WATZ Today's Country

Tuesday News Summary 08-02-22
Tue, 02 Aug 2022 12:16:57 EDT

(Stories Courtesy of Michigan News Radio)

OTTAWA COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT
The preliminary unemployment rates for June 2022 were recently released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget. Ottawa Countys unemployment rate for June measured 3.6%. This unemployment rate is currently the fourth lowest in Michigan, with rates ranging from 3.2% in Livingston County to 9.0% in Roscommon County. Sixty-nine of Michigans counties saw an increase in their unemployment rate from May to June. Yet over the course of the year, jobless rates have fallen for all eighty-three Michigan counties.

HAITIAN BRIEF FILED
Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general in filing a brief related to the treatment of thousands of Haitian refugees who sought aid along the United States Southern border. The coalition is calling upon the federal government to allow those refugees to demonstrate the fear of persecution they would receive if forced to return to Haiti. The coalition filed the brief calling for Haitian refugees to be treated with dignity and compassion. The attorneys general are also urging the federal government to give Haitian nationals seeking refuge in the United States the same due process other immigrants and refugees receive.

BENTON HARBOR WATER
Free bottled water continues to be provided by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for City of Benton Harbor residents for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth, rinsing foods and mixing powdered infant formula. To arrange water delivery to homebound or residents without transportation in the City of Benton Harbor, contact 211, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. City of Benton Harbor residents can pick up water at Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor Fettig Youth Campus and the Southwest Community Action Agency.

RMC MOVING
Officials with the PGA Tour released their schedule for the 2023 season, and the Rocket Mortgage Classic is - once again - on the move. Next year's event will take place from June 26th through July 2nd at the Detroit Golf Club. The move could affect the number of big name golfers that might head to the Motor City, as the Rocket Mortgage Classic will take place two weeks AFTER the U.S. Open... BUT three weeks BEFORE next year's British Open.....which is usually a period that a number of golfers use as downtime from the Tour.

DRIVER ARRESTED
Michigan State Police say a Houghton Lake woman has been arrested for operating a vehicle while under the influence. 36-year-old Jennifer Teachout was arraigned Monday on one count possession of methamphetamine and one count operating under the influence with an occupant under the age of 16/child endangerment. Teachout's bond was set at $75,000 cash surety. On July 28, an MSP trooper stopped a vehicle for an equipment violation with Teachout as the driver. Teachout's two children and another person were with her in the vehicle. The children were returned to their father.

PFAS ACTION NETWORK
A Michigan advocacy group took its claims to the U-S senate Monday. Members of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees. The group is calling for swift action and increased accountability over the Department of Defense, which they say was slow to act on the PFAS contamination of a former military base in Oscoda. The base is the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base -- the first discovered PFAS site in Michigan. PFAS is a group of chemicals formerly used in paints and water repellant products. PFAS exposure can cause health conditions including cancer.

WSU PRESIDENT
Wayne State University's president will be stepping down next summer. President M. Roy Wilson announced Monday that he will not extend or renew his contract when it ends next July 31st. Wilson has been president since 2013. He says the time is right for a leadership transition. A statement from the University says that under Wilson's leadership, Wayne State doubled research funding awards, and helped surpass the Pivotal Moments fundraising campaign goal. In addition, the campus has expanded. The search for a new president will begin this fall.

PFAS TESTOMONY
Cathy Wusterbarth, co-founder of Need Our Water in Oscoda and a Great Lakes PFAS Action Network community leader, testified Monday at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Field Hearing in East Lansing on PFAS contamination. Wusterbarth is an Oscoda resident who has been impacted by PFAS contamination from the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base the first discovered PFAS site in Michigan and the first Department of Defense PFAS site in the world. Wusterbarth called for swift action and increased accountability over the Department of Defense, which has continuously dragged its feet on the PFAS contamination from the former military base in Oscoda. Since PFAS was discovered at Wurtsmith in 2010, public health officials have issued five separate public health warnings for PFAS in Oscoda, and there still is no plan in place to clean up the contamination.

PARK CLOSING EARLY
An historic park in northern Michigan will be closing early this season - because they can't find enough workers. Officials at the Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park near Mackinaw City say it will close for the year on August 4th. The Mackinac State Historic Parks director says it's not a decision they took lightly, but staffing concerns at the park and others nearby are prompting the closure. The park had originally been scheduled to stay open through Labor Day weekend.

BRIDGE REPAIR
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced the final five bridges set to be fixed under her Rebuilding Our Bridges program are scheduled to begin this?month. The bridges include Sand Creek Highway over River Raisin in Lenawee County, Iosco Road over Red Cedar River in Livingston County, Dollarville Road over Teaspoon Creek in Luce County, 26 Mile Road Bridge over Clinton River in Macomb County, and Nottawa Road over Prairie River in St. Joseph County.

