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STATE NEWS for TUE 15OCT19
A
group of people were taken to the hospital after being exposed to carbon
monoxide early this morning on Detroit's west side. First responders were
called to the scene along West Grand Boulevard near I-96. There's no word
yet on the conditions of those affected, or what may have caused the
exposure, as the investigation continues.
Residents in the city of Monroe being advised to boil their water
after a drop of pressure in the water system. City officials say bacterial
contamination is a possibility with the pressure loss and they're working
to fix the problem. All residents should bring tap water to a boil for one
minute, and let it cool before using until further notice. Boiled or
bottled water should be used for drinking, brushing teeth, washing dishes
and food preparation
They're
getting ready for winter in communities along the Great Lakes. 9 and 10
News reports high water levels are creating challenges for those towns.
Harbor masters are making preparations to make sure the high water doesn't
cause damage when it freezes.
A Manistee home owner is worried her home is going to fall into Lake
Michigan. 9 and 10 News reports that's as Lake Michigan washed away most
of Rachelle Radlinski's back yard in one night. Radlinski has lived on the
Lake Michigan shore for 32 years, but has been forced to move out because
the water is creeping closer to her home. She says the seawall needs to be
restructured and she hopes she can sell the property to recoup her losses.
A
Monroe County family could find out today if they'll have more time to
find help for their brain-dead son...who's on life support. The attorney
for 14-year old Bobby Reyes and his family will ask a Washtenaw County
Judge to continue a restraining order and transfer the case to the Court
of Claims to keep him on life support. The attorney says the Court of
Claims has jurisdiction over Mott Children's Hospital, because it is a
state institution.
With a fifth death in Michigan from Triple E, a State Administrative
Board committee will consider a request to spend nearly two million
dollars on spraying insecticide in 14 counties. Gongwer reports the
Finance and Claims Committee of the board will today consider the purchase
order to cover the costs of spraying, which ended last week.
Michigan
State Police are investigating after police in Osceola County say it was
one of their tasers that caused an armed man to fall on his knife and die
last week. Police were called to the scene in Evart for a domestic
situation and when they asked an armed man to get on his knees and put his
hands on his head, he reportedly reached into his waistband and grabbed a
knife. State Police say that's when an officer tased him in the back and
the man fell forward into the knife , stabbing his chest. The Evart
officers have been placed on administrative leave and the county
prosecutor investigates.
A
west Michigan man has been sentenced to two to 15 years in prison for
sexually assaulting someone under the age of 15. David Wildfong, of
Riverton Township, pleaded no contest to third and fourth degree sex
crimes and was sentenced on Monday.
A five-year-old boy from southwest Michigan is off to Disney World for
a week with his family, a trip provided by Make a Wish of Michigan and
Allegiant Airlines. S.J. Awwad was born with ten heart defects and has
already had three open heart surgeries. His mother, Danielle, says he will
eventually need a heart transplant. The family took off for Florida on
Monday and will celebrate S.J.s 6th birthday at Disney World.
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STATE NEWS for MON 14OCT19
There's
been a crash near Grand Rapids on I-96 of a vehicle going the wrong way on
the freeway and another vehicle. WOOD TV reports the crash happened after
two this morning and it's not yet known if anyone was injured. The
westbound lanes of I-96 were shut down for a few hours, but have reopened.
A northern Michigan veteran who died in the Korean War has been laid
to rest, nearly 70 years after his death. Sergeant David Feriend, who grew
up in Fife Lake south of Traverse City, was 23 years old when he was
listed as Missing in Action in 1950 after his unit was attacked in eastern
North Korea. His remains were returned to northern Michigan on Friday and
a military funeral was held Sunday. His sister called the service
"awesome." Governor Whitmer ordered flags to be flown at half staff in
honor of Feriend.
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A
seven-year-old boy has died in a house fire in southern lower Michigan.
Michigan State Police and fire crews were called to the fire in Burlington
early Sunday morning and found the boy dead in the home once the fire was
put out. The cause is being investigated.
Grand Rapids police are trying to find whoever vandalized a
synagogue. Investigators say hate material with anti-Semitic views was
found on one of the doors at Temple Emanuel early Sunday morning. The
vandalism was found just hours after the Grand Rapids Police Department
took part in a Stop the Violence Summit at another church. Police Chief
Eric Payne says hate has no place in the community and it will not be
tolerated. Anyone with information about the vandalism should call Grand
Rapids Police or Silent Observer.
The
UAW is won a "bump" up in pay for striking workers, union vice president
Terry Dittes posted a message yesterday, after it was announced that
strike pay for the nearly 50-thousand workers has gone from $250 dollars
per week to $275 dollars: Dittes says they know how hard it is to raise a
family on that amount of money, but says they are standing up for what
they believe in and bring the power to them at the negotiation table. The
union has also authorized striking workers to take part-time jobs as long
as they show up to the picket lines.
