Courtesy Photo/Helen DeVos Children's Hospital CarePages Taylor DeRoo rests in Helen DeVos Children's Hospital following surgery to implant a defibrillator. Taylor, a Holland High School basketball player, was hospitalized Friday after he collapsed between scrimmages at Northview High School.

GRAND RAPIDS -- From "death to dribbling."

That's how Taylor DeRoo's mother describes her son's stunning medical turn-around after he suffered cardiac arrest and collapsed in an area gym during a high school basketball scrimmage last Friday.

"I never knew how many levels of scared there are," said the Holland High School athlete's mother, Sara Blomeling-DeRoo.

Press Photos/Emily ZoladzFormer Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee shakes hands with Micah White, 18, of Sparta, on Wednesday while signing copies of his book, "Do the Right Thing," at the Schuler Books & Music on 28th Street.

KENTWOOD -- Does the race for president never end?

Perhaps it only seemed that way in Wednesday's Kentwood appearance of Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who, despite arriving on a bus bearing his image, insisted he has made no decision to run in 2012.

"It's way too early to decide. Right now, my focus is on trying to make my book a big success. There will be plenty of time to think about 2012," said Huckabee, who arrived at Schuler Books & Music to chat politics and sign copies of his book, "Do The Right Thing."

AP PhotoUnited Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger, left, speaks at a news conference during a break in a meeting of UAW officials in Detroit on Wednesday.

A move by union leaders to eliminate the controversial "jobs bank" program may vastly improve Detroit automakers' chances of getting crucial federal loans.

The chief executives of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC were to appear Thursday before a Senate committee, where they will ask for approval of $34 billion worth of loans to save their companies.

It's a second chance for automakers to make their case. When they first came to Capitol Hill last month, members of Congress castigated the auto chiefs for flying to Washington in corporate jets and negotiating overly-generous labor contracts.

Press File PhotoTroy Brake listens to testimony during a probable cause hearing in Hudsonville District Court last month. The hearing continues Thursday.

HUDSONVILLE -- A 31-year-old man accused in one of the area's most high-profile homicides in recent years is expected in court again Thursday for the second day of a probable cause hearing.

Troy Brake is charged with four counts of murder for the deaths of Sharmaine Zimmer, 53; her son, Jeremy, 20 and Tyler, 17; and Jeremy's friend, Katherine Brown, 18.

The Zimmers were found shot to death in their burned Wright Township home on Sept. 29 while Brown was beaten to death. Brake became a suspect several weeks ago after he was arrested for beating a prostitute in Grand Rapids and police found he was carrying a Glock handgun that could have been used in the homicide.

Live blog coverage of the hearing is set to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday. Note: Comments must be approved before they appear in the live chat

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Watch out for family fights, Mr. President-elect. Though Democrats will control both the new Congress and White House, the battle over a multibillion-dollar auto industry bailout already is pitting two major party constituencies against each other: big labor and environmentalists.

The United Auto Workers, along with Detroit's Big Three, are pushing for an infusion of emergency loans for the carmakers' immediate needs -- even if that means diverting $25 billion that had been set aside for creating cleaner vehicles. Environmentalists balk at that notion, saying the money is sacrosanct and insisting that any new help be tied to strict requirements for greener cars.

DETROIT — Kwame Kilpatrick's attempt to stop the revocation of his law license may send the former Detroit mayor back to court.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy claims Kilpatrick is breaking the terms of a plea agreement that sent him to jail in October. She's asking Circuit Judge David Groner for a hearing next week.

Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and agreed to surrender his law license. But his lawyer, Philip Thomas, says that didn't mean revocation. He says that's up to state regulators, not a judge.

GRAND RAPIDS -- No Grand Rapids high school students will find failing grades on their report cards when they arrive this week.

Instead, students who performed poorly will see an "H" for "held" and an opportunity to make up the work and earn a passing grade by the end of the next trimester.

Teachers union leaders argue the change is another late-marking period scramble to boost sagging scores and undermines their ability to get students to show up and work hard all trimester.

Superintendent Bernard Taylor said the plan gives students a second chance to overcome problems and be successful.

"We are not watering down standards or lowering standards," Taylor said. "We're giving people the opportunity to meet standards when they go astray."

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Making a shopping list chock full of toys? Better check it twice to be sure none are filled with toxins or have other hidden dangers.

Yep, parents might want to think twice before tucking Disney's Hannah Montana two-heart necklace into their daughter's Christmas stocking this year.

The imported toy necklace is loaded with lead, earning it the top spot on the "worst toys" list from the Ecology Center's 2008 Healthy Toys guide, which publicly unveils its latest findings today at www.healthytoys.org.

AP File PhotoGeneral Motors President and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson says that choosing the bankruptcy route would further erode consumer confidence in the automaker.

WASHINGTON -- A top executive of General Motors Corp. said Wednesday bankruptcy isn't a viable option, as the United Auto Workers braced for a decision on contract concessions to the endangered Detroit Three.

