WATZ Today's Country

Tuesday News Summary 08-30-22
Tue, 30 Aug 2022 08:47:27 EDT

(Stories Courtesy of Michigan News Radio)

POWER OUTAGES
Utility crews are working to restore power to tens of thousands of customers after severe weather blew through Michigan Monday. More than 375-thousand Consumers Energy and DTE Energy customers were knocked off line as wind gusts of 60 and 70 miles per hour hit the state. Power poles and lines are down. Trees and limbs also came down. In Three Rivers, high winds blew a single engine plane over. Top winds were 74 miles per hour reported near Lapeer and 70 miles per hour reported at Detroit City Airport. Restoration efforts are expected to last a few days.

STUDENT INSURANCE
As college students get ready to head back to Michigan campuses, the Department of Insurance and Financial Services is reminding students and other renters about the importance of working with a licensed insurance agent or company to purchase a renters insurance policy. Renters insurance will protect you in the event of theft or if a storm, fire, or other disaster damages belongings in your apartment or dorm room. Many Michigan students who rent an apartment, house, or live in a dorm room are unaware that their personal property, such as their books, clothing, or electronic devices, are not covered by their landlords or schools property insurance and may not be covered by their parents current homeowners insurance policy. This means that if a fire, severe storm, or theft occurs and a renter's personal belongings are damaged or stolen, the renter may be personally responsible for replacing or repairing their items unless they purchased a renters insurance policy before the damage occurred.

SPRING LAKE DESIGNATION
For their efforts in establishing a more streamlined, predictable development process and overall community development vision, three communities, including Spring Lake, have achieved the Redevelopment Ready Communities Essentials designation. The program was launched statewide in 2013 as a voluntary initiative that empowers communities to shape their future as they strive to build a foundation of planning, zoning, and economic development best practices and integrating them into their everyday functions. The village of Spring Lake created a public participation plan, a fully updated and a user-friendly zoning ordinance.

GRAND VALLEY ARTWORK
The newest art piece installed at Grand Valley State University's Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health is a sculpture hoisted by a crane to its place on a fifth-floor terrace. The special installation was necessary to properly place the 12- hundred pound sculpture, a life-sized horse that is cast bronze. The piece by renowned sculptor Deborah Butterfield, titled "Char," was driven from a Chicago gallery to Grand Rapids before ending its journey with the airborne placement. More than half of Grand Valley's collection of 27-thousand artworks is on display at any one time throughout the university's campuses and regional centers, giving students daily access to art as a learning tool.

OTTAWA COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT
The preliminary unemployment rates for July 2022 were recently released by the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget. Ottawa County's unemployment rate for July measured 3.4%. This unemployment rate is currently the seventh lowest in Michigan, with rates ranging from 2.2% in Livingston County to 9.1% in Oscoda County. Over the course of the year, jobless rates have fallen for all eighty- three Michigan counties. And from June to July, sixty of those eighty-three counties saw their unemployment rates decrease.

WATER MAIN UPDATE
It's going to take longer to repair a water distribution line that ruptured near Port Huron two weeks ago. The Great Lakes Water Authority is still waiting for pieces of pipe to arrive on the site. One 16-foot long pipeline that was sent back to the manufacturer last week is back on site now, however the final piece of pipe, which was expected to arrive over the weekend, is now expected to arrive either today or Wednesday. The initial break led to a brief boil water advisory for nearly one million homeowners in southeastern Michigan. The cause of the break hasn't been determined.

DETROIT SHOOTINGS UPDATE
Detroit Police say a 19-year old young man with no criminal history is in custody after shooting three people to death and wounding another man. Police Chief James White said there is some indication of mental illness with the suspect who was arrested after a tip from someone close to him called police. The shootings occurred early yesterday Sunday morning . One woman who was shot to death was waiting for a bus. Another woman and man were also killed. Police say an 80-year old man walking his dog was also shot, but survived. Investigators say they found the gun used in the shootings in the home where the suspect was arrested. Mayor Duggan said he will renew efforts to bring Shot Spotter technology to the city. The mayor says if the technology was available it may have stopped two or three of the shootings.

MONKEYPOX VACCINES
A west Michigan company is getting a multi-million dollar deal from the U.S. Government to help make a monkeypox vaccine. The U.S. Health Department is providing $11-MILLION dollars to Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, which operates in Grand Rapids, to buy equipment and pay workers to finish making two-and-a-half million vials of the vaccine. Bloomberg says Grand River Aseptic reached an agreement with Bavarian Nordic, the shots maker, to fill and finish the vials.

GOVERNOR PLOT TRIAL
A hearing began Monday in northern Michigan for five men accused of plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer two years ago. It will determine if the suspects will go on trial. An FBI agent testified that the suspects belonged to, or had conversations with, a number of militias in the state. The hearing has been delayed for months because defense attorneys wanted it held in person. The five individuals involved in Monday's hearing face terrorism charges. A total of 13 people were arrested in October of 2020 for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping plan. Two suspects were convicted on conspiracy charges in federal court last week.

SUSPECT DIES IN CRASH
Deputies from the Newaygo County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a home Monday in Wilcox Township on a shots fired complaint. The suspect vehicle was described as a red Dodge Charger. Undersheriff Chad Palmiter observed a vehicle matching the description traveling east on Baseline Road. The Undersheriff followed the vehicle and confirmed it was the suspect vehicle. He activated his emergency lights and siren and the suspect accelerated and failed to stop. The suspect continued east on East Baseline Road, crossed the centerline east of S. Oak Avenue and went off the roadway and struck a tree. The suspect was declared dead on-scene.

