Judge suspended 45 days without pay
LANSING (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court has ordered a 45-day unpaid suspension for a Detroit-area judge who was arrested for suspected drunken driving before being elected to the bench.
The court Thursday affirmed a decision by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission that determined Oakland County Circuit Judge Julie McDonald didn’t observe the law and conduct herself “in a manner which would enhance the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”
McDonald waived her rights before the commission and consented to a sanction no greater than the 45-day suspension without pay.
She was a judicial candidate Sept. 8 when police saw her toss something from her car and turn without signaling. Police recorded a 0.08 blood-alcohol level at which a motorist is considered intoxicated.
McDonald began a six-year term in January.
Prosecutor had evidence but comments spoil conviction
JACKSON (AP) — A prosecutor’s provocative comments about a man charged with dealing heroin have spoiled the conviction in Jackson County.
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently ordered a new trial for Keante Kiya, who was sentenced to eight years in prison. The court cited statements by assistant prosecutor Jake Dickerson during his remarks to the jury.
Dickerson said Kiya was selling “poison on our streets to make money.” He described him as a “dealer of death,” and urged jurors to do something about the area’s heroin crisis.
The appeals court says the prosecutor “took special care to deliberately arouse” the emotions of jurors.
Theater near church avoids ‘Hellboy’ title
DICKSON, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee movie theater that sits across from a church and next to an elementary school is promoting the latest movie in the “Hellboy” “Heckboy.”
The Tennessean reports the PG advertisement at the Dickson theater has caused a local buzz around the movie, which grossed $19.8 million in its first two weekends.
Manager Belinda Daniel says the theater avoids putting up words on its sign that may be seen as profanity. She says they want to be respectful to everyone, including children who pass by. But she says the response to the theater’s play on words has been more exciting than expected.
She says she’s glad the sign shared incited some laughs.
‘Snot otter’ named Pennsylvania’s official amphibian
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s new official amphibian is a slimy, two-foot-long salamander that needs clean streams to thrive.
Gov. Tom Wolf recently signed legislation granting the honor to the Eastern hellbender, a nocturnal animal whose nicknames include snot otter and mud devil.
Members of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s student leadership council have spent three years campaigning to get it designated as the state’s official amphibian, helped by Lycoming College’s Clean Water Institute.
It’s the largest salamander in North America.
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