State Round Up

Flint: Mich. police: 16th stabbing victim reported
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Police have confirmed a 16th victim as authorities continue searching for a knife-wielding serial stabber suspected of killing five people and injuring 11 others on Flint-area streets.

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Tuesday a 27-year-old Flint man told Michigan State Police that he was walking alone on the city’s northwest side in the early morning hours July 27, when he was approached by a white man who asked for directions and stabbed him three times.

The victim, who is black, was treated at a hospital and released. All but two of Michigan’s 16 victims were black.

The victim told police the suspect was driving a dark green Chevy S-10 Blazer with tan trim, with a model year ranging from 1995 to about 2004. The vehicle is linked to similar assaults in Toledo, Ohio and Leesburg, Va.

Mount Clemens: Man, 22, charged in beating of blind Michigan man
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — A 22-year-old Clinton Township man has been charged in connection with the robbery of a legally blind man who was beaten with his own walking cane in Mount Clemens.

David Antoine Anderson pleaded not guilty and requested a court-appointed lawyer during his arraignment Monday in Clinton Township District Court. He was charged with unarmed robbery, a 15-year penalty, and aggravated assault, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Authorities say Anderson and a 16-year-old suspect jumped 50-year-old Daniel Perron Aug. 3 and stole $600.

Anderson remains held in Macomb County Jail on a $100,000 bond. An Aug. 23 preliminary exam is scheduled.

Prosecutors are reviewing the case against the juvenile defendant.

Royal Oak: Gun advocates take aim at Detroit-area festival
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — A contract clause banning guns at a popular Detroit-area summer arts festival has drawn fire from gun advocates aiming to have it amended.

Police Chief Chris Jahnke said the contract between Royal Oak’s inaugural Arts, Beats & Eats festival and the city about 10 miles north-northwest of Detroit prohibits weapons at the event.

But open-carry proponents told the City Commission Monday night that state law and the Second Amendment allow a person who is licensed to carry a holstered firearm that’s within plain sight. They want the contract amended before the Labor Day weekend event begins.

Organizer Jon Witz said festival officials were open to contract revisions.

Now in its 13th year, the festival was previously held in nearby Pontiac.

Detroit: Muslim group files more suits in slain imam probe
DETROIT (AP) — A Muslim civil rights group has sued more police agencies for failing to release information about the killing of a Detroit mosque leader during a shootout with the FBI.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Michigan chapter said it filed lawsuits Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court against Detroit and Dearborn police departments.

The organization last week sued the Michigan State Police. A task force conducted raids leading to the October death of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah at a Dearborn warehouse.

Dearborn spokeswoman Mary Laundroche declined immediate comment, while Detroit police spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens says she can’t comment.

The FBI says Abdullah was killed after he fired a gun and resisted arrest in a stolen-goods sting operation.

Benton Harbor: Nicklaus, Palmer christen new Michigan course
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Four of the biggest names in the history of golf are playing a round together to commemorate the opening of a new course located in one of Michigan’s most impoverished communities.

Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Johnny Miller teed off Tuesday morning along Lake Michigan in Benton Harbor, site of the Nicklaus-designed Golf Club at Harbor Shores.

The par-71 course is the centerpiece of a 530-acre resort community that eventually is to include 800 residences, a deep water marina and shops and restaurants.
Tuesday’s 18-hole scramble skins match is called the Champions for Change Golf Challenge.

Nicklaus says it “is a great opportunity to highlight how golf is being used as a vehicle for social and economic revitalization.”

Negaunee Twp.: Historian examines 1878 UP nitroglycerin blast
NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Iron Industry Museum is hosting a discussion about an 1878 mining-related accident that claimed the lives of seven workers and shook the Upper Peninsula community of Negaunee.

Marquette historian Bill VanKosky on Tuesday presents “Negaunee’s Nitro-Glycerine Tragedy” at the museum in Marquette County’s Negaunee Township.

VanKosky will explore how careless handling of nitroglycerin that was to be delivered to a mine by railcar led to the explosion. The blast shattered windows, knocked underground miners off their feet and was heard miles away.

The event is part of a seven-week lecture series that runs through Aug. 17 that’s aimed at offering a wide-ranging glimpse into the mining history of the Upper Peninsula. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.

Flint: Ex-Hubble astronomer marks telescope 20th birthday
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Flint’s Longway Planetarium is marking the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope with a talk by a scientist who worked with it.

Albert Holm recently retired as the Hubble’s astronomer and speaks at Longway on Tuesday. The Space Shuttle Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit, where it has offered an unprecedented look at the universe from beyond the distorting effect of the earth’s atmosphere.

Holm also will speak at Mott Community College, which is sponsoring his visit to Flint.