First it was elder abuse, now Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
is turning her attention to payroll fraud. Nessel and State Representative
Jim Haadsma will hold a town hall meeting this evening at 6 o'clock in
Battle Creek to help residents know what to look for with payroll fraud.
The Attorney General's office has a Payroll Fraud Enforcement Unit to help
protect workers. The meeting will be held in the Kool Family Community
Center. Thoughtout this year, Nessel has been traveling across the state
talking about elder abuse.
A
one-time FBI informant-turned-Detroit drug lord will be released from a
Florida prison earlier than expected. Richard "White Boy Rick" Wershe is
reportedly scheduled to be freed Aug. 17, 2020. The date had been set for
Oct. 2020. Officials say Wershe's original release date was in April 2021
but has been moved up for good behavior.
This is a special day for a Detroit couple who set up a scholarship
program that has helped hundreds of students. About 200 kids from Grand
Valley State University will meet Bob and Ellen Thompson who set up the
Thompson Working Family Scholarship at the college in 2011. Five-thousand
dollar scholarships have been awarded to students, including 25 from
community colleges. Those who receive the money must reach an 80 percent
graduation rate within six years
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STATE NEWS for FRI 11OCT19
Financial
costs of the UAW's strike against General Motors are proving worrisome to
more than the automaker and its workers on the picket lines. Michigan's
Treasury Department says that with GM employees NOT working -- state
withholding taxes are anticipated to be down by $1.5 million to $2 MILLION
each week. And it ill keep going up if the strike continues.
A Detroit firefighter is in critical condition after fighting a fire
at an abandoned school in southwest Detroit last night. A second
firefighter was also injured in the fire at the Phoenix Academy, an
elementary school that closed in 2016.
A
worker in a Grand Rapids construction zone has been hit and killed. Grand
Rapids Police say a driver was attempting to go around a lane closure sign
to divert motorists from a construction zone on Wednesday when a person on
a work crew was attempting to get into a work truck and the driver hit
him. The 60-year-old worker died at the scene. Police say speed was a
factor in the crash. The driver did remain at the scene and was questioned
by police.
A 71-year-old man was rescued after he fell overboard on Lake
Missaukee in northern Michigan Thursday. The man's wife reportedly called
for help and a Michigan State Police trooper borrowed a couple's boat to
go out on the water. Trooper Kevin Flick along with the boat owners pulled
the man out of the middle of the lake into their boat and transferred his
wife to their boat and towed the other boat to shore. The man was in the
water for 20 minutes and was treated on shore and is said to be in good
condition.
A
39-year-old west Michigan man, Charles Skipp, has been indicted on federal
charges in the theft of 89 guns from a gun shop in Cedar Springs in 2017.
He and others used a saw to cut their way into Family Farm and Home
through a loading dock door then used it to cut open display cases ,
according to court records. WOOD TV reports more than 70 of 89 guns stolen
have not been recovered. Two others have been convicted in the thefts.
A mobile home in Kalamazoo was destroyed by fire early this morning.
The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says the resident was found at
the scene and said no one should be inside the home. The Red Cross is
helping the resident displaced by the fire. No one was injured . The cause
of the fire is under investigation.
A
Holland city council candidate, Vicki Holmes, says she's received hate
mail after a flyer on LGBTQ rights was given out at a forum held last
week. WOOD TV reports Homes and Mayor Nancy DeBoer passed out the flyer
abut why they would not be prepared to vote for legislation that would
LBGTQ people a protected class. Holmes says things have been miscontrued
because she supports LGBTQ protections, but the the legislation previously
presented is not clear in defining ways to verify that someone is part of
the protected class. She says that could have harmful legal possibilities
because someone could identify as a member of the community just to file a
lawsuit. Her opponent, Nathan Bocks, says he would support the legislation
if it comes up again.
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STATE NEWS for THU 10OCT19
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Residents
in a portion of Traverse City are advised to boil their water after a
water main break at M-22 and M-72. 9 and 10 News reports utility director
Art Krueger says a contractor with DTE hit the water main while putting a
gas line yesterday afternoon, forcing water to be shut off in the area.
Crews were able to plug the hole, but are advising residents to boil their
water for one minute before using it.
A fifth Indiana man has died following a small plane crash near
Lansing. The 48-year-old pilot Joel Beavins died Sunday. Six men were
aboard the single-engine plane, which crashed October 3rd outside Capital
Region International Airport. The plane had departed from Indy South
Greenwood Airport near Indianapolis. The National Transportation Safety
Board's preliminary report didn't reach a firm conclusion about the cause
of the crash, but does the plane was about 126-pounds over the maximum
allowable landing weight when it went down.
