Tawas City: Texas man gets 25-50 years in woman’s death
TAWAS CITY, Mich. (AP) — A Texas man has been sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison in the case of a Michigan woman who has been missing since 1980.
Iosco County Circuit Judge William Myles sentenced Jimmie Nelson on Monday.
A jury last month found the 58-year-old Houston man guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Cherita Thomas.
The Bay City Times reports the trial took place after the state Court of Appeals ruled in 2008 that a judge erred in dismissing a murder charge in 2005.
Thomas, who was in her 20s, disappeared on Aug. 3, 1980, after police say Nelson picked her up in Au Sable Township, where she had car trouble.
County Sheriff Allan MacGregor tells WJRT-TV it may have taken a long time, but “justice was done.”
Detroit: New ad campaign asks Detroiters to believe in city
DETROIT (AP) — Crime novelist Elmore Leonard, Tigers great Willie Horton and dozens of others are joining Mayor Dave Bing in asking people to believe in Detroit.
The local celebrities and civic leaders were at WXYZ-TV’s studios in Southfield on Monday to film commercials that will be part of a campaign aimed at fighting negative portrayals of the city.
Called “I’m a Believer,” goals also include boosting Detroit’s reputation and encouraging volunteerism.
The Detroit News reports the $30,000 effort will feature ads and billboards, which are expected to debut in January.
The Detroit Free Press says each person appearing in the TV spots recites the same script. They say: “Volunteer. Tutor a child. Clean up a neighborhood. Let’s make Detroit a great city again.”
Jonesville: School district stops Bible handout program
JONESVILLE, Mich. (AP) — The superintendent of a southern Michigan school district says he’s putting a stop to a Bible distribution program after a parent objected.
Jonesville Community Schools Superintendent Mike Potts says he doesn’t see any need to continue the practice at Williams Elementary School.
Potts tells the Jackson Citizen Patriot the district will, however, continue another program that allows Williams students to leave the building during school hours for offsite Bible study.
Parent Kristen Finnegan contacted Potts to question the distribution program.
She tells the newspaper for a story Monday she is happy about the response from school officials.
Finnegan says she would have fought the program “to the end.”
