State Roundup

Lansing
Pot program a $10M windfall for state government
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Medical marijuana is turning out to be a windfall for Michigan state government.
A report says nearly $10 million in revenue was collected from applicants — more than double the cost of running the program. The report covers the state’s last budget year, which ended on Sept. 30.
A medical marijuana application costs $100. Caregivers who grow marijuana for people also pay a fee.
The report shows the number of registered marijuana users was up 44 percent in Muskegon County last fall compared to the previous 12-month period. Kent and Ottawa counties were up at least 20 percent.
In Michigan’s southwestern corner, the number of registered marijuana users was up 56 percent in Cass County and 37 percent in Berrien County.
Voters in 2008 approved marijuana for some health problems.

Detroit
Wayne County communities sue over tax money
DETROIT (AP) — Some Wayne County communities are suing over whether they can hold back millage money that voters approved for the Detroit Zoo and Detroit Institute of Arts.
The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News report the lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court names the county treasurer.
Since 2008, more than 30 communities in Wayne County have held back nearly $800,000 in money collected for the zoo. Voters that year in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties passed the zoo tax. No zoo funds from Macomb and Oakland counties have been redirected.
The museum millage was approved in November by voters in all three counties.
Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz says he’s “convinced ... these taxes should benefit the zoo and the art institute.”

Mount Pleasant
Boy and his sister honored after attack rescue
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — A 14-year-old mid-Michigan boy and his 11-year-old sister who came to the rescue of a woman fleeing a homicidal ex-convict are being honored.
Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski presented James Persyn III and Acelin Persyn with lifesaving awards Tuesday.
James was home Jan. 16 in Lincoln Township with his sister and 2-year-old brother when a Central Michigan University student started banging on the door and screaming for help.
They let the woman in and went into a bathroom to hide with her.
The woman told authorities she was walking to her car in a university parking lot when 30-year-old Eric Ramsey approached her with a gun, got into her vehicle, took her to his mother’s house and raped her. Ramsey was eventually shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy.

St. Clair Shores
Mayor says city will not offer a  $5 rat bounty
ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (AP) — The mayor of a suburban Detroit community says officials won’t offer a $5 bounty for every rat caught in the city as part of a broader rodent-control effort.
The idea was part of a multipronged proposal to deal with rats in St. Clair Shores, which is among a number of communities facing rodent problems. Officials earlier had an aggressive pilot program taking place to help curb the rat population.
The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reports that the bounty idea now is off the table. Mayor Kip Walby says the decision came following negative comments on the city’s Facebook page about the issue as well as what officials considered negative media coverage.
The broader rat-control program could include efforts such as inspections, baiting and updated garbage cans.

Detroit
Sign removed from building
DETROIT (AP) — Placards posted at a deteriorating former Detroit car plant that spelled out words that were part of a metal gate at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland have been removed.
The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement Tuesday that the posting of “Arbeit macht frei” (ahr-BYT’ mahkht fry) at the defunct Packard plant was “an intentional and malicious act” and requested its quick removal.
The sign was removed that day. It began attracting attention in recent days.
The German phrase meaning “Work makes free” greeted Jews and other prisoners the Germans sent to Auschwitz during World War II.

Saginaw
Filmmaker brings Purple Gang tale to Saginaw
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — A mid-Michigan filmmaker is showing his documentary about the Purple Gang at a Saginaw historical museum.
“Purple: Organized Crime in a Small Town,” will run Friday evening at the Castle Museum of Saginaw County History. Admission is free.?