Gatti wins election to new circuit court seat
Julie Gatti, a Mt. Clemens family law attorney and former president of the Macomb County Bar Association, won election this week to a new seat on the Macomb County Circuit Court bench.
With 100 percent of the votes counted from Tuesday’s election, Gatti garnered 168,735 votes, or 62.9 percent, compared with Elizabeth Pyden’s tally of 99,698, or 37.1 percent.
Pyden is president of the Chippewa Valley Schools Board of Education.
Gatti will join 14 other judges on the circuit court bench.
She was 2013-14 MCBA president and previously served on the board of directors of the Macomb County Bar Foundation.
Feds: Marijuana users not focus but drug is still illegal
DETROIT (AP) — Federal prosecutors say no one should expect immunity under federal law simply because Michigan voters approved the legal use of marijuana.
Detroit U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider and Grand Rapids U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge released a statement Thursday. They say they don't prosecute marijuana users unless there are other serious circumstances. But they say crimes involving marijuana "can pose serious risks" to a community.
They cited the roles of gangs, the use of weapons and interstate trafficking.
Schneider and Birge say fighting drug crimes is just one of many priorities that must be considered with their limited resources. They say they are increasingly focused on the excessive distribution of life-threatening opioids.
Justices rule for firefighters claiming age discrimination
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has decided unanimously that local governments with small workforces must comply with a federal law against age discrimination.
The justices ruled Tuesday in favor of two Arizona firefighters who claimed they were laid off because of their age when the local fire district they worked for faced a budget squeeze.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the court’s first opinion of the term and rejected arguments by the Mount Lemmon Fire District northeast of Tucson that it was not covered by the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act because it employs fewer than 20 people.
A federal judge had dismissed the firefighters’ claims, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reinstated them.
Brief police chase ends with car in backyard pool
MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP (AP) — Authorities say a car that was briefly chased by police in western Michigan ended up in a backyard swimming pool.
MLive.com reports two people were taken into custody shortly after the car plunged into the water in Wednesday night in Muskegon Township.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Crews used a wrecker to lift the car from the water.
The chase and crash are under investigation.
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