WATZ Today's Country

Monday News Summary 10-31-22
Mon, 31 Oct 2022 09:20:32 EDT

(Stories Courtesy of Michigan News Radio)

COP SHOOTING TRIAL DECISION
A former Grand Rapids police officer will find out at ten o'clock this morning if he'll
stand trial for second degree murder in the shooting death of a driver in April. Patrick
Lyoya struggled with officer Christopher Schurr before he was shot in the back of the
head. Schurr's attorney argued during the preliminary hearing last week the prosecutor
didn't prove a trial is necessary. The Prosecutor, who made the decision to charge
Schurr, told the judge that it should be up to a jury to decide whether Schurr used a
reasonable amount of force, not the court.

MAKE-A-WISH
Children with critical illnesses in Detroit getting a boost from a local company. Schostak
Brothers & Company says it has donated $25-THOUSAND dollars to Make-A-Wish
Michigan -- saying they're "in awe of the incredible team that works tirelessly to grant
life-changing wishes for critically ill children" in the community. Make-A-Wish Michigan
expects to grant 475 wishes to Michigan children this year. A parent, legal guardian or
medical professional can refer a child who is between the ages of 2 to 18 at time of
referral, diagnosed with a critical illness, and has not received a wish from another wishgranting organization. There is no cost to the wish child or family to receive a wish.
Learn more at michigan.wish.org/refer.

LANSING SHOOTING
State Police are trying to track down a suspect in a shooting in the Lansing area. State
Police say the shooting happened around 10 Saturday morning in Diamondale-- about
9 miles southwest of Lansing... in the area of Bridge and Diamondale Highway. Early
investigation indicates the suspect and victim knew each other and were possibly
fighting over money when the shooting happened. The victim was conscious and
rushed to the hospital. The suspect drove away from the scene.

DESTROYED CAR
A Northern Michigan woman is behind bars after police say she destroyed her
boyfriend's car during a breakup. Michigan State Police say they were called to the
scene in Walker Township, about 50 miles south of Mackinaw City, in June for a report
of a damaged vehicle. The boyfriend alleged his 21-year-old girlfriend Jasmine Dillion
were sitting inside his car and he said he wanted to end their relationship. He said she
crawled into the backseat and started kicking the sunroof. She eventually got out of the
car and he locked the doors. She tried to climb back inside via the driver's window, and
when she couldn't, she started punching the driver's mirror and broke the glass. She
fled the scene. She was eventually arrested on October 18. She was arraigned on
Malicious Destruction of Property. She's being held on a 5,000-dollar bond.

WEST BLOOMFIELD FALSE ALARM
Friday evening there were reports of gunfire at West Bloomfield High School that
caused the football field to clear as a game against Cass Tech was in progress. West
Bloomfield police say that this was a false alarm and that there was no shooting at the
high school. There was a car near the stadium that backfired -- starting the panic.
Family and media were permitted to return to the game once it resumed shortly after.
Cass Tech came away with the playoff victory 38-13.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
This is Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Week in Michigan. Last year in Michigan, there
were more than 180 pedestrian fatalities and more than 14-hundred pedestrian injuries.
Officers will focus on the laws having to do with pedestrian safety as well as looking for
violations by pedestrians that include not walking on a sidewalk where provided and not
walking facing traffic when on a roadway.

MEMPHIS MURDER
A northern Macomb County man is being held in jail without bail - after he was
arraigned Friday for the murder of his roommate. Police found the body of 65-year-old
Dale Eplett inside his apartment in Memphis on Tuesday night, after neighbors called
9-1-1 to report hearing yelling coming from the apartment. The Prosecutor says that 32-
year-old Emmanuel Glass kicked and struck Eplett in the head, pushing a bookcase on
top of him. Glass claims it was in self defense. Second degree murder carries a
penalty of up to life in prison without parole.

ALGAE BLOOMS
Conservation groups are calling on Lansing to fund a fix for toxic algae blooms in the
Great Lakes. The Michigan United Conservation Clubs and non-profit group Ducks
Unlimited say $30 MILLION dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act would go a
long way to helping battle algae blooms in Lake Erie that they say is causing economic
damage to the state. They say a new study estimates up to $5.9 MILLION dollars in
annual economic activity is lost in Michigan's portion of Lake Erie. The study estimates
up to 29% of total fishing trips on Lake Erie were canceled in 2019 due to harmful
blooms. Anglers cited potential negative health effects, inability to consume fish, and
boat or equipment damage as reasons the blooms have kept them away. Two-thirds
said they decided not to fish at least once in that year because of the blooms.

