State Roundup

Detroit
Detroit Zoo to build $21 million penguin exhibit
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit Zoo plans to build what it says is the largest center in the U.S. dedicated to penguins.
Officials made the announcement Wednesday, saying the zoo in suburban Royal Oak will build the $21 million Penguin Conservation Center. Construction will begin in March, and the facility is expected to open in late 2015.
Construction of the 24,000-square-foot center is being made possible in part by the largest private donation in the zoo’s history, $10 million given by Stephen Polk and his family. Polk is the former CEO of the R.L. Polk Co.

Pontiac
Ex-staffer sues Insane Clown Posse, cites abuse
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — An ex-publicist and lawyer for the rap duo Insane Clown Posse has sued them and their recording company, saying she was sexually harassed and asked to perform illegal acts.
The Detroit News says 32-year-old Andrea Pellegrini filed suit Aug. 23 in Oakland County Circuit Court in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac.
The defendants include group members Joseph “Shaggy 2 Dope” Bruce and Joseph “Violent J” Utsler and Psychopathic Records.
The Associated Press left phone and email messages Tuesday night for group spokesman Jason Webber.
The complaint says Pellegrini was “subjected to constant and pervasive harassment” at the company, including being given a large sex toy. It says she was asked to obtain automatic weapons for a photo shoot.
Pellegrini worked at Psychopathic Records in 2009-2012, then was fired.

Detroit
Federal judge dismisses suit by anti-gay attorney
DETROIT (AP) — An ex-attorney for the state of Michigan who was fired after expressing hostility toward a gay University of Michigan student government president has lost a defamation lawsuit against another lawyer.
Detroit federal Judge Arthur Tarnow on Tuesday said Deborah Gordon’s comments about Andrew Shirvell were either true or opinions and showed no malice. He dismissed the case.
Gordon called Shirvell a “rebel without a clue,” among other things.
Shirvell says the ruling “reeks of hypocrisy and a double-standard.”
Gordon represented Chris Armstrong in a lawsuit against Shirvell, and jury last year ordered Shirvell to pay Armstrong $4.5 million.
Armstrong accused Shirvell of stalking as well as defaming him on an anti-gay blog and elsewhere. Shirvell was fired as an assistant attorney general in 2010.

Detroit
Retired priest, 79, removed from public ministry
DETROIT (AP) — A retired Michigan priest has been removed from public ministry following allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Archdiocese of Detroit says the Rev. Louis Grandpre is accused of misconduct involving a minor dating back to the early years of his service.
An archdiocesan review board found that the allegation against the 79-year-old Grandpre was substantive. Civil authorities have been notified.
There is no telephone listing for Grandpre’s home in Detroit.
According to a statement released by the archdiocese on Tuesday, Grandpre was ordained in 1961 and served at parishes in Detroit, Dearborn, Algonac, Southfield and Macomb County’s Clinton Township.
He achieved senior, or retired, status in 2003.

Allendale
Sculpture stored after ‘Wrecking Ball’ parodies
ALLENDALE, Mich. (AP) — Some students don’t like a Michigan school’s decision to remove a swinging sculpture that students had been using as a popular, makeshift swing since the release of Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” video.
Grand Valley State University in Allendale said Tuesday that it had taken down the sculpture, called a bifilar pendulum, and placed in storage due to concerns about student safety.
In the video, Cyrus appears without clothes on a swinging wrecking ball. Photos and video of people doing the same on the sculpture recently surfaced online.
“We are reassessing the safety and structural integrity of the current installation and site,” Associate Vice President for Facilities Services Tim Thimmesch said in a statement. “Hopefully the pendulum can be reinstalled at that location or we can find another suitable location on campus so people can enjoy it as a piece of art and stay safe.”
On Tuesday night, students gathered outside the Padnos Hall of Science, where the sculpture had been on display, to protest the decision to remove the large ball and cable that had hung there for roughly 18 years. Students held cellphones in the air and sang “Wrecking Ball.”
There’s no timeline for finding a new location. The sculpture was created by artist Dale Eldred in 1973. The school said it had been considering what to do with the piece before the recent parodies, which drew attention on social media websites and elsewhere.
“It’s given us a few chuckles,” Thimmesch said.