WATZ Today's Country

Thursday News Summary 09-08-22
Thu, 08 Sep 2022 09:07:49 EDT

(Stories Courtesy of Michigan News Radio)

ABORTION BAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL
A Michigan Court of Claims judge declared the state's 1931 abortion ban unconstitutional in a final opinion Wednesday. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher says Attorney General Dana Nessel cannot enforce the ban. Gleicher had placed a temporary injunction on enforcement in May, but Wednesday's decision permanently enjoins the attorney general from enforcement. Nessel has repeatedly said she had no plans to enforce the ban, but the courts decision would last beyond Nessels tenure as Attorney General. The 1931 law criminalizes all abortions except for those that would threaten the life of the mother. It does not make exceptions for rape or incest.

ECONOMIC SURVEY
Michigan executives are optimistic about their businesses despite concerns the economy is softening. 90-percent of those surveyed expect to have the same or increased employment in Michigan in the next six to 12 months in the quarterly economic survey released by Business Leaders for Michigan. 52% expect inflation to come down and 84% of Michigan business leaders struggle to fill jobs due to labor shortages.

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.

FUNDING FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to announce Michigan Strategic Fund approval of $83.8 million in grant funding across 22 statewide community development projects. The fund also approved support for a new multifamily project that will bring much-needed housing to the city of Portage. The funds will continue to help communities recover from the impacts of COVID-19, and utilize $100 million in federal American Rescue Plan dollars to support investments in projects that promote population and tax revenue growth.

LUNG HEALTH STUDY
Michiganders have among the worst levels of lung health in America, according to a study by the Lung Institute. The study ranks locations based on smoking rates and pollution levels over 5 years. Keweenaw County emerged in position #1; Lapeer came last. This data analysis factored the following statistics from the last 5 years: the change in smoking rate in each state, as well as the change in pollution level. Michiganders experienced a 1% decrease in smoking rates over 5 years, placing 29TH overall. On a local level, citizens of Keweenaw County have experienced the best changes in lung health over five years, and Lapeer the worst.

ENBRIDGE MEETINGS
Federal regulators announced two public meetings to gather input about Enbridges plan to build a tunnel beneath Great Lakes waters for a replacement section of its Line 5 oil and gas pipeline. Feedback is expected to come by the thousands from various communities, businesses and organizations. There will be an in-person session today at the Little Bear Arena in St. Ignace from 3-8pm. Another virtual session will be held October 6 from 1-4pm. Participation in the virtual meeting will be limited to 1,000 logins, while today's in-person meeting will have space for about 500 people. These public meetings are part of the federal permit review process under the National Environmental Policy Act.

BUSINESS INVESTMENT
Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to announce support for an infrastructure project to enable a $375 million investment from Hemlock Semiconductor Operations. It'll create 170 jobs in Thomas Township. This support allows Hemlock to modernize and expand operations in Michigan . The expansion builds on the states recent wins in the semiconductor industry, including SK Siltrons ribbon-cutting ceremony last week in Bay City, ensuring the state will continue to compete for semiconductor manufacturing projects that are critical to so many industries including mobility, energy, and life sciences. It also comes on the heels of the governors recent executive directive empowering Michigan to compete for funding from the CHIPS and Science Act.

CADILLAC CITY COUNCIL VISIT
The Cadillac City Council got a surprise visit from a Michigan State Supreme Court Justice. Just before Tuesdays meeting, Justice Richard Bernstein paid a visit to the Cadillac City Council. He was in Cadillac Tuesday afternoon to check in with local justices and prosecutors, and says its important for justices to visit with communities to make sure everyone in the state gets a chance to have their voice heard. The Justice says those in Lansing need to spend as much time in rural communities as possible.

POLICE CHIEF ACCUSED A PILL THEFT
A West Michigan police chief is accused of stealing and selling painkillers from a police collection box designed to take drugs off the streets. Two dozen Hydrocodone pills that went missing from the Hartford Police Department drug collection box were cited as evidence in a search warrant used in the ongoing criminal probe of Tressa Beltran, Hartford Police chief. An investigation began when the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office Narcotics unit received an anonymous tip of possible narcotics use and sales at the Hartford Police Department involving Chief Tressa Beltran. A judge authorized a search warrant for deputies to seize Beltran's cell phones and other electronics kept at the Hartford Police Department June 30. The Michigan Attorney General's Office is investigating and will determine if any criminal charges will be filed.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive to create jobs in Michigan by taking advantage of the resources in the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act. This directive will ensure state departments and agencies harness every available tax credit and other opportunities in the IRA to build on Michigans manufacturing strengths, advance its energy and mobility leadership, and empower workers to succeed. The IRA will help Michigan build and retool factories to manufacture electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and more.

PUBLIC INDECENCY BILL
State Representative Matt Hall, of Comstock Township, has introduced legislation to make communities that people call home cleaner and healthier. The bill prohibits local units of government from decriminalizing forms of public indecency. Any city, county, village or township that has decriminalized such acts after January 1, 2022 would have 60 days to reinstate them. In July, Kalamazoo changed its code of ordinances to decriminalize public defecation, urination, littering and other acts turning misdemeanor offenses into mere civil infractions.

TWO PRISONS CLOSING
With the prison population in Michigan at its lowest level in 30 years, the state Corrections Department has announced operations at two facilities will be consolidated. The Corrections Director says the south side of the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility in Adrian and the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia will close in November. No workers will be laid off because there are vacancies at other facilities that need to be filled. The state's prison population is 32-THOUSAND inmates.

