DETROIT (AP) — The state of Michigan has acquired a life ring that washed ashore 50 years ago from the Edmund Fitzgerald, a rare artifact that strangely became part of a settlement in a lawsuit that had nothing to do with the famous shipwreck .

Taxpayers are paying $600,000 to settle the lawsuit by Larry Orr, who accused a state police officer of violating his rights during a sexual abuse investigation that was discredited, court records show.

See Full Page