State Round Up

Detroit: AG plans forum on DMC-Vanguard deal
DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan attorney general’s office says it’s holding a community forum next week about the proposed sale of the nonprofit Detroit Medical Center to for-profit Vanguard Health Systems Inc.

The Aug. 18 event at Cadillac Place in Detroit offers a chance for public comment and questions.

Attorney General Mike Cox must approve the deal. The medical center has a long-standing commitment to charitable care and Cox says he’s reviewing the deal to ensure that mission is preserved.

The medical center says that commitment will remain.

The eight-hospital Detroit health system signed a purchase agreement earlier this year. Terms include Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard making $850 million in capital improvements during the next five years.

Augusta: Rehabbed birds find new home after oil spill
AUGUSTA, Mich. (AP) — The first group of Canada geese and mallard ducks rescued after an oil spill in southern Michigan’s Kalamazoo River are headed to a new home.

State and federal wildlife officials say 19 birds rehabilitated after the oil spill were to be released Wednesday into the W.K. Kellogg Bird Sanctuary in Augusta.

The birds were covered with oil from a spill that was reported July 26 from an Enbridge Inc. pipeline near Marshall. A wildlife rehabilitation center in Marshall has received more than 170 birds, turtles and other animals.

Some turtles and other animals already had been released.

The leak estimated at 820,000 to more than 1 million gallons of oil came from a pipeline that runs from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.

Grand Rapids: City chickens getting boot from Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Chickens that call Grand Rapids home are getting an eviction notice.

City Manager Greg Sundstrom tells The Grand Rapids Press that chicken owners have until Oct. 1 to get rid of their birds after an ordinance failed to pass that would have allowed residents to keep hens in their backyards.

A 3-3 vote Tuesday night by city commissioners killed the proposed ordinance, which had been in the works since last fall. The three who opposed the ordinance say most residents in their wards were opposed to the idea.

City resident Steve DeJong and others had hoped chickens would be allowed. DeJong plans to abide by the decision and says he’ll have to find new homes for a flock he’s kept for more than a year in the western Michigan city.

Lansing: Idlewild gets listed as significant historic site
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An expanded area around the northwestern Michigan community of Idlewild has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a nationally significant historic site.

The state announced the listing Tuesday. Idlewild was a popular resort area for African-Americans from around 1915 into the 1960s. The Lake County community attracted many major black entertainers to its nightclubs.

The National Register of Historic Places recognized Idlewild in 1979, but the state says that nomination included only part of the town and provided inadequate descriptive and historical information.

The State Historic Preservation Review Board announced last year it was nominating the Idlewild Historic District for listing.