State Roundup

Fruitport Twp. Woman who ran now-condemned animal rescue faces charge FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A woman who ran a now-condemned animal rescue operation in western Michigan that was overrun with more than 1,000 rats is facing a felony animal neglect charge. The Muskegon Chronicle reports 53-year-old Christine Lea Bishop of Muskegon County's Fruitport Township was arraigned Monday. Her lawyer Susan Knoll says in an email Wednesday she's not commenting and is concerned about Bishop getting a fair trial. Bishop ran Critter Cafe Rescue and has said the rat population started with a cage of pet rats left outside the rented building in winter. Rabbits, ducks and cats also were cared for there. The operation was effectively shut down by authorities in mid-May. Bishop faces up to 8 years behind bars if convicted, but prosecutors are seeking a mental-health evaluation and long probation term. Galesburg Officials deal with environmental side of pileup GALESBURG, Mich. (AP) - State officials are trying to determine who is responsible for environmental contamination that occurred as a result of a massive pileup on snowy Interstate 94 in southwestern Michigan six months ago. The Jan. 9 chain-reaction crashes killed a 57-year-old trucker and closed a stretch of the roadway for two days. Police announced in March that dozens of drivers were being ticketed, mostly for traveling too fast for the road conditions. The pileup also caused hazardous materials to leak from ruptured containers and tanks, seep into the ground and flow into drains. Officials want to compel those responsible for the contamination to pay for the cleanup, The Detroit News reported. Officials with Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality and state police are going through accident reports, videos and photos from the crashes to determine responsibility. "We have to go back through and geo-spatially locate all of the individual spills, sit down with the state police and figure out which vehicle sat at which location," said Mark DuCharme, a senior environmental analyst with the DEQ. In some cases, he said it was clear which vehicle led to a specific release. In other cases, determining responsibility is more difficult. The crashes involved vehicles on both sides of the freeway east of Galesburg, including dozens of commercial trucks. They included a tanker hauling 44,600 pounds of liquid formic acid that overturned next to a semi-truck loaded with 40,000 pounds of fireworks. The two trucks, as well as the formic acid, burned. State officials said the leaked chemicals were not a threat to nearby homes and businesses. Companies responsible for the formic acid and fireworks have already paid for cleanup work, the newspaper reported. "Most of us hadn't dealt with anything of this magnitude before," Michigan State Police Lt. Dale Hintz said. Jean Larocque, 57, of Quebec, died after crashing into the back of a tractor trailer hauling vehicles, police said. Eighteen people from seven states and Canada were injured, police said, and five emergency workers were treated for minor injuries sustained while responding. White Cloud Man who hid child's death faces sentencing WHITE CLOUD, Mich. (AP) - A man faces sentencing next month after pleading guilty to concealing the death of a 4-month-old girl whose body was found in a western Michigan crawl space. MLive.com reports 27-year-old Matthew Bradley pleaded guilty Tuesday to concealing the death as a second-time habitual offender in Newaygo County Circuit Court. Prosecutors have requested that his minimum sentence not exceed 28 months in prison. He can be sentenced to up to 7½ years behind bars. He's scheduled to learn his punishment on Aug. 24. Investigators say Bradley placed Natallya Rich's body in a car seat and hid her in a cabinet of the basement crawl space in White Cloud. Police say he told them he awoke to find the baby dead and panicked. Relatives reported her missing, prompting a multi-day search. Detroit @ROUND UP Briefs Headline:Nov. trial set for couple in boy-in-basement case DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit couple are scheduled for trial in November on child abuse charges stemming from the case of a boy who says he hid in his basement for 11 days out of fear of being mistreated. Forty-six-year-old Charlie Bothuell IV and 37-year-old Monique Dillard-Bothuell made an initial appearance last week in trial court. Records show a pretrial conference is scheduled Sept. 25 and trial is Nov. 9. No hearing is scheduled Wednesday. A district judge last month dismissed torture charges against the father and stepmother, saying she didn't find 13-year-old Charlie Bothuell's testimony credible. The boy was 12 last June when he says he sustained the abuse. The torture charge could have brought up to life in prison, while the child abuse charge carries a maximum punishment of 10 years. Lansing @ROUND UP Briefs Headline:Opponents of prevailing wage law raise $1M LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Organizers of a drive to repeal Michigan's 50-year-old prevailing wage law report raising about $1 million for their petition drive. The campaign says an organization tied to Amway's founding DeVos family has contributed $360,000 since late May. MLive.com says the contribution from the Michigan Freedom Fund is the biggest contributor so far. The group Protecting Michigan Taxpayers reported Monday that Associated Builders and Contractors gave $297,000, and the Construction Legal Rights Foundation gave $263,000. The initiative seeks repeal of a law requiring workers on state-financed construction projects to get union-scale wages. If backers get about 252,000 signatures, the bill goes to the Republican-controlled state Legislature. Republican Gov. Rick Snyder can't veto the bill if lawmakers pass it. Otherwise, it goes on a statewide ballot in November 2016. Ludington @ROUND UP Briefs Headline:Route taken by ferry getting new designation LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) - The route taken by a coal-fired passenger ferry that carries people and cars across Lake Michigan between Wisconsin and Michigan is getting a new designation. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has notified Lake Michigan Carferry Service Inc. that the route traveled by the SS Badger will be designated as a continuance route of U.S. 10., the Ludington Daily News reported (http://bit.ly/1fn2MvG ). Since 1926, U.S. 10 has been broken into two segments by Lake Michigan between the port cities of Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, from mid-May through mid-October. The ferry also handles commercial truck traffic. "The ferry service plays an important role in the tourism industry, as well as the efficient movements of goods in our two states," said Michigan Department of Transportation Chief Operations Officer Greg Johnson. The nonprofit association is working with MDOT and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on the new designation. "We are very pleased that both states recognize the current and historic importance of the Ludington to Manitowoc ferry route serviced by the SS Badger," said Pat McCarthy, vice president of shore operations. The 410-foot SS Badger launched in 1952 can carry 600 passengers and 180 vehicles. It's the last coal-fired steamship operating on the Great Lakes. Operators have made environmental improvements to keep the vintage vessel in service and it's being considered for National Historic Landmark Designation. Published: Thu, Jul 09, 2015