3 Charged in Flint Water Crisis

Michigan's attorney general announced criminal charges Wednesday against two state regulators and a Flint employee, alleging wrongdoing related to the city's lead-tainted-water crisis. The charges—the first levied in a probe that's expected to broaden—were filed against a pair of state Department of Environmental Quality officials and the city's utilities administrator, the AP reports. The felony and misdemeanor charges include official misconduct, evidence tampering, and neglect of duty, and all three men face prison time, reports the Detroit Free Press.

In January, Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette opened an investigation and appointed a special counsel to lead the probe because his office also is defending Gov. Rick Snyder and others in lawsuits filed over the water crisis. The state investigation team has more than 20 outside attorneys and investigators and a budget of $1.5 million. (Snyder says he is going to drink Flint water for a month.)