Garden City: Police in suburban Detroit fatally shoot man
GARDEN CITY, Mich. (AP) — Police in suburban Detroit say they fatally shot a man who pointed a semi-automatic gun at officers who were responding to a report of an intruder.
Garden City Police Chief Robert Muery told reporters that the 29-year-old Detroit man was shot after officers were called to the home shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday because of an “unwelcome guest.” Muery says the man refused to put the gun down and was shot after pointing it in the direction of officers.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene in Garden City. Muery says a domestic situation apparently led to the initial call to police.
Michigan State Police were investigating the shooting.
Wyoming: City council bans medical marijuana within city
WYOMING, Mich. (AP) — Marijuana advocates have vowed to boot a west Michigan city council out of office after they unanimously voted to ban medical marijuana.
Wyoming Mayor Jack Poll says city council’s vote Monday night to make medical marijuana illegal within city limits is “not a vote against the people that need this medication.”
He said medical marijuana should be dispensed like other legal drugs.
Michigan voters approved medical marijuana use in 2008. Federal law still prohibits the sale and cultivation of the drug.
John Ter Beek, a lawyer who has sued the city, said he was to meet Tuesday with the American Civil Liberties Union to pursue an injunction on Wyoming’s ban.
The Grand Rapids Press and WOOD-TV say he also plans to recall council members.
South Haven: Mich. blueberry farms accused of labor violations
SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — The federal government has announced $78,000 in fines in an investigation of child labor and migrant work camps at Michigan blueberry farms.
The Labor Department says it found dilapidated housing, insect infestations and a lack of hot water in some camps in Allegan, Van Buren and Ottawa counties, south and west of Grand Rapids. The government announced financial penalties Monday against 17 growers and nine labor contractors.
In addition, growers were ordered to pay $28,000 for wage violations.
Cornerstone Ag Enterprises of South Haven received the highest penalty, $29,000, for alleged violations in housing and child labor. Co-owner Kay Trevino says the case is being appealed, declining further comment.
Labor Department spokesman Scott Allen says some growers have agreed to pay penalties.
Sault Sainte Marie: Coast Guard starts Great Lakes ice breaking effort
SAULT SAINTE MARIE, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says it has started ice-breaking operations in the western Great Lakes area in response to colder temperatures.
The Coast Guard’s office in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., says the effort started Monday afternoon.
It says ice breaking now is under way in Lake Superior, the St. Mary’s River, the Straits of Mackinac and northern Lake Huron.
At the start, the effort involves the Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay, which is heading west toward Duluth, Minn., to provide ice breaking services. More Coast Guard ice breakers will join the operation in coming weeks.
The Coast Guard calls the effort Operation Taconite. The agency says there are no known closings because of ice.
Huntington: Detroit man gets prison in W.Va.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — A Detroit man has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute cocaine in the Huntington area.
The defendant, 29-year-old Deshune William Calloway, was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Monday after pleading guilty to the federal drug charge in May.
The government said Calloway’s arrest stemmed from investigation in a Detroit organization called the Cash Out Crips, which operated in the Huntington area.
Prosecutors said the search of a so-called stash house used by the Crips uncovered cocaine, powerful prescription painkillers, firearms and other materials.
Detroit: Bank sues ex-Lions player Porcher over $3.6M loan
DETROIT (AP) — A bank says a group of investors including former Lions defensive end Robert Porcher and Detroit businessman Bobby Ferguson defaulted on about $3.6 million loan to rehabilitate a historic building.
Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank filed a complaint Monday in Detroit federal court against Porcher, Ferguson and 10 others seeking payment. The group bought the Vinton Building in Detroit in 2005 for $500,000 with plans for offices, condominiums and shops, but the project stalled.
The lawsuit was first reported by The Detroit News.
Messages were left at a telephone number for Porcher, with a lawyer who has represented him in the past and with a Ferguson lawyer.
Ferguson was charged in September with conspiracy to commit fraud and launder money. He was an ally of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
