Local

Ypsilanti city council Tuesday night approved a contract with the city's police officers union.  The approval followed a tie vote earlier in the meeting that rejected the contract.

Council members Brian Robb, Susan Moeller and Pete Murdock had voted "no" on the contract.  Moeller wasn't happy that the contract didn't include raises.  Robb wanted pension costs for Police Officers Association members capped, similar to the city's contract with the Command Officers Association.  Council member Daniel Vogt was not present at the meeting.

Washtenaw County's point-in-time homeless count saw a jump of 123 additional people without shelter this year compared to the count day in 2011.   County officials fear the problem of homelessness may continue to grow.  Hear more from WEMU's Andrew Cluley.

Ypsilanti's city council got an update on the Family Dollar store proposal for the Water Street development area Tuesday night.   Hear more from WEMU's Bob Eccles.

In other action Tuesday night, Ypsilanti's city council voted to become of member of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority.  

Also, with only six councilmembers present, approval of a new contract with the Ypsilanti Police Officers Associaton failed on a 3-3 vote.

Grants encourage students to walk or bike to school rather than ride in a car or school bus.   First ward Ann Arbor city council member Sabra Briere is our guest this week on Issues of the Environment from WEMU.

The Yankee Air Museum wants to buy part of the plant where B-24 bombers were built during World War II to use as its new home.

It'll cost six million dollars to buy the very end of the former Willow Run Powertrain plant where the bombers rolled out from 1942 to 1945.  That's according to Dennis Norton, President of the Michigan Aerospace Foundation - the sister organization and funding arm of the Yankee Air Museum. 

The names of the victims in Monday afternoon's explosion at the Dexter Utilities Department have been released. 

The Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office says 48 year-old Michael Koch of Brooklyn died of injuries suffered in the explosion.  Koch was employed by Platinum Pneumatical Mechanical. 

23 year-old David McBride of Howell, an employee of Regal Recycling, was injured.  He was last reported in stable condition at University of Michigan hospital.

One man was killed this afternoon and another injured in an explosion at the Dexter Utilities Department. 

Dexter Area Fire Department Chief Loren Yates says his department responded around 1:39pm.  When they arrived, they found two injured men on the roof.  Chief Yates says it appears the men were using torches inside a processing tank when the flames ignited methane gas, causing the explosion.

The injured men were taken the the University of Michigan Hospital, where Ann Arbor dot com is reporting one of the victims died.  The other is said to be in stable condition. 

Area residents are being encouraged to give the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle a try for a week next week. 

The organization Compassion over Killing is sponsoring a number of Veg Week events around the country, including Ann Arbor Veg Week next week. 

Event co-chair Dana Gramprie says there are three great reasons to give up meat: One, it's good for your health, and two, it's better for the environment.  Gramprie says going vegetarian or vegan is also better for animals, who she says are often bred in horrible conditions on industrial farms.