorffKent County's recycling operation may not finish in the black next year if demand for recycled products continues to fall.

Recycling isn't generating the right kind of green these days.

Just ask Dennis Kmiecik.

He watched prices drop as much as 80 percent for the recycled scrap paper, cardboard and plastics jugs that make their way to Kent County's recycling plant.

Banks took another hit last week when GMAC began lending money to General Motors' car buyers within hours after getting a federal bailout.

Why can't banks pump up lending as quickly as GMAC has, a Detroit editorial demanded to know.

The public and Congress are lobbing a lot of complaints at U.S. banks these days, claiming they are not using the taxpayers' bailout money to make more loans and thaw out frozen credit markets.