State’s top court to review teen’s life term in ‘09 slaying
MOUNT CLEMENS (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to review the life sentence of a man who was a teenager when he kidnapped a customer from a sandwich shop in a notorious Detroit-area homicide.
Ihab Masalmani twice has been sentenced to the same life term for murder.
In 2009, Matt Landry was abducted from a fast-food parking lot in Eastpointe. His body was found in a burned-out Detroit house.
Masalmani was 17 at the time. Teens no longer can be given automatic no-parole sentences. Judges must consider many factors, including an offender’s background and potential for rehabilitation.
The judge who sentenced Masalmani in 2015 said he had a “terrible” childhood. But after a three-day hearing, she said he still deserved to be locked up for life.
The Supreme Court could set a key precedent for how judges handle other so-called juvenile lifer cases.
State to educate workers on avoiding trench accidents
LANSING (AP) — Michigan’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching an educational and enforcement campaign to reduce excavation and trench accidents.
State Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Director Orlene Hawks says the focus will be on current requirements, the dangers of working in those operations and safety procedures.
Hawks says the program will reach employers and employees who work in and around excavations and trenches.
Sides of trenches can collapse with great force and without warning, burying workers beneath tons of soil before they have a chance to react or escape. The state says seven workers in Michigan have died from trench collapse accidents or cave-ins since 2013.
MIOSHA has training and compliance assistance materials and resources on its website.
Man accused of taking empty school bus on joyride
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Police in Tulsa have arrested a man who they say stole an empty school bus and took it for a joyride.
Police say the Tulsa Public Schools bus was stolen early Monday when the driver went into a gas station and left the bus running. The Tulsa World reports a man told officers he decided to steal the bus after seeing an anti-texting-and-driving sign on the bus that said, “drop it and drive.”
Police say the man told officers that he “dropped what he was doing” and drove off in the bus.
The man later radioed dispatch to tell him where he would leave the bus. Police arrested him on complaints of auto theft and driving without a license.
Thieves return statue, leave flowers and card
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Two thieves who snatched a statue of a lion from outside a home in a Philadelphia suburb had a change of heart after police posted surveillance video of the heist.
The statute was taken from the West Chester residence on Wednesday. But by Friday, police posted a video of the thieves returning it. They also left behind a bouquet of flowers and a card.
Police say it was a “smart move to return the property” and the owner is grateful.
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