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After a criminal investigation that stretched close to two years, prosecutors in Michigan on Thursday announced 41 counts — 34 felonies and seven misdemeanors — against nine officials who once worked in the highest echelons of state government. Along with the former governor were his trusted advisers, top medical officials and two emergency managers who had been tasked with guiding Flint out of financial distress. (Gray and Bosman, 1/14)

Here are the former Michigan, state-appointed and local officials charged in the Flint water crisis, titles at the time, and charges, allegations and maximum penalties they face if convicted, including: Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon: Nine felony counts of involuntary manslaughter. (1/14)

After a months-long investigation, the Charleston Police Department reported Wednesday there is nothing illegal about community health group Solutions Oriented Addiction Response providing clean needles to people who inject drugs. Charleston Police Chief Tyke Hunt said Thursday that harm reduction programs should not be under the authority of police, but rather medical professionals. “When you’re looking at a big picture like harm reduction, the chief of police shouldn’t be the person in charge,” Hunt said. “I — the police — should only be enforcement.” The investigation into SOAR started in October, after a WCHS-TV report brought the group’s syringe program to Hunt’s attention. (Coyne, 1/14)

For the first time in several weeks, the number of COVID-19 deaths and infections in long-term care facilities in Connecticut decreased sharply — raising the possibility that systematic vaccinations are curbing the virus’s deadly path through the state’s most vulnerable residents. Over the week of Jan. 6-12, there were 85 deaths in nursing homes and 312 residents who were infected — both numbers lower than during previous weeks. (Altimari, 1/14)