HARBAUGH BIBLE
Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh is apparently looking for advice from above - when it comes to choosing a quarterback this year. When asked about his choice to start Cade McNamara for the first game this weekend, and JJ McCarthy, Harbaugh said he was going by the advice of Solomon in the bible. It's unclear what verse he was referring to.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS
Monday was the first day voters could apply for an application for an absentee ballot for this November's midterm elections. Voters can apply online at the Secretary of State's office, or by going to their local clerk's office. Officials at the Secretary of State say voters who want to cast their ballots absentee should apply as soon as possible to allow for any postal delays. Ballots will be mailed out beginning on September 29th.

MEIJER CLEAN UP PROGRAM
Meijer is launching its participation in the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Program with the use of two innovative technologies the BeBot and Pixie Drone to clean up Midwestern beaches and waterways in partnership with the Council of the Great Lakes Region. This initiative is supporting the single largest deployment of these types of eco- friendly and remote-controlled devices across multiple states in the Great Lakes, which encompass the largest surface freshwater system in the world. Beginning this month, Meijer and the CGLR will lead cleanup projects at busy beaches, marinas and waterways in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The retailer kicked off its efforts at Pere Marquette Beach in Muskegon that included a live demonstration of the innovative equipment.

POWER OUTAGES
Crews are working to restore power to more than 243 thousand DTE Energy customers in southeast Michigan after powerful storms last night. Winds reached 60 miles per hour, knocking down trees and power lines. Consumers Energy has crews out restoring power to more than 123 thousand customers in the lower half of the lower peninsula. They say winds reached nearly 70 miles per hour....knocking down power lines and trees. They remind people to stay at least 25 feet away from a downed power line.

BOIL WATER ADVISORIES-OAKLAND COUNTY
Precautionary boil water advisories have been posted for parts of Oakland County as a result of power problems at stations operated by the Great Lakes Water Authority. Commerce Township and Walled Lake as well as the city of Novi are affected. Administrators say whenever a water system loses pressure, precautionary measures are recommended because a loss of pressure can lead to bacterial contamination in the water system.

PROFESSOR SUES U-M
One of the first Black women hired as a professor at the University of Michigan is suing the school. Law professor Laura Beny is suing the university, its law school, and a law school dean, alleging systematic racism, gender bias, and retaliation. U-of-M calls the claims "meritless."
Beny -- who was at the university for 19 years -- alleges that Dean Mark West threatened to break her brother's neck, commented on her appearance, and falsely accused her of bringing a gun to campus. Beny says the incidents forced her to take a medical leave of absence due to psychological distress -- West demoted her during her leave.

EMU CONTRACT
Faculty members at Eastern Michigan University have rejected the latest contract offer from the administration. The University says the proposal called for every full-time faculty member to receive a salary increase of four to eight percent in the first year of the agreement. The union representing more than 500 professors cut their proposal to an 8.4-percent increase in the first year of the new agreement. That's down from a nine percent proposal earlier. The contract expires at midnight Wednesday.

HARBOR 31-MUSKEGON
Ground has been broken on a big development in Muskegon along Muskegon Lake. Construction is set to get underway on Harbor 31......which will include housing, retail, a hotel, a restaurant, boat rental facility and marina slips. The project is expected to be completed in four or five years.

DETROIT EXPLOSION
Five people are injured after a building exploded yesterday evening on Detroit's west side.
Firefighters battled the blaze just after seven o'clock at a commercial . The fire was declared a Level One Hazmat situation. An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway. Chief James Harris says the five people were transported to the hospital in temporary serious condition.

KALAMAZOO MURDER
Police in Kalamazoo are investigating a murder last night. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says a person was shot in the face at about 10:30 last night. There's no word if anyone's been arrested.

MURDER ARRAIGNMENT-W MI
A 64-year-old Florida trucker, Garry Artman, has been charged with murder and first degree criminal sexual conduct in the murder of a Grand Rapids area woman, Sharon Hammack , in 1996. Hammack was a 29-year-old with two children and pregnant with her third at the time.
Forensic genealogy helped link her murder to Artman. He's also suspected in the murder of a woman in Maryland in 2006.

CHEBOYGAN CRASH
In Cheboygan County, state police responded to a two vehicle crash on I-75 near Wolverine, where a truck and camper overturned. Troopers say it happened Sunday on Southbound I-75 near Rondo Road in Ellis Township. A Dodge Ram pulling a travel trailer experienced a tire blowout, which caused it to lose control, go off the roadway and overturn. A part from the truck hit the windshield of another vehicle driven by a 52- year-old man from St. Clair County. He and his wife were not injured. The 40-year-old truck driver and his two passengers had minor injuries.

MOTORCYCLE FUNDRAISER
More than 100 motorcycle riders hit the road in Leelanau County over the weekend for the annual Poker Run to help raise money for the "Recovery Road Riders" community efforts. During their final stop in Suttons Bay, Leelanau Sands Casino presented a check for more than 51-hundred dollars to support the annual scholarship fund for students who have a parent that lost their battle with addiction.

MISSING MARQUETTE MAN FOUND
A man reported missing in Marquette , has been found. 56-year-old Dennis Kivioja has reportedly been reunited with his family.