State Roundup

Marquette
Video confirms ID of 1913 Superior shipwreck site
MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — Video taken more than 500 feet down in Lake Superior confirms a shipwreck is the long-lost freighter Henry B. Smith.
Shipwreck hunters located the wreck in May about 30 miles north of Marquette, Mich. They had little doubt then that they had found the Smith, which vanished in a storm in 1913.
But the Duluth News Tribune reports the group wasn’t able to get video showing the ship’s name until a return trip to the site last week.
The 525-foot Henry B. Smith sank in the massive Great Lakes Storm of November 1913, after it and its crew of 25 ventured out from Marquette during a lull. The storm kicked up again and the freighter vanished, leaving scattered wreckage and just two bodies along the shores of Lake Superior.

Detroit
Authorities: Man, 70, dies after fall from marina dock
DETROIT (AP) — Authorities say a 70-year-old man had died in an apparent drowning after he fell off a dock into the Detroit River near Belle Isle.
The U.S. Coast Guard was notified Sunday evening that a man had fallen into the water at Erma Henderson Marina, and a small boat responded.
The Detroit Free Press reports paramedics took the man to a Detroit hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name wasn’t immediately released.

Grand Rapids
City works to deal with its unfunded pension liabilities
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Grand Rapids plans to put 21 cents for every dollar of payroll into the general retirement pension system for non-public safety workers during the new fiscal year.
The Grand Rapids Press reports that’s due to an unfunded pension liability that now approaches $100 million.
The system’s latest actuarial report shows assets of $349.5 million, which is less than its $448.9 million liability. That means the city must spend more of its budget for the fiscal year that starts Monday to fund retirement pensions for past and current workers.
Scott Buhrer, the city’s chief financial officer, says declines in investment returns have jeopardized the pension systems’ long-term rate of return.
Grand Rapids operates two defined-benefit pension systems. One is for police and fire employees and one is for general employees.

Grand Haven
Officials ID pilot injured in small plane hard landing
GRAND HAVEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Officials have released the name of a pilot who was injured when a small plane crash-landed near the Grand Haven airport in West Michigan.
The crash happened shortly after takeoff around 1 p.m. Sunday just east of the Grand Haven Memorial Airpark.
The Ottawa County sheriff’s department says Brian Cannon was the only person aboard the experimental biplane. The department says the 40-year-old Grand Haven-area resident had internal and facial injuries.
Authorities say the pilot reported an engine problem and loss of airspeed. The crash is under investigation.
Ottawa County sheriff deputies, Grand Haven police and city fire crews have responded to the crash site, which is in Grand Haven Township.

Grand Blanc
GM closing Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — General Motors Co. is closing a Flint-area plant.
The Flint Journal and WEYI-TV report the closing of the Grand Blanc Weld Tool Center is Monday. The plant is in Genesee County’s Grand Blanc Township.
Detroit-based GM announced the closing earlier this year and said workers were offered jobs at other plants. The center opened in 1942.
The plant had about 350 hourly and salaried workers, and about 100 chose retirement over relocation.

Ionia
Schuette to keynote Ionia County Republican dinner
IONIA, Mich. (AP) — The Ionia County Republican Party says Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette will be the keynote speaker at its Free Fair Tent Dinner on July 24.
The party says the annual dinner is a social and fundraising event that helps the group promote Republican candidates running for office in local and state elections.
The Ionia County GOP says the evening starts with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. and says Schuette will speak at 6:30 p.m. before a dinner.

Traverse City
Cool weather, better crop for 2013 cherry festival
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Traverse City’s 87th National Cherry Festival is underway, with cool weather and a range of activities stretching over nine days.
This year’s tart cherry crop is looking good as well after a disastrous late freeze a year earlier that drastically cut yields.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle says thousands of people have poured into the northern Lower Peninsula for the festival, which opened Friday night with a classic car cruise.
Saturday’s festivities began with a cherry pancake breakfast served by volunteers.
Longtime festival-goer Terra Moody of Traverse City brought her son Peter to try out his new big wheel, a recent birthday present.
She says she loves the event and the money it brings to the area economy.(