State Roundup

Lansing State Historical Commission OKs new site markers LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan Historical Commission has approved historical markers for four new sites in the state. The Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit is set to receive a marker commemorating the Port Huron to Mackinac sailboat race. Another historical marker approved by the commission on Feb. 11 will honor a peace treaty signed between Native American leaders and U.S. officials after the War of 1812. The Treaty of Spring Wells was signed on a site now known as Fort Wayne. Michigan Historical Markers also will be placed at two churches built in the late 1800s in Crawford and Alpena counties. The commission also accepted applications seeking markers for two neighborhoods and the Croswell House in Adrian. More than 1,700 of the historical markers can be found in Michigan and other states. Detroit Iraqi man to undertake psych examination DETROIT (AP) - A judge has ordered a psychological examination of an Iraqi man living in Michigan who's accused of lying about plans to train with the Islamic State group in the Middle East. Federal prosecutors and a defense lawyer agreed that an exam is appropriate for Al-Hamzah Mohammad Jawad. A judge signed the order Tuesday. Jawad was arrested last week at Detroit Metropolitan Airport before a one-way flight to Jordan. FBI agents say he told them that he was connected to violent extremists in Iraq but later said he made it up. Judge Elizabeth Stafford says Jawad may be mentally incompetent to stand trial. The 29-year-old came to the U.S. in 2013 as a refugee and lives in East Lansing. Grand Rapids Lawsuit: Police target youth for fingerprinting GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - A black man who says he was stopped, photographed and fingerprinted by Grand Rapids police despite committing no crime is challenging the practice. Keyon Harrison said that he and other black boys and young men have been targeted for photos and thumbprints, The Grand Rapids Press reported. The lawsuit said he was a teen walking home from school when he was stopped in 2012. "Keyon was playing with a bird in the park," his attorney Bernard Schaefer said. The city denies that minorities have been targeted. It defends the practice, which is used to identify juveniles or older teens with no photo identification. "Police officers are given false names all the time," City Attorney Catherine Mish said. The lawsuit, filed in Kent County Circuit Court, names the City of Grand Rapids and police captain who stopped Harrison as defendants. It said Harrison was with a Hispanic friend when the captain saw them go separate ways; the captain directed officers to photograph and thumbprint Harrison. The lawsuit said Harrison was stopped because he is black. Of a dozen reports Schaefer has reviewed, 10 of them involved blacks and the other two were of Hispanics. All were males. The actions by police were "unreasonable and excessive," Schaefer said. The city said Harrison voluntarily consented to a search of himself and his backpack. It said the photographs and thumbprints were taken solely for identification purposes. Mish said there are no constitutional issues with taking photos of people in public. "The police officers involved did nothing wrong," Mish said. Lansing Records: Official urged state not to lease trains LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A local transportation official urged a Michigan agency not to lease passenger trains that are now sitting idle and are costing taxpayers, records show. The state is spending $1.1 million a year to lease 23 double-decker passenger cars while commuter services still haven't been established between Detroit and Ann Arbor or between Ann Arbor and Howell. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority official told the Michigan Department of Transportation in 2009 that the cars weren't suitable for proposed commuter rail services because they didn't meet federal requirements for wheelchair accessibility, the Detroit Free Press reported. The suggestion from Dawn Gabay, who was then the interim executive director of the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, came more than a year before MDOT signed a contract to lease and refurbish the double-decker railcars. She tried to steer the state toward other cars. MDOT has defended the leases, saying the money could not have been spent on roads and securing passenger trains can take time. Michael Frezell, a spokesman for MDOT, said plans call for people in wheelchairs to board the commuter trains with the use of portable wheelchair lifts stored in sheds at each station. Such lifts are used on other passenger rail services. Gabay said Tuesday she believes her concerns were resolved before she handed the project off to other officials at the authority. The correspondence about the cars was between the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority, MDOT and Great Lakes Central Railroad, which owns the cars. The state has spent $12 million on the project, including $7.6 million to refurbish the cars, the newspaper said. A recently released audit said handicapped-accessible restrooms on 14 cars would cost nearly $4 million. The cars are sitting idle at an Owosso rail yard and the commuter rail services are estimated to be at least two years away. Putnam Township Detroit group seeking to buy hamlet of Hell PUTNAM TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A Detroit-based group has launched a crowdfunding campaign with the goal of raising more than $1.3 million to purchase holdings in the unincorporated village of Hell. The organization known as Damned plans to use the money to buy Hell, located in Putnam Township, and build a performing arts center where events could be held year-round. The leader of Damned tells the Livingston Daily Press & Argus the group wants to expand its productions and bring more elaborate events to Hell, like an annual festival with performance, music and art. The group currently produces the Damned Expedition, an art show held around Halloween each year in Detroit. Damned must raise the full amount of money it's seeking by March 22. More than $47,000 had been donated to the campaign as of Tuesday evening. Published: Thu, Feb 26, 2015