Lansing
Nearly 15,000 vehicles stopped during crackdown
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan law enforcement agencies stopped nearly 15,000 vehicles and arrested 169 suspected drunken drivers as part of a late-summer crackdown.
The state announced Tuesday that officers from 150 local police departments, sheriff's offices and Michigan State Police posts also issued more than 4,500 seat belt and child restraint citations during "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over," which ran Aug. 15 through the Labor Day weekend.
During the three-week effort, officers also issued nearly 1,200 citations for speeding, 550 citations for driving with a suspended license and nearly 900 citations to uninsured motorists. Officers arrested 243 fugitives and made 277 other misdemeanor arrests.
The state's Office of Highway Safety Planning coordinated the enforcement by administering federal traffic safety funds to departments.
Detroit
GM to relocate Cadillac brand HQ to New York City
DETROIT (AP) - The Cadillac luxury brand will move its headquarters to New York next year to get closer to those living lives of luxury.
The high-end brand, which has lost sales this year as German rivals gain, also will become a separate business unit, giving it more freedom to chase global growth.
"There is no city in the world where the inhabitants are more immersed in a premium lifestyle than in New York," Johann de Nysschen, the brand's new president, said in a statement issued Tuesday announcing the move. "It allows our team to share experiences with premium-brand consumers and develop attitudes in common with our audience."
In August, GM hired de Nysschen away from Nissan's Infiniti luxury brand, where sales are up 7 percent in the U.S. so far this year. Cadillac, however, isn't performing as well. Sales have slumped nearly 5 percent this year despite several new vehicles that have received strong reviews. The sales drop comes as luxury sales and the overall U.S. market are growing.
Most of the luxury growth has gone to Cadillac's German rivals. Autodata Corp. says Audi sales are up nearly 15 percent, BMW is up almost 12 percent and Mercedes-Benz up 9 percent. Toyota's Lexus luxury brand also posted a 16 percent increase.
Cadillac's leaders and its marketing operations will move to loft offices in the SoHo section of Manhattan. But most of its employees will remain in Michigan, including technical product development teams. Manufacturing also will not change.
The company is still evaluating which employees will make the move, but spokesman David Caldwell said that in the initial phase next year, it's likely fewer than 100 people will make the move.
Traverse City
Traverse City won't downsize Cherry Festival
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Traverse City commissioners have agreed not to shorten the National Cherry Festival or move it out of the Open Space Park as some residents have suggested.
Commissioners decided Monday to improve parking for people with disabilities and to try recouping more costs to the city from the eight-day July festival, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported. They said they will work with organizers to shorten the amount of time they take for setup, but they didn't pursue some residents' calls to downsize the whole event.
"I was pleased," said Trevor Tkach, the executive director of Cherry Festival. "Some of the things they initially pointed out they have changed their direction on a little bit. From what I witnessed a majority of them want to have a conversation and make this a stronger partnership."
Only a couple of residents asked commissioners to draw the national event back to a local celebration. But most other Traverse City residents, business owners, volunteers and cherry farmers supported the continuation of the festival as is.
"I like the word 'national' in our little town of Traverse City," said Mark Jensen, a local business owner who visited the festival for the first time when he was 11. "It is nice to have a national event."
Commissioners want to raise the cap they charge the festival for services. The limit is currently $45,000, but officials said the cost to the city is about $62,000.
"This is going to take time," Commissioner Gary Howe said. "I just want to see improvement every year."
Kingsley
Boy expelled after gun brought to middle school
KINGSLEY, Mich. (AP) - A fifth-grade student who is charged with bringing a loaded pistol to his middle school in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula has been expelled.
The Kingsley school board on Monday night made the decision about the 11-year-old.
Juvenile charges were filed last week against the child in the family division of 13th Circuit Court. The boy is facing charges of carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a firearm in a gun-free school zone.
The Grand Traverse County sheriff's department says another student at Kingsley Middle School told a teacher the boy had the gun Sept. 15. No one was hurt.
Authorities say the 11-year-old also had a list of students he wanted to harm. The boy, however, told authorities he didn't intend to harm anyone.
Detroit
Priest scheduled for trial next week in embezzlement
DETROIT (AP) - A Catholic priest is scheduled for trial next week in the theft of money from a fund set up to help poor people in Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park.
The Wayne County prosecutor's office says the Rev. Timothy Kane's trial is scheduled Monday in Circuit Court.
The 58-year-old and an acquaintance, Dorreca Brewer, were charged in February with embezzlement. Brewer on Sept. 15 pleaded no contest to charges that she lied and embezzled. The Detroit Free Press reports the 35-year-old is expected to avoid jail time.
Prosecutors say that the pair approved false applications for the Angel Fund and pocketed thousands of dollars over four years. The Angel Fund had been run by the Archdiocese of Detroit and granted more than $17 million to needy people since 2005.
Lansing
Insurer wins appeal in firing over Klan email
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan appeals court has ruled in favor of a Lansing-area insurance company that fired a white employee who offended a black co-worker.
The court overturned a decision by an Ingham County judge. Angela Shaft claimed her dismissal at Jackson National Life was illegally based on race.
In 2012, Shaft sent an email to Candace Jones about finding a ticket to a basketball game between the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of Columbus to benefit a Jewish group. Shaft submitted a picture for an employee newsletter.
Jones, who is black, complained, and Shaft was fired for violating the insurer's harassment policy.
In a 2-1 decision last week, the appeals court says the firing was based on the content of the message - not the race of the messenger, Shaft.
Ann Arbor
Man gets life in prison for fatal stabbing
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - A Washtenaw County judge has sentenced a man to life in prison for stabbing a woman to death in front of her 4-year-old twin sons last year.
The Ann Arbor News reports Judge David Swartz told 36-year-old Stanley Harrison on Monday he would "happily" give him the mandatory sentence of life in prison. A jury found Harrison guilty of first-degree murder last month in the death of 23-year-old Shandar Turner in Superior Township.
Harrison said he never hurt Turner and offered his condolences to her parents. Her family members applauded the sentence.
Prosecutors say Harrison stabbed Turner multiple times in Sept. 2013, three days after Harrison was released from prison after a robbery conviction. Sheriff's deputies found Turner bloodied on the front lawn. She died at an area hospital.