MAKE A WISH UPDATE
42-year-old Mandy Marie Benn of Ionia is being arraigned after hitting five bicyclists participating in the Make-A-Wish Bicycle Tour over the weekend, leading to two deaths. Police say Benn was driving while intoxicated when she moved to pass a UPS truck, putting her in the path of the bicyclist group who she didn't see . The deceased have been identified as Edward Erickson, 48, of Ann Arbor and Michael Salhaney, 57, of Bloomfield Hills. Two of the other three have been released from the hospital and the third is in stable condition.

BOAT FIRE
An investigation is underway into the cause of a boat fire on Lake Huron over the weekend - after a Good Samaritan plucked the boater to safety from the water. The boat burned to the water line after the fire on Friday, according to Coast Guard officials. A nearby boater responded and pulled the man to safety before the Coast Guard arrived. It's not clear if the ship will be salvaged.

ELECTION DAY
The primary election is today - and if you still haven't made up your mind about the candidates - there is help online. The League of Women Voters of Michigan - has been putting out election guides for over a century. voters can only vote in one party or the other, not both, or your ballot will be void. You can check out the voter guides at vote411.org. The polls are open 7a.m. to 8 p.m.

ABORTION
Governor Whitmer has won a temporary restraining order keeping abortion legal in Michigan as the case plays out in court. Whitmer filed for the restraining order after a State Appeals Court earlier today said that County Prosecutors are able to prosecute abortion cases under Michigan's 1931 abortion ban, which pro-choice advocates have been fighting in court. Oakland County Judge James Cunningham agreed to the restraining order request. There's a court hearing on Wednesday.

MOTORCYCLIST INJURED
A 25-year-old motorcyclist was seriously injured after a crash with a semi-truck last night in Holland Township. The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says the motorcyclist ignored a red light at the on-ramp for westbound I-196 and hit the trailer of a semi that was turning left onto the ramp. The motorcyclist was taken to the hospital. The semi driver was not hurt.

U-P JOGGER ATTACKED
State Police from the Iron Mountain post are looking for a man in his 20's who allegedly attacked a jogger just north of Gaastra (Gos-truh) Monday morning. Police say an 18- year-old woman was out for a run when an unknown man attacked her. She was able to fight him off and get away. He's described as 5'8" , 22 pounds with light short red hair with freckles and moles on his face. He was driving a silver car.

BANK ROBBERY-GRAND RAPIDS
The FBI and Grand Rapids Police are asking for the public's help to find the person who robbed a bank in Grand Rapids Monday afternoon. Police say the robber had a handgun and took off after the robbery at the Lake Michigan Credit Union on Lake Michigan Drive. No one was hurt.

CHIEF CRAIG WRITE-IN
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig is still making a run at governor. The 66-year-old Craig -- who failed to submit enough valid signatures to appear on the Republican ballot -- will be competing in today's primary as a write-in candidate. In an email to his supporters yesterday, Craig's campaign is instructing voters to write in his name at the bottom of the Republican section of the ballot. Craig retired as police chief last June and announced his campaign for governor one month later.

BOMB THREATS
There were some bomb threats at universities and colleges in Michigan yesterday , but no devices were found. Threats were made at Michigan State and Gogebic Community College in Ironwood Township...among others.

BABY GARNET-MACKINAC COUNTY
In Mackinac County, a former Michigan woman has been arraigned on a murder charge, accused of leaving her baby to die in a campground toilet 25 years ago. 58- year-old Nancy Gerwatowski, who has been living in Wyoming, has now been charged with one count of open murder. She has been denied bond. Investigators discovered the remains of the infant at the Garnet Lake Campground in Hudson Township in 1997. The cold case was cracked five years ago with the help of forensic Genetic genealogy.

CHEBOYGAN CTY CRASH
In Cheboygan County, four of the nine people injured in a four vehicle accident were sent to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Deputies say it happened on U-S 23 just south of Mackinaw City. They say a pickup driver was waiting to make a left turn near the Mackinaw Plant Cener when a Jeep driven by a 22-year-old woman was stopped behind him when another vehicle rear-ended the Jeep, which then hit the pickup. The Jeep crossed the center line and hit a fourth vehicle.

RESCUE BOAT MICHIGAMME
The Michigamme Spur Fire Department in the U-P's Marquette County is working to raise money for a new rescue boat. W-L-U-C reports the volunteer fire department has never had a rescue boat of its own. Fire Chief Joe Perry says they have relied on private boats and those owned by firefighters . They are working to raise 25-thousand dollars for the rescue boat.