Detroit -- A former payroll manager for Detroit Public Schools was sentenced Thursday to 24 months in prison for defrauding the district of hundreds of thousands of dollars by writing payroll checks to dead employees and another who was receiving disability payments.

Detroit -- A former Detroit Public Schools official indicted on charges of stealing from the district has died two months before her November federal trial date.

Detroit police have detained two Mumford students suspected in Tuesday's shootings. A 14-year-old girl grazed by a bullet was released from the hospital while a 16-year-old boy shot in the buttocks remained hospitalized.

Grand Rapids -- The Center for Sustainability at Aquinas College plans to develop an online clearinghouse of green chemistry information and resources.

Police are questioning two teens in connection with the shooting of two Mumford High School students Tuesday as they walked home after classes.

The first day at Detroit Public Schools started and ended badly as two teens were shot near Mumford High shortly after dismissal and dozens of buses were late picking up students earlier in the day.

For thousands of children across Metro Detroit, the first day of school brought changes big and small, many of them because of budget cuts forced by rising expenses and falling revenue.

Critics are blasting the University of Michigan for a course that teaches students to save human lives but uses animals to train them.

Detroit -- The first day back to school ended badly this afternoon with two teens shot not far from Mumford High School on the city's west side.

An animal rights group today called for a federal investigation into a University of Michigan course that teaches students to save human lives but uses cats and pigs to train them.

Detroit -- Despite transportation trial runs in advance of the first day of school, Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb had to wait 35 minutes at a bus stop this morning to get to Spain Elementary School.

Detroit -- The first day back to school ended badly this afternoon with two teens getting shot not far from Mumford High School on the city's west side.

Lansing -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm said today she supports an effort to lengthen Michigan's school year.

Dearborn Heights -- Ninth and 10th graders in the Westwood Community Schools became the first students today to attend classes in the district's New Tech High School, a program that aims to use technology to boost student performance.

Metro area students returning to school today will face many changes, ranging from crowded classrooms and closed schools to requirements for more vaccines and higher fees to play sports. Increases in class sizes are especially likely at the middle and high school levels.

Dearborn teenager Tom Leduc is about to head to college with an extra $5,000 in his backpack thanks to a prize-winning video he created about the dangers of fast driving.

Every September, millions of parents try a kind of psychological witchcraft, to transform their summer-glazed campers into fall students. Advice is cheap and all too familiar: Clear a quiet work space. Stick to a homework schedule. Set goals. Set boundaries. Do not bribe (except in emergencies).

Fewer schoolchildren in Metro Detroit will have officers in their classrooms this fall to warn them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

Detroit -- The school security guard singled out the 14-year-old girl before, pulling her close in the hallway, promising to buy her food and telling male students "she's mine," according to a lawsuit filed by a former Owen Academy student and her mother.

Hoping to portray themselves as more affordable and all-around better neighbors, private colleges from Appalachia to Boston are sweetening financial aid packages for students from their own backyards.