State Roundup

Port Huron
Woman ordered to trial on false rape report allegation
PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan woman accused of faking a sexual assault was ordered to stand trial on charges of making a false report of rape and tampering with evidence Tuesday after a doctor said her purported bruises faded after he wiped them with gauze.
Sara Ylen accused two men of sexual assault at her Lexington home last September, saying she was taking a nap when she was bound and raped. But authorities say the attack didn’t happen.
Ylen is also accused of lying about having cancer in a separate case in Sanilac County. She’s charged with fraud for allegedly tricking an insurance company and sympathetic supporters. A probable cause hearing is set for July 9
In the rape case in neighboring St. Clair County, Prosecutor Suzette Samuels presented five witnesses but said she could have summoned 30 more to buttress her allegations, the Port Huron Times Herald reported.
Ylen, 38, went to police eight days after the purported attack and was subsequently examined by Dr. William Starbird. He testified that he cleaned what appeared to be lacerations and bruises on her face with gauze.
“The bruising started to disappear,” Starbird testified.
He said he later found a discarded makeup compact in the exam room.
District Court Judge John Monaghan said there was enough evidence to send the case to trial in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

Hamtramck
City asks governor for emergency manager action
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (AP) — Hamtramck has asked Gov. Rick Snyder to send an emergency manager to fix finances in the small Detroit-area city.
The City Council voted in favor of a manager last week after Snyder declared a financial emergency. It will be Hamtramck’s second manager since 2001.
Hamtramck, bordered by Highland Park and Detroit, is just 2.1 square miles with about 22,000 residents. Mayor Karen Majewski tells the Detroit Free Press that retirement and health care costs are hurting the city’s budget, although she would have preferred a consent agreement with the state rather than a manager.
The Free Press says Hamtramck gets $700,000 in tax revenue from a General Motors factory, down from $1.7 million. The city also lost tax revenue when an American Axle factory closed.

East Lansing
MSU proposes two-tier tuition plan for fall
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University is proposing to charge juniors and seniors more than other undergraduate students.
Trustees on Friday will consider raising tuition by 3.6 percent for juniors and seniors but only 1.9 percent for freshmen and sophomores. Dave Byelich, an assistant vice president, says the goal is to get new students to campus and make college as affordable as possible.
Freshmen and sophomores would pay about $12,900 for 30 credits while juniors and seniors would pay nearly $14,300. Byelich says the cost of teaching more experienced students typically is higher because classes are smaller.

Lansing
Snyder declines to OK relocation of U.P. casino
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has declined to OK an American Indian tribe’s proposal to relocate a casino in the Upper Peninsula.
The governor’s office says he was open to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s plan to close a casino near Marquette and open a larger one at the former county airport. But he says the tribe declined to discuss a broader deal under which it would continue sharing some revenue with the state even if gambling is expanded in Michigan.
Snyder said Tuesday the Keweenaw tribe is the only one that has a casino agreement still letting it stop sharing revenue with the state if future gambling competition develops.
The governor also wants to make sure tribal businesses collect taxes on transactions with non-American Indians.

Grand Rapids
Diocese gets Ohioan as their newest bishop
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Roman Catholics in western Michigan have a new leader.
The Rev. David J. Walkowiak was installed Tuesday as bishop for the Diocese of Grand Rapids in a ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Andrew.
The 60-year-old Ohio native succeeds the Bishop Walter A. Hurley. Walkowiak is the 12th bishop to serve the diocese, which has 82 parishes.
Walkowiak was serving as a priest in the Diocese of Cleveland when Pope Francis selected him in April.
Walkowiak grew up in Westlake, Ohio.