2 men caught in Mexico after 8 years on run get sentences
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Two men who spent eight years on the run following a 2007 slaying in the Grand Rapids area has been sentenced.
The Grand Rapids Press reports 27-year-old Juan Reyes on Wednesday was given life in prison in Kent County Circuit Court for second-degree murder in the fatal drive-by shooting of 22-year-old Douglas Pollok. Reyes also got prison time for other charges.
Reyes, who was accused of firing the shots, asked the judge for leniency. He was arrested in November along with his brother in Guadalajara, Mexico.
His brother, Eric Santiago, was sentenced on Wednesday to a year in jail for being an accessory after the fact to a felony. Santiago was accused of driving the vehicle Reyes was in and apologized before being sentenced.
High copper or lead levels seen in 19 Detroit schools’ water
DETROIT (AP) — Elevated lead or copper levels have been found in the water at 19 Detroit schools, amid testing that is also going on at schools around the country in response to the lead-tainted water crisis in nearby Flint. The district says students at those schools are getting bottled water.
Detroit Public Schools began collecting water samples two weeks ago in “proactive and precautionary” testing, district spokeswoman Michelle Zdrodowski said. The district did not release specifics about the levels of lead or copper found in nearly a third of the 62 elementary-middle school buildings tested so far, but said it has notified families, is working to fix the problems.
“While additional testing is completed, DPS immediately shut off all drinking fountains in the affected schools until further notice and is providing additional bottled water for students and staff,” Zdrodowski said. She said where the result involved a prep sink in a kitchen, schools are providing meals that do not require any added water.
School officials across the U.S. are testing classroom sinks and cafeteria faucets for lead, trying to uncover problems and to reassure parents. Few schools and child-care centers are required to check for lead because most, like Detroit, receive their water from municipal systems that test at other locations. Lead is a neurotoxin that can damage child brain development, cause behavioral problems and sicken adults.
A recent analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data by The Associated Press found that among the schools and child-care centers operating their own water systems, 278 violated federal lead levels at some point during the past three years. About one-third of those had lead levels that were at least double the federal limit.
In almost all cases, the problems can be traced to aging buildings with lead pipes, older drinking fountains and water fixtures that have parts made with lead — exactly the case in the Detroit schools.
In Detroit, an environmental consulting firm will revisit the 19 buildings through April 25 and collect additional water samples on outlets that have not been screened. The district is working on detailed mitigation plans for the schools and will share those with the Detroit Health Department to make sure all proper actions are taken, Zdrodowski added.
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