WATZ Today's Country

Friday News Summary 10-21-22
Fri, 21 Oct 2022 11:16:12 EDT

(Stories Courtesy of Michigan News Radio)

UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS SETTLEMENT
The state will pay 20-million dollars to settle a class action lawsuit involving
unemployment fraud claims. The Attorney General's office announced the agreement
with a Royal Oak law firm which represented several workers who were wrongly
accused of fraud and led to some people missing out on paychecks and income tax
refunds. The case has been tied up in the courts for seven years. The director of the
Unemployment Insurance Agency says reforms, including changes to the computer
system, are being made. The settlement must be approved by a judge.

WEST MICHIGAN FAMILY MISSING
Authorities in west Michigan are searching for a family of four who haven't been seen
since Sunday. Michigan State Police say 51-year old Tony Cirigliano, his wife and two
teenaged sons are from Fremont, northeast of Muskegon, and are missing. Family
members say the father was showing paranoid behaviors on Sunday. Authorities say a
family member who requires full time care and the pets were left at home alone and cell
phones have been turned off. The family may be in a silver minivan with a license plate
of DJL 1982. Anyone with information should call 911 or Fremont police.

JUVENILE FACILITIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE
A committee has been set up to review procedures for juvenile residential facilities and
make recommendations to improve the system and better serve children. The
Governor's Michigan Juvenile Residential Facilities Advisory Committee will be part of
the state Health Department and work on ways to make it easier for juveniles to have
access to beds and resources to succeed. The advisory committee was recommended
by the Michigan Juvenile Justice Reform Task Force.

GANG GUILTY
A 32-year-old Detroit man pleaded guilty to a gangland killing that also took the life of a
13-year-old boy. Federal Prosecutors says Edwin Mills admitted to firing on a vehicle
in a targeted hit on a rival in 2015. When Mills fired on the rival's car, he also killed the
teen, who was a bystander and injured two others who were sitting on the car's hood.
Mills is the 11th member of the violent 6 Mile-Chedda Grove drug gang operating on
the city's east side. Under the plea deal, Mills will be sentenced to 25 years in prison at
a hearing next February.

RALLY FOR PROPOSAL 3
Supporters of Proposal 3 will rally outside the state Capitol tomorrow. Organizers of
the "Vote Yes on Prop 3" rally say activists from around Michigan will speak and march
in support of reproductive freedom for all. If approved, the proposal would allow people
to have the same rights to abortion that they had before the Supreme Court reversed
Roe V Wade in June. Opponents say the proposal is too confusing.

MICHIGAN SPELLING
When it comes to spelling things the wrong way - Michigan residents appear to have
the most trouble with this word: acquaintance. Word Tips analyzed two billion tweets to
come up with the most common misspellings in every state. We're not sure why the
word is being tweeted, but Michigan residents spell acquaintance wrong more
frequently than other states. In Ohio, tweeters have the most trouble with medieval,
while in Illinois - they can't spell neighbor. The top five most frequently misspelled
words in America are "Coolly," "minuscule," "sergeant," " liaison" and "protester."

PISTONS ASSISTANT COACH
An assistant coach on a Detroit team will miss the beginning of the season to recover
from a medical procedure. Detroit Pistons assistant coach Bill Bayno underwent
prostate cancer surgery Tuesday morning. The recovery time is around four to six
weeks. According to a statement from the Pistons, the surgery was successful and
doctors from Henry Ford Health are optimistic for a full recovery. Bayno says he's
disappointed that he's missing the beginning of the season, but will be back on the
bench soon.

MAN ASSAULTS OFFICERS-W MI
A man who hit multiple vehicles and then ran away on foot in west Michigan last
evening also allegedly assaulted two police officers. Walker Police officers found the
21-year-old Grand Rapids man nearby and as they tried to arrest him, police say he
assaulted two officers. They did arrest him, but one officer was taken to the hospital
with non-life threatening injuries.