A
southwest Michigan teen who almost died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis
is now in rehab in Grand Rapids. WOOD TV reports 14 year-old Savanah
DeHart reports is being treated at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital.
Her mother, Kerri Dooley, says she's beating the odds. She says when we
first came there she didn't think her prognosis was all that great...but
now she's definitely beating the odds of what everyone thought. She says
Savanah suffered mini-strokes while she was at Bronson, leading to some
brain damage . Doctors are hopeful it can be reversed. Dooley says it's
not clear if Savanah will ever walk or talk again, but that's her goal.
Western
Michigan University wants to increase its enrollment. It launched a "Think
Big" initiative to get ideas on how to retain students. University
spokesman Tony Proudfoot says they've had more than 52-hundred people
participate either directly or through survey research. Western is
building a new dorm and student center . The university will have a series
of town hall meetings this month after it announces a Big Idea on Monday.
Two men have been arrested after shootings in Kalamazoo on
Wednesday. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says there were
reports of several shots fired on Fox Ridge Drive. Police reportedly found
a man matching the description of the shooter running from the area and
arrested him. A man with two gunshot wounds went to the hospital with
non-life threatening injuries. Police found a gun inside his vehicle and
arrested a second man for an outstanding warrant.
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A
couple of mid Michigan police officers could be arraigned today after
allegedly getting involved in a bar fight in Grand Rapids early Wednesday
morning. Bath Township Police officers Bryan Miller and Payton Warner were
off duty and were in Grand Rapids for training when they went to the Web
Bar. The bartender apparently cut off Miller, who on video appeared drunk.
A police report says he got angry and both officers were kicked out of the
bar. They went back and allegedly punched and pushed other customers and
employees. The officers were arrested and Bath Township has placed them on
administrative leave.
The
Macomb County Health Department is investigating seven possible cases of
Legionnaires' disease at McLaren Hospital. Officials say six of the seven
cases have been reported since the middle of last month. A definite source
has not been identified. McLaren Macomb Hospital is said to be fully
cooperating with the investigation. L-D is a severe respiratory infection
caused by Legionella bacteria. Symptoms include fever, cough and
radiological findings consistent with pneumonia.
The
former executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Muskegon, Andrew
Mann, has been charged with embezzlement. Mann allegedly stole from the
nonprofit from October of 2017 to July of this year, according to Muskegon
County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat. He says Habitat for
Humanity called police when an internal investigation raised questions
about the way Mann was handling finances. He allegedly paid for personal
expenses and took cash advances with the nonprofit's credit card,
allegedly taking his family to Disney World with the money. He was fired.
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STATE NEWS for WED 09OCT19
After
being battered by waves for years, the south breakwater pier at Muskegon's
Pere Marquette Park will be replaced. The pier is currently closed as
civil engineer Chris Schropp tells WOOD TV that it's gotten to the point
where now they're not really sure how stable it is or where the next piece
is going to fall and if someone were to walk out there and have it
collapse underneath them, they could be harmed. He says they felt it was
best to close it off to the public.
What
might look like a fuzzy friend is cause for alarm in one mid-Michigan
community. It's called the American Dagger caterpillar and it's poisonous
enough for community officials to issue a warning. The Clare Chamber of
Commerce says the fluffy yellow insect with black spines can cause a
stinging sensation followed by burning and itching on the skin if they're
picked up. A hiker spotted one while trekking through the campus of Mid
Michigan College recently.
A west Michigan bridge will be replaced after it was hit about a
dozen times last year by semi-trucks. The 100th Street bridge over US-131
in Byron Township , south of Grand Rapids, will be replaced next year at a
cost of ten and a half million dollars. M-DOT plans to keep some lanes of
US-131 open for most of the project. The new bridge will be almost two
feet higher than the current bridge.
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LOCAL NEWS for TUE 15OCT19
The
Michigan Department of Transportation will spend one million dollars to
put new signs up along US-23 in several northern Michigan counties
starting today. Officials say the new signs along 124 miles of the road in
Alcona, Alpena, Iosco and Presque Isle counties will have updated
reflective surfaces so they'll be more visible at night. The work will
start in Iosco County. It will take workers nearly a year to replace all
of the signs. 
The
Whittemore Prescott School District's student numbers have declined.
The state's student count day was held on October 2nd. According to the
Ogemaw County Herald, the number of students is down from last year's
count. The district has twelve fewer students than the Spring count last
February. Superintendent Joe Perrera said the district anticipated the
loss. Perrera said they budget for a loss of forty students to be extra
conservative during the budgeting process. He added that declining
enrollment has been a trend lately. The Fall Student Count Day accounts
for ninety percent of what the district receives in funding from the
state.
The
City of Harbor Beach recently received grant money. 
