Royal Oak trip-and-fall lawsuit settles for $49K after 3 years
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) — Royal Oak has agreed to pay a woman who broke her foot after tripping on a residential sidewalk while carrying her infant granddaughter more than $49,000.
The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak says terms of the settlement do not require the city about 10 miles north-northwest of Detroit to admit fault, but says the payment is being made "to preserve good will, avoid continued litigation and make financial compromise."
An Oakland County Circuit Court lawsuit filed by 79-year-old Margaret Malinasky of Royal Oak says she tripped on a raised portion of sidewalk in July 2007, breaking two toes and displacing four others. The suit claims the city was negligent in maintaining a public sidewalk.
The city claimed governmental immunity. A case evaluation panel previously awarded Malinasky $83,000.
Coalition of schools plans legal challenge to accreditation system
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Middle Cities Education Association says a coalition of school districts will seek a court order blocking implementation of the new Michigan Accountability and Accreditation System.
The group said Monday that the Michigan Department of Education has disregarded the law by unilaterally implementing the system.
The group says the system forces school districts “to divert time and resources away from the classroom in order to comply with an incomplete system.”
Department spokesman Martin Ackley says the new system will give the public better access to information on how individual districts are performing. He says the state Board of Education discussed the system Tuesday, after which it goes to the House and Senate education committees for review.
Ackley says some opposition comes from local school officials opposed to “transparency and accountability.”
Next court date pushed back for man accused of double slaying
PAW PAW, Mich. (AP) — The next court date for a 34-year-old man charged in the shooting deaths of two women found buried in a wooded, rural area of southwestern Michigan has been pushed back two weeks.
Junior Lee Beebe of Bangor made a brief appearance Tuesday by video in District Court in Paw Paw. His preliminary hearing set for Friday now is scheduled for Feb. 25.
Van Buren County Prosecutor Juris Kaps says more evidence needs to be gathered before that hearing could take place.
Beebe is charged with murder in the deaths of his cousin’s wife, 30-year-old Amy Henslee, and 36-year-old Tonya Howarth, whom Beebe dated on and off. Authorities believe the women were killed Jan. 24.
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