Traverse City
‘Humiliated’ by arrest for missing jury, woman says
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A 64-year-old woman was in her pajamas when deputies arrived. A few hours later, Lydia Bell was in handcuffs at a jail.
Her offense? Missing jury duty in Traverse City two years ago. Bell was shocked by the arrest: She wasn’t living in Michigan when a jury summons was sent by mail.
Bell explained it to a Grand Traverse County judge on April 7. Judge Philip Rodgers still ordered her to pay $50.
Bell says the experience still stings. She tells The Associated Press she felt “humiliated.”
She moved to Oregon from Grand Traverse County in 2011 but says the jury notice wasn’t forwarded. Bell now lives in De Witt, near Lansing.
County Clerk Bonnie Scheele says members of a jury pool must notify the court if they move.
Paw Paw
New sheriff phone system planned after problems
PAW PAW, Mich. (AP) — The sheriff’s department in Van Buren County is getting a new phone system after the old one malfunctioned.
The Kalamazoo Gazette reports the Van Buren County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved spending nearly $114,000 on the replacement phone system. Officials say the system could be installed in four to six weeks.
The county’s central dispatch system partially went down recently. Dispatch Director Jeri Tapper says the failure would allow only one 911 call at a time. Calls that aren’t answered in the county transfer to Cass County, however, so no calls went unanswered.
The county quickly began looking at a replacement system after the failure.
Traverse City
Stabbing victim gets prison time on drug charge
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — An Indiana man stabbed on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City will serve up to four years in prison on a drug conviction.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports Dwight Johnathan Thompson was sentenced last week. The 36-year-old from Indianapolis pleaded guilty to a drug possession charge after authorities found crack cocaine in his pocket following the Jan. 31 machete attack.
Circuit Court Judge Thomas Power gave Thompson a 21-month to 4-year sentence.
Three men have been charged with attacking Thompson as part of an attempt to steal drugs. Two women are accused of helping them.
Lexington
State boosts Lake Huron fish with Atlantic salmon
LEXINGTON, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is looking to Atlantic salmon to help boost the fish population in Lake Huron, where the population of Chinook salmon has dwindled, officials said.
About 19,500 were deposited Tuesday into Lexington State Harbor, about 70 miles northeast of Detroit, the Times Herald of Port Huron reported. They join about 60,000 stocked in the Thunder Bay and AuSable rivers.
Jim Baker, manager of the southern Lake Huron fisheries management unit, said 2014 is the second year that the state has stocked Atlantic salmon in the harbor. Lexington State Harbor received about 5,000 more Atlantic salmon than it did last year.
The stocking is experimental as a replacement for Chinook salmon, Baker said. Officials plan to track the fish to see whether the effort succeeds.
“We’re having to try many new things in Lake Huron in order to maintain our cold-water fishery because the food web has changed so dramatically,” Baker said.
“We’re having to look at new species to help fill the void left by the Chinook,” he said.
For years Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie has successfully stocked salmon in the St. Marys River, which connects Lake Superior and northern Lake Huron. The DNR hopes to replicate the university’s success in the southern part of Lake Huron.
Jerry Romanowski was among those who turned out Tuesday, watching the 6-inch Atlantic salmon dance across the water. Romanowski, a director of the Flint River Valley Steelheaders, drove from Lapeer to set off small fireworks to scare birds hoping to eat the fish.
“It’s important for the fishermen,” he said. “Fishing brings a lot of money into Michigan, a ton of money.”
Traverse City
Munson to buy two CHE Trinity hospital facilities
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Munson Healthcare in Traverse City is acquiring two northern Michigan hospitals.
Munson said Wednesday it will become owner of Mercy Hospital Cadillac and Mercy Hospital in Grayling. Both belong to CHE Trinity Health, based in Livonia.
The deal also includes purchase of the Mercy Manor long-term care facility in Grayling and Mercy Home Care and Hospice services in Cadillac, Grayling and Houghton Lake.
Munson has managed the Cadillac and Grayling hospitals for 11 years. Chief executive Ed Ness says the deal will improve patient care and bring more collaboration and coordination of services across the Munson system.
Lansing
Agency: Michigan to get $422M less than was expected
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Legislative economists estimated on Tuesday that the state will collect about $873 million less revenue in this budget year and the next than was projected in January, likely complicating lawmakers’ work to finalize Michigan’s next spending plan in the coming weeks.
The forecast from the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency is one of three that Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration and experts will use Thursday to reach a consensus on revenue projections. House economists said the state will take in $422 million less than forecast in the current fiscal year and $451 million less than expected in the year starting in October.
The Senate Fiscal Agency has yet to release its report. The state Treasury Department’s estimate typically is not made public ahead of the revenue-estimating meetings.
Ari Adler, spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, said states across the country are collecting less tax revenue than estimated, and Michigan legislators will know more Thursday. Lawmakers want to pass the state’s $50 billion-plus budget by late May or early June.
“Of course we’re concerned and watching because Michigan is not immune from what is happening in other states,” Adler said.
He said the House forecast is a reminder that revenue projections are only estimates.
“Things change and we need to be flexible and adapt as the national economy shifts and we continue to move forward with responsible budgets,” Adler said.
Nearly three-fourths of the hit — $627 million over two years — would be in the general fund, which pays for prisons, human services, aid to local governments, many state agencies and other programs. The school aid fund would see $246 million less than projected over two years.
If budget experts agree that revenue is trending downward, it could affect a road-funding plan that recently passed the House, talks of a tax cut and Snyder’s proposed significant funding increases for local governments and public universities.