WEST MICHIGAN CRASH
Drunk driving is suspected in a crash involving a wrong-way driver in west Michigan.
State Police say a 28-year old woman from Grand Rapids was killed when her car
crashed into a pickup truck. Troopers say the initial investigation shows the car was
driving northbound in the southbound lanes of East Beltline Avenue, east of Grand
Rapids, without the headlights on. The crash happened just after three o'clock Sunday
morning. Two people in the truck had minor injuries.

UM-MSU TUNNEL INCIDENT
Four Michigan State players have been suspended following a brawl in the tunnel after
Sun ,
M-S-U Head Coach Mel Tucker announced the suspensions of Tank Brown, Khary
Crump, Angelo Grose, and Zion Young, effective immediately.
the video shows Michigan State players kicking and punching Michigan defensive back
Ja'Den McBurrows in a hallway that doesn't lead to either locker room.
In a post-game interview, Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel said the beating
was unacceptable.

MSU INTERIM PRESIDENT
The Michigan State University board of trustees is expected to name an interim
president today.
The interim leader will take the place of President Samuel Stanley -- who resigned on
October 13th... saying he "lost confidence" in the board and could no longer serve it.
His last day will be January 11th.
In September, the board asked Stanley to resign over the handling of a state
requirement involving sexual misconduct complaints... and business college dean
Sanjay Gupta's resignation for failing to report a sexual misconduct situation.
The board will meet at noon today to make the appointment.

POWERBALL
The Powerball grand prize continues to grow.. as no one hit the jackpot in Saturday
night's drawing. The jackpot is now estimated at 1-BILLION dollars for tonight's
drawing.. the cash value is over $497-MILLION dollars. There were two tickets sold for
Saturday's drawing that matched five numbers and are worth one million dollars. They
were sold in New Buffalo, in southwest Michigan, and Redford, in suburban Detroit.

DIXON-WHITMER
The city of Dearborn currently divided over calls to ban books in the school system
containing L-G-B-T-Q material with community members showing up at school board
meetings in the hundreds to protest.
The city one of many stops today (Sunday ) for Republican candidate for Governor
Tudor Dixon
who says Governor Gretchen Whitmer is not taking the concerns of parents in the
mostly Muslim community seriously.
Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Governor Gretchen Whitmer in
Detroit on Saturday.

GAS PRICES
Gas prices across Michigan continue to decline as the new work week begins.
According to Triple A, drivers are paying an average of 3.96 a gallon statewide-- a
drop of nine cents from last week.
The most expensive areas to buy gas in the state are Jackson, Marquette, and
Lansing. The cheapest are Traverse City, Flint, and... Metro Detroit.

DIXON-WHITMER
The city of Dearborn currently divided over calls to ban books in the school system
containing L-G-B-T-Q material with community members showing up at school board
meetings in the hundreds to protest.
The city one of many stops today (Sunday ) for Republican candidate for Governor
Tudor Dixon
who says Governor Gretchen Whitmer is not taking the concerns of parents in the
mostly Muslim community seriously.
Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Governor Gretchen Whitmer in
Detroit on Saturday.

CHURCH TOMBSTONES
In west Michigan a church is Grand Haven is illustrating the scope of gun violence in
America with a display of tombstones. St. John's Episcopal church at 124 tombstomes
on its lawn, to represent the number of people killed in U.S. every day in 2020. Church
rector, Father Jared Cramer, tese arent just stats on a sheet of paper or names you
read in the news, these are real human beings whose lives have been tragically cut
short. He says people have seen this as an honest and authentic articulation of a
problem.

HOUDINI ANNIVERSARY
A big anniversary today...Harry Houdini performed his final magic act on October 31st -
96-YEARS ago today when he escaped from this world in Detroit..
The famous magician performed a week earlier October 24th...taking the stage of the
Garrick Theater ...he had a fever of 104-DEGREES, chills..but the show went on...and
he collapsed on stage. Mickey Blashfield with the American Museum of Magic in
Marshall east of Battle Creek says Houdini refused initially to go to the hospital but
ended up at Grace Hospital..his appendix had ruptured..it was removed but the poison
already traveled through his body..He died on Halloween.

RIVERTOWN MALL SHOOTING-W MI
Police are investigating people in two vehicles firing shots at each other in the parking
lot of Rivertown Mall in Grandville, southwest of Grand Rapids, on Saturday. Police say
a third vehicle was hit by one of the vehicles, but there are no reports of injuries. They
say the suspect vehicles , a black Ford Explorer and a dark Honda Civic or Accord fled
the area. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Silent Observer.

HORSE RESCUE
A horse has minor injuries after it was rescued from a well pit in Manistee County in
northewest Michigan. 9 and 10 News says Manistee County animal control, the road
commission a conservation officer and others were able to lift the horse from the well
pit last Thursday. A veterinarian was on the scene to examine the horse.