State Roundup

Flint
Boy, 13, charged with murdering brother, woman
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A 13-year-old Flint boy has been charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his 22-year-old brother and the brother’s 28-year-old girlfriend.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton tells MLive.com that the boy is being held at the Genesee Valley Detention Center. Leyton says the teen will be tried as an adult in juvenile court.
If convicted, the boy could serve an adult prison sentence after turning 21 should a judge decide he should remain behind bars.
Police say they found Kareem B. Walters and Alexis Frazier in a house on Flint’s west side about 4:40 a.m. Sunday. They say Walters died at the scene and Frazier died at a hospital.

Taylor
Long wheelchair trip pushes for pot legalization
TAYLOR, Mich. (AP) — A 52-year-old man with cerebral palsy is traveling by motorized wheelchair from Michigan to Washington, D.C., as part of an effort to push for the legalization of marijuana.
Curtis Kile left his home June 14 in the Detroit suburb of Taylor on a path to the White House, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Kile was in Hagerstown, Md., over the weekend. During his trip, he’s been stopping often to talk with anyone who will listen to him discuss his mission.
“The younger ones, they just give us a thumbs up,” he said. “But the older ones come over and say they agree with me. And ‘be safe on your journey,’ a lot of them say.”
Kile’s goal is to share his message with President Barack Obama that legalization would give people safer, cheaper access to the drug for medical reasons. Kile, who uses marijuana to control muscle spasms and other cerebral palsy symptoms, plans to arrive Thursday at the White House.
Michigan voters in 2008 approved marijuana for some chronic medical conditions, but the Michigan Supreme Court in February slammed the door on marijuana shops.
Kile’s support crew includes his son Curtis Kile Jr., 17, who drives their van. The teen, who plans to attend Eastern Michigan University in the fall, usually sleeps in a tent along the way. Back home, Curtis Kile’s daughter has been forwarding donations to the pair.
“They really don’t have much money left,” said MaryAnn Kile, 23. “As soon as someone donates, I call them and say, ‘Hey, I just got 50 bucks.’”

Battle Creek
Indiana man is sentenced in embezzlement
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — A 57-year-old Indiana man has been sentenced to at least three years in prison in an embezzlement case from Battle Creek.
Authorities say James Korson took more than $500,000 from the former Pyper Products. The Angola, Ind., man pleaded no contest to embezzlement in Calhoun County Circuit Court, and the Battle Creek Enquirer reports he was sentenced Friday to three to 20 years in prison.
“I am willing to accept my responsibility, make reparations and rebuild my life,” Korson told Judge James Kingsley.
Korson took the money between 2005 and 2009 while he was working as a controller, Battle Creek police said.
Korson already is serving a 20-month to 15-year prison sentence after a plea to embezzling money from a Jackson County company, where he worked after leaving Pyper.
Pyper Products was absorbed into what now is Denso Manufacturing Michigan Inc., a unit of Japan-based Denso Corp. Pyper produced automotive fans, fan shrouds and sub-assemblies for air conditioning and engine cooling systems for Denso. Pyper now is part of Systex Products Corp., which is owned by Denso.

Lansing
Snyder signs new low-income energy assistance bill
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a law creating a fund to help low-income residents keep their homes warm.
Snyder said after Monday’s bill signing that the Low Income Energy Assistance Fund provides “a long-term solution to help Michigan’s most vulnerable citizens.”
It authorizes the Public Service Commission to raise up to $50 million for low-income energy assistance. An additional $10 million in federal money will be put into the fund.
Michigan regulators can add up to a $1 monthly surcharge to bills. Utilities can opt out of charging the fee, but major ones that have more delinquent customers can tap into the federal heating assistance fund if they participate.
If they opt out, they would be barred from shutting off service to delinquent accounts from Nov. 1 to April 15.

Comstock Twp.
Kalamazoo River cleanup plan prompts concerns
COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A dredging plan to help clean up the Kalamazoo River after a 2010 southwestern Michigan oil spill is prompting concerns from area residents and the owner of Bell’s Brewery.
The Kalamazoo Gazette reports the Comstock Township Board of Trustees heard from representatives from pipeline company Enbridge Inc. and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Monday about the dredging project.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered dredging in March and crews arrived at Morrow Lake last month to begin laying the pipeline. Enbridge says the pipeline will carry submerged oil, contaminated sediment and water during dredging.
More than 800,000 gallons spewed into the river and a tributary creek in July 2010 after the rupture of an underground pipeline near Marshall.
The pipeline runs from Sarnia, Ontario, to Griffith, Ind.

Blair Twp.
DNR: Informal shooting areas will remain open
BLAIR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says informal shooting areas on some state forest land in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula will remain in use.
The DNR says areas will be designated for target shooting in Grand Traverse County’s Blair Township. An order takes effect Tuesday that sets restrictions.
Shooting will be allowed Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. or sunset, whichever is earlier. The Hoosier Valley shooting areas will be closed Sundays.
The informal shooting areas are located near Traverse City, and the DNR says they have become popular with a variety of gun enthusiasts. Some used the area to sight deer rifles, while others shot at exploding targets and used semi-automatic weapons.
Area residents had voiced noise, safety, road congestion and litter concerns.

Mount Pleasant
Central Michigan University gets research vessel
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) — Central Michigan University has a new research vessel for use on the Great Lakes.
The Mount Pleasant school announced recently that the RV Chippewa will benefit students studying areas of science from ecology to botany.
The College of Science and Technology bought the 32.5-foot vessel.
The boat will help further work of the Institute for Great Lakes Research. It recently received a $10 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct Great Lakes wetlands preservation research alongside a team from other schools and government agencies.

Sault Ste. Marie
U.S. Army Corps tug boat sinks in St. Marys River
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (AP) — A tug boat owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has sunk while being towed in the upper St. Marys River, authorities said.
No one was aboard the Hammond Bay, which went down in the waterway between Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Canada, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Army Corps is working on a salvage plan for the boat, which is in about 37 feet of water.
“The Coast Guard is enforcing a 500 foot safety zone around the sunken tug,” the agency said in a statement.
The Coast Guard said it was notified early Monday that the crew of the Army Corps’ tug boat Bill Maier, which was towing three barges and the Hammond Bay, lost sight of the Hammond Bay. The crew found an oil sheen on the water and a Hammond Bay life ring.
The Army Corps vessel Bufe later found the Hammond Bay in the area. The Coast Guard says river traffic is taking place on the river, which runs along Sault Ste. Marie about 290 miles northwest of Detroit, except for the safety zone around the sunken tug.
According to the Army Corps, the Hammond Bay had 200 gallons of diesel fuel and 15 gallons of oil aboard. The U.S. Coast Guard is surveying the area via helicopter, and said no pollution has been observed from the sunken boat.