Detroit
Centenarian who got home back in 2012 dies at 103
DETROIT (AP) — Texana Hollis, a Detroit centenarian who got her home back in 2012 after being evicted because of foreclosure, has died. She was 103.
Hollis died Dec. 31, according to James H. Cole Home for Funerals, which is handling arrangements. Deborah Hollis-Coburn told The Detroit News that her grandmother died of natural causes in Detroit. Her health had deteriorated in late 2013.
“It meant a lot to her to have the community surround her and support her and love her,” Hollis-Coburn, told the Detroit Free Press. “She never expected anything from anybody. She was very, very grateful.”
Hollis was evicted in September 2011 after her son failed to pay property taxes linked to a reverse mortgage. Two days later, a federal agency said the 101-year-old could return but then blocked her from moving in after an assessment determined the house was dilapidated.
Hollis’ eviction drew wide attention. Free Press columnist Mitch Albom and his charity stepped in, and persuaded volunteers and businesses to do the same. They fixed up the home where she’d spent six decades of her life and in April 2012 she moved back in.
Albom and his charities helped renovate Hollis’ house after buying it from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Albom spent $30,000 — much of it out of his own pocket — on the project, and more than 100 volunteers spent months putting in new flooring, drywall, appliances and even a portion of the roof.
Hollis’ son took out the reverse mortgage for the $32,000 assessed value of the property, an option that HUD permits for the elderly. HUD took control of the mortgage after the amount paid to the family exceeded the value of the house in 2006.
Hollis was a longtime member of St. Philip’s Lutheran Church in Detroit, where she taught Sunday school. A Jan. 25 service is planned at the church, followed by burial at Roseland Park Cemetery in suburban Detroit. Visitation is Jan. 23 and 24 at the funeral home.
Union Township
Authorities: Man arrested in big car battery theft
UNION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve arrested a man suspected of stealing about 180 used car batteries from a mid-Michigan Wal-Mart store.
The Isabella County sheriff’s department announced that the 49-year-old from Saginaw was arrested Tuesday afternoon. The department earlier released images of the man taken from surveillance video at the store in Isabella County’s Union Township.
The sheriff’s department says TV viewers recognized him from the images.
Investigators say the man used a chain to pull open a gate on Friday night and hauled away batteries weighing more than 4,000 pounds in a truck. The batteries were worth an estimated $1,600.
Grand Rapids
Chair exec sues another firm after falling out of chair
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The founder of a Michigan chair company is suing another furniture company after falling out of a chair and hurting his back.
The lawsuit says David Miller was attending a staff meeting at Grand Rapids Chair in 2012 when he leaned down to pick up a pencil. A chair leg broke, sending Miller crashing to the concrete floor.
Miller says sharp pain in his lower back prevented him from continuing to serve as president of the Grand Rapids-area company. A lawsuit filed Monday in Grand Rapids federal court seeks more than $75,000.
The lawsuit accuses U.S. Furniture of making a defective chair. The California-based company said no one was available to speak to a reporter Tuesday.
Grand Rapids
Police officer shoots man who pointed BB gun
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Grand Rapids police say an officer critically wounded a man who threatened officers with what turned out to be a BB gun.
The shooting happened about 12:40 p.m. Tuesday on the city’s southeast side.
Capt. Jeff Hertel says a 19-year-old man contacted authorities saying he couldn’t “take it anymore” and not to “send anyone because everyone will ... die.”
Hertel says in a statement that the man opened the apartment door and spoke with officers before running inside. Hertel says the officers entered the apartment, and the man came downstairs with a “very realistic-looking” black gun.
Hertel says the man refused to drop the weapon, the officers retreated to a bathroom before one of them shot him twice.
Houghton
Man waives key hearing in wife’s beating death
HOUGHTON, Mich. (AP) — A California man accused of killing his new wife before she started classes at a Michigan university has waived his right to a key court hearing in the Upper Peninsula.
The decision by Nima Nassiri means the second-degree murder case will move directly to Houghton County Circuit Court from District Court. His wife Sanaz Nezami died in December from extensive head injuries.
The 27-year-old native of Tehran, Iran, planned to pursue an advanced degree after the holidays at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Nezami’s heart, lungs and other life-saving organs were transplanted to seven people.