Fritz Henderson, president and chief operating officer of GM, said choosing the bankruptcy route would further erode consumer confidence in the automaker and "we want them to be confident in their ability to buy our cars and trucks."

Henderson traveled the network morning news show route on the eve of a new set of congressional hearings on some $34 billion the industry is seeking in federal assistance. At the same time, UAW leaders in Detroit were immersed in intense discussions on possible givebacks for the companies at an emergency meeting in Detroit.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Doctors-in-training are still too exhausted, says a new report that calls on hospitals to let them have a nap. Regulations that capped the working hours of bleary-eyed young doctors came just five years ago, limiting them to about 80 hours a week.

Tuesday, the prestigious Institute of Medicine recommended easing the workload a bit more: Anyone working the maximum 30-hour shift should get an uninterrupted five-hour break for sleep after 16 hours.

At issue is how to balance patient safety with the education of roughly 100,000 medical residents, doctors fresh out of medical school who spend the next three to seven years in on-the-job training for their specialty. The long hours are in some ways a badge of the profession; doctors can't simply clock out if a patient is in danger.

U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra will not seek re-election in 2010, according to a Lansing news service.

MIRS, an online Capitol newsletter, reports Hoekstra will soon form an exploratory committee for a gubernatorial campaign, the result of a trial balloon floating for months.

Officially, Hoekstra has not committed and MIRS did not cite any sources. But the conjecture has merit based on comments from Holland Sen. Wayne Kuipers, who will most certainly seek Hoekstra's seat.

Press Photo/Lori Niedenfuer CoolDebra Negen-Brink, a cancer survivor, supported the effort to legalize the medical use of marijuana in Michigan. But she has concerns about regulation.

GRAND RAPIDS -- Despite her support for legalized medical marijuana, Debra Negen-Brink, a cancer survivor and registered nurse, has concerns about the law taking effect Thursday.

Where would a senior citizen get the drug? How could a debilitated person be expected to cultivate his own plants or obtain seeds just to get started?

Brink, 50, with children in high school and college, wouldn't think of asking them to score her weed. She doubted the elderly would turn to adult children or grandchildren, either.

"It should have been dispensed in little joints in a jar," Brink, who does not use marijuana, said Tuesday.

"So we would know what the quality is, and have some regulation. You have to obtain it illegally. Once you get it, it's fine."

While the law takes effect Thursday, no one can start smoking -- at least legally -- until spring, the deadline for the Michigan Department of Community Health to develop administrative rules. Even then, patients with a qualifying illness would need a doctor's permission and certification by the state to partake.

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An independent report on American higher education flunks all but one state when it comes to affordability -- an embarrassing verdict that is unlikely to improve as the economy contracts.

The biennial study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which evaluates how well higher education is serving the public, handed out Fs for affordability to 49 states, up from 43 two years ago. Only California received a passing grade in the category, a C, thanks to its relatively inexpensive community colleges.

Nutrient pollution that causes noxious algae blooms to blanket lakes is more than an environmental nightmare -- the problem also reduces lakefront property values and causes billions of dollars in other economic losses, according to a new study.

Scientists at the University of Kansas concluded that algae blooms fueled by excessive concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen in surface waters across the U.S. cause at least $4 billion damage annually. Most of the damage comes in the form of reduced lakefront property values, degraded fisheries and other recreational activities and the loss of biological diversity.

WASHINGTON - Humbled and fighting for survival, Detroit's once-mighty automakers appealed to Congress on Tuesday with a retooled case for a bailout as large as $34 billion, pledging to slash work forces, car lines and executive pay in return for a federal lifeline. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC said they needed immediate cash infusions to last until New Year's, and warned they could drag the entire industry down if they should fail.

Chrysler said it needed $7 billion by year's end, and General Motors asked for a quick $4 billion as the first installment of as much as $18 billion to stay afloat and weather even worse economic storms.

LANSING - Michigan soon could expand its options for meeting the math requirements needed for high school graduation.

The state House on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill that would allow a financial literacy course to count as an option toward meeting graduation requirements. The bill already has passed the Senate and will be returned to that chamber before being forwarded to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her consideration.

DETROIT - A lawyer for ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has asked the state Attorney Discipline Board to set aside the revocation of Kilpatrick's law license.

Lawyer Philip Thomas filed the request Monday, saying Wayne County, Mich., Circuit Judge David Groner lacked the authority to order Kilpatrick to agree to have his law license revoked at Kilpatrick's Oct. 28 sentencing on felony charges.

WASHINGTON - General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it needs $12 billion in government loans to keep operating, telling Congress in a bluntly worded report that its collapse could have "severe, long-term consequences to the U.S. economy."

GM said it would seek up to $18 billion from the government: $12 billion in loans, including $4 billion by the end of December, and a separate $6 billion line of credit in case market conditions worsen.