State Roundup

Grand Rapids

Polar bear hunter runs afoul of U.S. authorities

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- A big-game hunter who legally killed a 7-foot polar bear more than a decade ago in Canada ran afoul of U.S. authorities after using a 24-foot boat to ferry the trophy to Michigan.

Rodger DeVries, of Ottawa County's Georgetown Township, faces sentencing Sept. 8 on a misdemeanor of knowingly and unlawfully using a U.S. port or harbor to import polar bear parts without obtaining a permit, The Grand Rapids Press reported.

Court records show he pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and $100,000 in fines.

Defense lawyer Terry Tobias described DeVries as an "avid hunter" who has acknowledged his mistake in not getting proper U.S. permission. He obtained proper permits from the Canadian government, including an export permit, and complied with Indian and province laws.

"Our laws don't prohibit going to Canada and shooting a polar bear. Where he made his mistake was, when he brought it back to the U.S.," Tobias said.

DeVries paid an outfitter $12,500 for the hunt, and the bear was killed in November 2000 in Canada's Nunavut Territory and mounted by a taxidermist in Calgary, Alberta. It was kept in storage until 2007, when authorities said DeVries moved the bear and its skull to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

In July 2007, DeVries, his son and two grandchildren drove in his truck, hauling a boat, and picked up the bear and skull, and the boat was used to cross the border from St. Joseph Island in Ontario to Raber Bay, north of St. Ignace, Mich., the newspaper reported.

His son drove the truck to the U.S. and picked up the others in the boat, according to a plea agreement signed by DeVries. The bear and its skull were taken to DeVries' second home on Torch Lake, and later were taken to his Georgetown Township home, records showed.

Bedford Township

Sheriff: Mich. bank robbery suspect caught in Ohio

BEDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Authorities say a man suspected of robbing four banks this year in southeastern Michigan has been apprehended in Toledo, Ohio.

The Monroe County sheriff's department in Michigan says the 21-year-old Toledo man was caught Tuesday.

Authorities say he was spotted driving a car in Monroe County without a license plate and fled across the state line. He later was found at a Toledo apartment and evidence in the car linked him to the robberies.

His name wasn't immediately released. He's expected to face charges in Michigan.

The sheriff's department says the latest robbery happened Saturday at a Bank of America branch in Bedford Township, about 50 miles south-southwest of Detroit. He's suspected in three other robberies in the township.

Ann Arbor

Study probes climate change in Great Lakes cities

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- A new University of Michigan project will help city leaders in the Great Lakes region plan for dealing with climate change.

The Kresge Foundation is helping fund the $1.2 million project, which will last three years.

Organizers say much climate change research has been done on global and national scales, but little is known about its potential effects on the local level.

University of Michigan professor Arun Agrawal (Ah-ROON' AHG'-ruh-wall) says the project will give local officials information they need to make better policy decisions and upgrade infrastructure.

Scientists will work with urban leaders to develop a network of city administrators, land-use planners, mayors and others interested in developing sustainable cities as climate change affects the Great Lakes region in ever-greater ways.

Grand Rapids

Man, 26, accused of sex assault, killing of baby

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- Federal prosecutors have accused a northern Michigan man of killing his 3-month-old daughter while he was sexually assaulting her.

The Grand Rapids Press and the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported Tuesday that 26-year-old Steven Deuman is charged with murdering his infant daughter while sexually assaulting her. He has a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

The case is federal because the Aug. 12 death happened on a reservation of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Leelanau County, northwest of Traverse City.

Records say Deuman, his wife and children live on the reservation.

An autopsy indicated that the baby was asphyxiated.

Phone and email messages were left at the office of Deuman attorney Richard Stroba after business hours Tuesday.

Mount Clemens

U.S.-Japanese

couple settle

dispute over son

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) -- A Michigan man is rejoining his wife in Japan after they settled a custody dispute over their 8-year-old son.

A hearing in Macomb County Circuit Court in the Detroit suburb of Mount Clemens was cancelled Tuesday after the agreement.

Carl and Mayumi Mueller wed in Japan in 2002. He says he took their son from Japan to China, in part because of the couple's faltering relationship. Carl Mueller and the boy moved in with Mueller's parents in St. Clair Shores.

Carl Mueller lawyer Craig Ferriga says the couple are working to reconcile. He didn't know Mayumi Mueller's hometown.

An ex-lawyer for Mayumi Mueller accused the father of "abducting" the child. Current lawyer Elizabeth Sadowski earlier declined comment to The Macomb Daily. The Associated Press left a message seeking comment Tuesday.

Lansing

Bar owners may turn tables on state lawmakers

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Bar and restaurant owners upset about Michigan's workplace smoking ban have a ban of their own in the works.

An organization called Protect Private Property Rights in Michigan said Tuesday that roughly 500 bars statewide plan to ban state lawmakers from their premises. The ban would start Sept. 1.

The lawmaker ban is a way for critics to draw attention to what they say are the harmful effects of the smoking ban. Some bars say they have lost business because of the ban. Others say the ban is unfair because decisions about whether to allow smoking should be left to property owners.

The Legislature-approved smoking ban took effect in May 2010.

Critics of the ban want lawmakers to revisit the issue.

"This subject needs to be opened up in Lansing again, it needs to be discussed again," said Steve Mace, executive director of the property rights group.

In an effort to highlight what they consider the hypocrisy of Michigan's smoking ban -- which exempts gambling floors of Detroit casinos -- business owners said the lawmaker ban also would have exemptions. It would not cover the Republican or Democratic leaders in the House or Senate.

Ari Adler, a spokesman for House Republican Speaker Jase Bolger, said the lawmaker ban is an interesting tactic but not one that's likely to spark legal change.

Lansing

Recall targeting state lawmaker clears hurdle

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- State elections officials say a preliminary review indicates people seeking to recall Grand Blanc Republican state Rep. Paul Scott have gathered enough petition signatures to place it on the November ballot.

Teachers unions oppose Scott because of his votes to reduce teacher tenure protection and cut school funding.

Scott has until early September to challenge signatures, so Tuesday's determination isn't final.

The group Citizens Against Government Overreach has submitted more than 12,100 voter signatures. Elections officials say about 11,000 signatures are valid and 9,604 are needed to make the ballot.

Scott argues in court that elections officials shouldn't have accepted the signatures because he's appealing a decision on whether the language used on recall petitions is clear.

If Scott wins, that case could make the signature count moot.

Published: Thu, Aug 25, 2011