Students
at a northern Michigan high school are being recognized for their work
with NASA. 9 and 10 News reports students at Ogemaw Heights High School
designed the process to create some parts for NASA as part of the high
school students United with NASA to Create Hardware Program. The parts are
now being used on the International Space Station. NASA has asked the
students to make more parts this year.
The
Oscoda Township Board of Trustees has formed a new subcommittee.
Trustees voted to create a cemetery subcommittee. According to the Oscoda
Press, the subcommittee was formed following an update to the Pinecrest
Cemetery contract between Oscoda and AuSable Townships. The subcommittee
is comprised of Clerk John Nordeen; Superintendent Dave Schaeffer; Trustee
William palmer and Building & Grounds Department Foreman Bill Hamlin.
Schaeffer said the purpose of the committee will be to evaluate the
current cemetery operations, make recommendations to implement operational
movements and work with AuSable Township to provide long term solutions to
the intergovernmental cemetery agreement. 
Habitat
for Humanity of Northeast Michigan recently received grant money.
Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Michigan received the grant from the
Michigan State Housing Authority. According to the Alcona County Review,
the $196,000 dollar grant was the first of three equal payments that will
total $588,000 dollars. The funds will be used for the installation of two
modular homes, which will be put on property located at 515 North U.S. 23
in Harrisville as well as a site in Alpena. The first home will be shipped
to Harrisville and put on its foundation later this month. Currently a
Habitat partner family is going through the process to qualify for
purchasing the first home to be put on the Harrisville site. 
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The
Iosco County Sheriff's Department will be installing a new gating system.
The new security gating system will be installed at the Sheriff's
Department parking lot. According to the Iosco County News Herald, the
fence is an effort to keep public interaction at a minimum with inmates.
Jail Administrator Captain Scott Frank said the gating system should not
impact parking in front of the jail. Frank said it will be two big gates,
one at the front side of the sheriff's office and one at the back, just
beyond the main entrance to the county building. Frank said the gates will
keep the public from driving around in the sheriff's department section of
the parking area of the county building facility. The gates will cost
approximately $26,000 dollars and will be paid entirely from a Homeland
Security Grant.
The
Steiner Museum of Fairview recently received funding toward their
expansion project. Consumers Energy contributed $25,000 dollars for
the Steiner Museum's expansion. According to the Oscoda County Herald,
Chairman Norm Caldwell said with Consumers Energy's contribution and
additional monies coming in, there should be enough funding to build the
expansion this fall. Caldwell said the expansion will cost between fifty
and sixty thousand dollars and will be a forty by seventy foot addition
that will span the southern end of the existing museum. Caldwell said he
hopes to have the building up and enclosed with new exhibits available to
the public by Memorial Weekend. the southern end of the existing museum.
Caldwell said he hopes to have the building up and enclosed with new
exhibits available to the public by Memorial Weekend. .JPG)
The
Ogemaw County Road Commission reports that Heath Road in Rose Township,
from McKellar Road east to Deckerville Road, will be closed to all through
traffic due to a cross-road culvert replacement, starting at 8:00 am and
will remain closed until further notice.
State
Representative Sue Allor has introduced a proposal that would restore
funding intended to assist local communities with the cost of monitoring
PFAS contamination at municipal airports around the state. This grant
program was stripped from the state budget through line-item veto by
Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The $15 million grant program intended to
offset costs associated with PFAS contamination at municipal airports.
Allor’s plan would restore the funds necessary to administer the program.
Allor, of Wolverine, said this plan would restore grants that allow the
state and local communities to share the load and ensure the best-possible
monitoring of local water supplies. 
The
Oscoda Wurtsmith Airport Authority continued discussions on the Michigan
Site Readiness grant program. 
Huron
County officials continue work on a new Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that the Kirtland’s Warbler
no longer warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act. Prompting
the warbler’s slow but steady ascent were long-term efforts by partners
such as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service
and conservation groups to conserve young jack pine habitat and control
brown-headed cowbirds, a primary threat to the species. Currently, the
Kirtland’s warbler population is estimated to be more than 2,300 pairs,
more than double the goal identified in the species’ recovery plan. The
population has exceeded recovery goals for the past 17 years and continues
to increase and expand its range. The Kirtland’s warbler was one of the
first species in the United States to be put on the federal list of
endangered and threatened species, and the action by the U.S. Department
of the Interior marks the latest chapter in a remarkable wildlife success
story.
Tired
of the mad dash to get a good camping spot at Pictured
Rocks National Lakeshore at Little Beaver Lake Campground, Twelve Mile
Campground, or Hurricane River Campground? These campgrounds now
require reservations, after years of a "first come, first served" policy.
Since visitation has nearly doubled in the last few years during the summer months
reservations can now be made at