M-119 REPAIRS
The Michigan Department of Transportation will make temporary, emergency repairs to stabilize the slope beneath a section of M-119 where the scenic Tunnel of Trees is located in Harbor Springs this week, but a permanent fix will require a through-traffic detour until late October. Following heavy rains early Saturday morning, the shoulder of M-119 near Harrison Street in Harbor Springs washed away. The washout also undermined a portion of the highway pavement and guardrail supports in the area. This week, MDOT maintenance crews will place stone in the washout area to stabilize the bluff beneath the roadway, ahead of anticipated rain later this week. MDOT is continuing evaluation of the soil condition in the vicinity and will design a permanent repair likely involving a retaining wall. That work is tentatively expected to be completed in October.

COVID BOOSTERS
To better help fight the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster doses. This was followed by Centers for Disease Control and Preventions recommendation for use of the Pfizer bivalent booster vaccine for ages 12 and older and the Moderna bivalent vaccine for ages 18 and older. Michiganders can begin getting the booster shots as they become available.

EMU STRIKE UPDATE
Administrators at Eastern Michigan University are asking a judge to order striking professors back to work. The university filed a complaint in Washtenaw County Circuit Court Wednesday asking a judge to issue an injunction. The filing cites a significant and continuing injury to students. Despite the walkout by about 500 professors, the university says classes were led by faculty and instructors who are not part of the union. It is not known how many classes took place as scheduled. The union says the strike against the administration's illegal unfair labor practices will be settled at the bargaining table, not in a courtroom.

BAD ROADS
Are you experiencing a rough ride on Michigan's roads? Who's to blame? Governor Gretchen Whitmer campaigned in her first bid for governor on "fixing the damn roads" but a new WDIV-Detroit News poll doesn't put her at the top of the list for blame on bad roads. The poll says past Legislatures and governors and the Michigan Department of Transportation are at fault. Just nine percent say Whitmer is to blame while six percent say the current Republican controlled legislature bears responsibility. When republican lawmakers rejected Whitmer's proposed 45-cents-per-gallon gas tax hike in 2019, Whitmer got out the state's credit card to rebuild highways and bridges and the latest poll shows a majority of voters approve of her approach.

SCOUT LEADER CHARGES-ROSEVILLE
A former Roseville Boy Scout scoutmaster is the first to be charged in Michigan in connection with an ongoing investigation of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America. 52-year-old Mark Chapman appeared in Macomb Circuit Court yesterday. He was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and eight counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct for his alleged acts against two boys during the mid-2000's. Chapman waived his right for a probable-cause hearing, and will face criminal charges in a higher court. He's being held in Macomb County jail on a $300-THOUSAND dollar bond.

OAKLAND UNIVERSITY SEX ASSAULT
Police at Oakland University are investigating a reported sexual assault of a student .. in a parking lot on the north side of Main Campus. The person reporting the incident met the suspect after initially connecting on the Tinder dating app. The incident took place during their first meeting in person. The suspect was last seen driving a black 2019 Chevrolet Camaro. Anyone with information should call campus police.

LAWSUIT AGAINST WENDY'S -GRANDVILLE
A Holland man, Shane Meyers , has filed a lawsuit against the owner of a Wendy's restaurant in Grandville, claiming he got sick after eating there. Meyers is asking for more than 25-thousand dollars in damages from Meritage Hospitality Group, Inc. Meyers claims he ate a burger with contaminated romaine lettuce at the Wendy's on Canal Avenue in early August and got E. coli food poisoning. The CDC says there have been at least 97 illnesses related to the multistate E. coli outbreak....58 in Michigan.

LAFAYETTE CONEY ISLAND CLOSED OVER RAT PROBLEM-DETROIT
An iconic downtown Detroit restaurant has been closed over health violations. The sign on the DOOR of the Lafayette Coney Island announces the closure indefinitely. It comes after a video circulated online - including on the account of City Councilman Scott Benson - alleged to be of a rat running through the restaurant. The restaurant was hit with fines last year by the City over employees not wearing masks during the pandemic.

BODY FOUND GRAND HAVEN TWP
A body found in Grand Haven Township Wednesday is believed to be that of a missing man, 34-year-old James McKinnon, of Grand Haven. The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says he'd been missing since August 30th. The body was found when deputies were searching in the area of the Grand River and using a drone. An autopsy will be performed, but foul play is not suspected.

LIVONIA WOMAN FOUND DEAD
A Livonia woman who was reported missing two days ago has been found dead. Police found Kasey Debat in Northfield Township in Washtenaw County and it appears she took her own life. The investigation is ongoing as detectives await the findings of the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner.

LOADED GUN AT SCHOOL -SOUTHFIELD
A Southfield High School student is being held at Children's Village after police say he took a loaded gun to school. Police say that staff members at Southfield A&T High School were notified that a student was armed shortly after 8:30am.The school resource officer and other security members found the 16-year-old in the hallway. Police Chief Elvin Barron says he was carrying a loaded handgun -- but there were no rounds in the chamber and he had not threatened anyone.

MURDER APPEAL-TRAVERSE CITY
A convicted murderer from Grand Traverse County is appealing his sentence, again. Robert Schwander was originally sentenced in 2011 to 40 to 70 years for killing Traverse City teenager, Carli Lewis. In 2020, his sentence was reduced to 33 to 50 years. Wednesday in Grand Rapids, his attorneys requested a fifth appeal, claiming the previous judges didn't adequately explain why they went above the sentencing guidelines.

DRIVER SENTENCED-HOLLAND
A 21-year-old west Michigan man has been sentenced to a year in prison for negligent driving causing a miscarriage. Juan Lira reportedly was driving a stolen car last March when he crashed into a minivan, causing a 17-year-old to miscarry and injuring a 16- year-old girl. Lira pleaded guilty to several charges against him.