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HOFFA SEARCH

Federal agents search land linked to Hoffa case

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - The FBI is searching a field in suburban Detroit based on information involving the disappearance of former Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa.

Robert Foley, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit division, says the agency and its partners on Monday executed a search warrant in Oakland Township, about 25 miles north of Detroit. He says the warrant is sealed and didn't take questions from reporters.

Tony Zerilli told Detroit TV station WDIV in February the FBI had enough information for a search warrant to dig at the site. Zerilli was in prison in 1975 when Hoffa disappeared from a Detroit-area restaurant but told New York TV station WNBC in January he was informed about Hoffa's whereabouts after his release.

Hoffa was president of the Teamsters union until 1971.

FAMILY ATTACKED-MICHIGAN

Man, 20, pleads no-contest plea to murdering dad

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) - A 20-year-old Detroit-area man has short-circuited his murder trial by pleading no-contest to accusations he killed his father and injured his mother and brother with a baseball bat.

Tucker Cipriano entered the plea Monday during a break for a jury hearing the case in Oakland County Circuit Court.

He faces an automatic penalty of life in prison without parole when Judge Shalina Kumar sentences him July 9.

Robert Cipriano was killed inside his Farmington Hills home in April 2012. His wife Rose and their son Sal were also attacked. Sal Cipriano still is in a hospital.

Co-defendant Mitchell Young has his own jury, and that case is proceeding.

ISRAEL-SNYDER

AP Interview: Snyder talks up Michigan to Israelis

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Gov. Rick Snyder is in Israel talking up Michigan as a place to do business.

He last visited the country 14 years ago when he was a venture capitalist. Snyder says Israel has made big economic strides since then and is looking to sell and potentially make products in the United States.

Snyder told The Associated Press on Monday that Israel embraces research and development but has a naturally small marketplace. He's hoping Michigan can become a bridge for Israeli companies to enter the U.S. marketplace.

Snyder met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) in Tel Aviv. He also signed a letter of intent with Israel's minister of economy to cooperate on industrial research and development.

This is Snyder's fifth international trade trip and first to the Middle East.

ATTY GENERAL-TOTTEN

MSU law professor Totten runs for attorney general

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan State University law professor who used to be a federal prosecutor is running for Michigan attorney general in 2014.

Democrat Mark Totten made the announcement in an email to supporters on Monday. Democrats will choose their attorney general candidate at a nominating convention next year.

No other Democratic candidates have entered the race, but it's early. Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette is expected to seek re-election.

Totten says Michigan needs a "people's lawyer" who will fight for them. The Kalamazoo resident has a law degree from Yale and lost a 2010 Democratic primary for a state Senate seat.

He has been a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in western Michigan, clerk for a U.S. Court of Appeals judge and staff attorney for the Justice Department.

COUNTERFEIT RAZORS

Fla. man sent to prison in counterfeit razor case

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - A Florida man has been sentenced to 2½ years in prison for sending counterfeit Gillette razor blades to Meijer stores in western Michigan.

Jeffrey Telsey pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to deal in the blades. The Delray Beach, Fla., man was sentenced last week in Grand Rapids federal court.

Telsey had a legitimate business selling leftover beauty and health products, but mixed in were counterfeit blades imported from China.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles Jr. says trafficking in counterfeits products undermines the public's confidence in what they see and buy in stores. Agents in 2009 seized blades worth $425,000. They also seized a bank account with $400,000.

GRIFFIN SHIPWRECK

Shipwreck search excites remote Michigan village

FAIRPORT, Mich. (AP) - French and U.S. experts are continuing their search for the 17th-century ship Griffin, which they believe sank in northern Lake Michigan in 1679.

Three French underwater archaeologists were planning to dive Monday afternoon at a site near Poverty Island, where expedition leader Steve Libert believes the vessel sank. He discovered a wooden beam jutting from the lake bottom in 2001.

Crews are digging a pit at the base of the beam to see if it's attached to a buried ship. Leaders say they hope to have an answer soon.

The search is stirring excitement in the Upper Peninsula community of Fairport, where about 40 experts and support crew members are encamped by the lake.