SERIOUS CRASH-HOLLAND TWP
Three people have been injured, two critically in a crash near Holland late yesterday
afternoon. An 18-year-old Holland man was driving on Douglas Avenue and crossed
the center line, hitting an SUV driven by a 70-year-old woman. The Ottawa County
Sheriff's Office says both drivers were pinned in their vehicles and had to be extricated.
Both were taken to the hospital with critical injuries. A passenger in the teen's car was
taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.

KZOO RIVER SPILL
Up to two thousand gallons of process waste have been spilled into the Kalamazoo
River. City officials say the spill came from the Graphic Packaging International Plant
at a storm sewer. They say people should not swim, fish, canoe or kayak in the river
from the Paterson Street Bridge to the D Avenue Street Bridge. The city says the city
and the company have taken remediation actions to mitigate the impact to the
environment.

WHITMER-DIXON AT DETROIT ECON CLUB
Members of the Detroit Economic Club will be hearing from Governor Gretchen
Whitmer and her Republican challenger Tudor Dixon today. The candidates will
appear separately on stage at the Motor City Casino Hotel to answer questions and talk
about why they are the best person to lead Michigan for the next FOUR YEARS. This
is the same format that the Econ Club used in the 2018 governor's race.

POWERBALL
The SECOND biggest jackpot of the year is on the line for Saturday night's Powerball
game. The prize, now estimated at 550 MILLION dollars. The jackpot rolled over after
NO ticket matched the numbers that were drawn Wednesday night -- though Michigan
DID have a ONE MILLION dollar winner. The Powerball jackpot was last won in early
August .. by someone in Pennsylvania.

FOOD ASSISTANCE
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced all Michigan families who are eligible for
food assistance benefits will continue to receive at least an extra $95-dollar monthly
payment in October --plus an additional cost of living increase---to help lower the cost
of groceries . She says October's additional food assistance will continue to help over
one-point-three million Michiganders put food on the table.

17-YEAR-OLD MURDER-DETROIT
A Southfield man is expected to appear in court today in connection with the murder of
a 17-year-old girl from Detroit.
According to Michigan State Police, 17-year-old Taya Land was found dead LAST
Friday on I-94 near 8 Mile. Police confirmed that she was shot in the head. The suspect
is a 20-year-old Southfield man...who allegedly killed Land and dumped her body near
I-94. The circumstances around Land's death are unclear at this time.
The suspect will be arraigned at the 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores.

SENIOR SCAM
In Grand Traverse County, a 92-year-old man is out more than 76-thousand dollars in a
computer scam. Traverse City Police say the man received a pop up message on his
computer claiming to be from Microsoft saying that child pornography had been
detected on his computer. There was a number for him to call and offered him a
chance to avoid prison by transferring money from his bank account.

CHECK CASHING SCHEME
In northeast Michigan, the investigation continues into a fraudulent check cashing
scheme. State police say the checks were cashed this summer at several banks
across the region. Troopers believe three men were involved in organizing the
scheme, including two from the Grand Rapids area. They arranged for three other
people to cash the checks in exchange for a cash stipend. One of those hired to cash
the bogus checks was 63-year-ol Peter Gilchrist of Ada. He cashed at least one of the
checks in Cheboygan. He was arrested recently and is wanted on similar charges in
the U-P.

U-M OFFICE FOR SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
The University of Michigan is adding a new independent office to handle sexual
misconduct cases. Michigan President Santa Ono wants to better handle compliance
issues...and says creating an independent ethics office will be the first step in
transforming the institution. Ono is asking for tips from faculty, staff, students and the
community about how to best structure this office. The new office will report to
Ono..and examine trends, processes, areas of concern and overall ethics and
compliance issues. This is one change that University of Michigan has made after the
Dr. Robert Anderson sex abuse scandal came to light. Anderson abused more than a 1-
THOUSAND men over the span of several decades.