Detroit
2 men sentenced in attack on driver after an accident
DETROIT (AP) — One man has been sentenced to prison and a second must serve probation for a mob attack on a Detroit-area motorist.
Wonzey Saffold and Bruce Wimbush pleaded guilty to assault in exchange for having attempted murder charges dropped.
Saffold was sentenced Monday in Wayne County Court to serve six years and four months to 10 years in prison. Wimbush was sentenced to three years’ probation.
They were among five people who pleaded guilty in the attack.
Steve Utash, a tree trimmer from Macomb County, was severely beaten after he got out of his pickup to check on a 10-year-old boy who had darted in front of him in Detroit.
Utash spent several days in a coma after the April 2 attack.
Two more defendants will be sentenced Thursday.
Detroit
Plans in works for new natural gas pipeline project
DETROIT (AP) — Plans are in the works for a new natural gas transmission pipeline that could pass through Michigan on its way to Ontario, Canada, raising concerns among some residents who have seen their property dug up for an ongoing oil pipeline project.
The proposed new gas pipeline project would partially track along part of the same route as the major oil pipeline that’s being replaced by Canadian company Enbridge across Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Vicki Granado said the natural gas project by ET Rover Pipeline, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, is in a pre-filing process. Another application is due to the regulatory agency in January.
“As currently contemplated, the project will be a 42-inch pipeline with a design capacity up to 3.25 billion cubic feet per day,” Granado said.
The company projects that the pipeline will create more than 5,000 temporary construction jobs and 30 to 40 additional permanent jobs. About 150 miles of the pipeline would be in Michigan, passing through Washtenaw, Livingston, Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties.
Jeffrey Insko, an Oakland County resident, has an online blog for property owners to share experiences and information about the Enbridge project. If approved, backhoes, bulldozers and work crews could return to some of the same areas along the pipeline’s route to Sarnia, Ontario.
“To think of having their lives disrupted and their property torn up again when it hasn’t even been fully restored is a demoralizing prospect,” Insko said.
Lansing
3 former Lansing-area GM sites could get cleanup
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Officials say pollution at three demolished Lansing-area General Motors facilities could be cleaned up starting next year.
The Lansing State Journal reports the Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust sent additional information about contamination to state environmental regulators. A community meeting is Tuesday.
The RACER Trust took over sites around the country left behind in General Motors’ bankruptcy.
