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A criminal investigation into this city’s water crisis reached into the top ranks of supervision over Flint on Tuesday as Michigan officials announced felony charges against two former state-appointed emergency managers, accusing them of fixating on saving money rather than on the safety of residents. (Davey and Smith, 12/20)

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed another round of criminal charges Tuesday in  the ongoing water crisis in Flint, the latest action in a nearly year-long investigation to hold accountable those responsible for a disaster that exposed thousands of children to dangerously high lead levels. Schuette announced felony charges against four people, including two former state-appointed emergency managers who oversaw a disastrous switch of the city’s drinking water source to the Flint River. Darnell Earley, whom Gov. Rick Snyder (R) put in charge of the city’s finances from late 2013 through early 2015, and Gerald Ambrose, who held the emergency manager position through April 2015, could face decades in prison. (Dennis, 12/20)

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said the latest charges indicate that investigators weren’t afraid to pursue officials at any level of government who bore responsibility for the water crisis. “The tragedy that we know as the Flint water crisis did not occur by accident,” Mr. Schuette said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “No. Flint was a casualty of arrogance, disdain and a failure of management, an absence of accountability, shirking of responsibility.” (Maher, 12/20)

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette's criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis moved a step closer to the highest levels of state government Tuesday as he brought felony charges against two former emergency managers who reported to former Treasurer Andy Dillon and were appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder. Schuette, who also charged two former City of Flint public works employees Tuesday, would not say how far the investigation would go, only that it will follow the evidence and nothing is off the table. (Egan and Anderson, 12/20)

There is a well-established link between lead exposure and learning disabilities, but early childhood education has been shown to counteract the effects. In Flint, Michigan, where the youngest residents have been the most vulnerable to lead poisoning, the city has opened a free child care center in an attempt to counteract the harmful effects on developing brains. (Sreenivasan, 12/20)