Detroit: City hosts first public meeting on land use plans
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit is starting a series of public discussions on what to do about nearly vacant neighborhoods and the best uses for city land.
The first community forum for the “Detroit Works Project” took place Tuesday evening at Greater Grace Temple.
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has said the 12- to 18-month land use planning process aims to strengthen the city. Other public meetings are set for Thursday and Saturday, with more to follow later this month.
Some parts of Detroit nearly are empty of people as the city’s population continues to decline. Bing has said that providing police and other services to areas where few people live drains city resources.
Battle Creek: Father gets 8 years in death of 5-month-old son
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — A Battle Creek man has been ordered to spend eight years behind bars in the death of his 5-month-old son.
A jury last month convicted Shawn Brown of voluntary manslaughter and child abuse. He received his sentence Monday.
The 26-year-old Brown is accused in the January shaking death of Shawn Brown Jr., a charge the father denies.
Brown told Calhoun County Circuit Judge Allen Gabrecht it’s “a hard situation to know that I am charged with killing my son, but I didn’t.”
Brown testified at trial his son choked on formula and stopped breathing. Doctors testified he died from a severe head injury.
The Battle Creek Enquirer reports jurors rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Brown was guilty of felony murder and should serve a life sentence without parole.
Pontiac: Man found guilty in slaying of former girlfriend
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit man who police say shot his ex-girlfriend as she made a 911 call from her Southfield home has been found guilty of first-degree murder.
An Oakland Circuit Court jury delivered its verdict on Monday for Kenneth Johnson in last year’s killing of Sandra Bow.
She was a 52-year-old Michigan Department of Human Services worker.
Assistant prosecutor Gregory Townsend says the fatal gunshot came as Bow told an emergency operator: “Help. I’ve been shot multiple times.”
Defense attorney Steven Lynch tells The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press the shooting was a crime of passion.
The Oakland Press reports Lynch wanted jurors to consider a lesser charge.
Johnson faces life in prison with no chance of parole when he’s sentenced on Oct. 8.
Novi: Michigan Sports Hall inducts 12 new members
NOVI, Mich. (AP) — NASCAR team owner Jack Roush says he’s thankful to be healthy enough to be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
“I’m feeling great. I’m back up to speed,” Roush said Monday night. “You might have heard I had a little problem. The 27th of July was bad for me.”
Roush crashed his jet while trying to land at an air show in Wisconsin, leaving him with permanently lost vision in his left eye, a broken jaw and a compression fracture in his back and hurt his left cheek.
He was honored along with Rick Leach, Herman Moore, Peter Karmanos, Bob Becker, George Blaha, Steve Fraser, Bill Fleming, Marian Ilitch, Meg Mallon, Eddie Murray and Jon Urbanchek.
The event is the 54th in the hall’s history. The inductees were announced in 2008, but due to financial issues, ceremonies over the past two years have been postponed.
