State Roundup

Traverse City Docs filed with FEMA turn up in Mich. storage unit TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A self-storage unit in northern Michigan contained documents with personal financial information including claims filed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Texas following 2005's Hurricane Rita, a laptop registered to FEMA and car loan applications, according to two men who bought the contents. Lawrence Betz and William Petersen bought the contents of the unit for $500 in October, and it had been rented in 2009 to a Traverse City man who worked for a FEMA subcontractor in 2005 and currently works for a car dealership, the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Businesses that lease self-storage space may seize and sell the contents of the units if renters don't fulfill lease terms. In all, the men said the records with financial information for more than 300 people. The car loan or lease applications were from between 2006 and 2008. "It's everything you would need to become that person and assume their identity," Petersen said. "It's pretty scary." FEMA said it takes very seriously any potential breaches of private information, and it's investigating how the documents ended up at West Bay Self Storage in Leelanau County's Elmwood Township. Arrangements were made last week to pick up the computer. "If it is determined that any personal information was mishandled, we will take appropriate actions, including notifying authorities, as well as any individuals who may have been impacted," Rachel Racusen, a FEMA spokeswoman, said in a statement. Sheriff's officials in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties determined no crime was committed. Lansing 2 committee hearings set for Michigan lawmakers LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- There are no full sessions of the House or Senate planned for this week in the Michigan Legislature as lawmakers continue a relatively light summer meeting schedule. Only two committees are scheduled to meet at the Capitol. A House appropriations subcommittee is expected to meet Wednesday to hear a review of audit procedures conducted by the state's auditor general. A separate subcommittee is expected to meet Thursday to discuss a funding incentive program aimed at restraining tuition increases at Michigan's public universities.. Sessions and committee hearings will be relatively infrequent for lawmakers during July and August. The Senate met last week and the House is scheduled to meet July 27. Sandusky Former AD sues school district over firing SANDUSKY, Mich. (AP) -- A former high school athletic director in Michigan's Thumb region says he was illegally fired after expressing concern about inequities in girls' sports. Drake Okie filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the Sandusky school district, 90 miles north of Detroit. After one year, Okie's contract was not renewed in 2010. He says he never had an opportunity to plead his case to the school board. He says the district retaliated after he complained that boys had better facilities and support than girls in Sandusky. Okie says he also reported possible misuse of money by the Sandusky Alumni Foundation. A message seeking comment was left with the Sandusky superintendent. Okie is asking a judge to put him back on job and award back pay and other benefits. Lansing Seat belt enforcement effort led to 9,000 tickets LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Police say a statewide seat belt enforcement campaign that included the Memorial Day holiday resulted in more than 9,000 tickets. Michigan State Police on Tuesday released detail about the tickets, which included seat belt and child safety seat violations. The total was about 500 less than in a similar period in 2010. The effort also caught about 100 suspected drunken drivers and led to 48 drug arrests. The "Click It or Ticket" effort began May 23 and ran through June 5. It involved more than 200 local police departments, sheriff offices and Michigan State Police posts in 35 counties. Police say the goal of the effort was to get people to buckle up. McMillan Twp. Woman, 64, attacked by captive bear in Michigan McMILLAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Police say a 64-year-old woman was attacked by a captive, nearly 400-pound black bear while feeding two of the animals in the western Upper Peninsula. Michigan State Police say the woman from Ewen was attacked Monday afternoon while feeding the bears in a large, fenced-in area on private property in Ontonagon County's McMillan Township. Police say the woman, who was alone, drove a short distance home and called 911. She was taken to an Ironwood hospital, and airlifted to Aspirus Wausau Hospital in Wisconsin. Police say she had back, neck and arm injuries. Sgt. Steven Burton of the Department of Natural Resources' law enforcement division says she's expected to be released Wednesday. Police say the bear that attacked the woman was named Daisy. It escaped and was killed nearby. Jackson Bride arrested on warrant misses court date JACKSON, Mich. (AP) -- Authorities say a Michigan bride arrested in her wedding dress on a felony warrant after exchanging vows at a Jackson-area church has missed a court date. The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports 53-year-old Tammy Lee Hinton was scheduled to appear Monday in Jackson County District Court. Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety Deputy Director Jon Johnston says his department planned to work to locate her if another arrest warrant is issued. A message seeking updated information, including whether Hinton has a lawyer, was left early Tuesday with Johnston. Police believed the woman had moved to Florida, and they got two tips that she would be back in town for Saturday's wedding. Police say she was arrested on the 3-year-old warrant for identity theft, booked and released after less than about 30 minutes. Texas Twp. West Michigan man charged in 2008 home waste case TEXAS TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Authorities have filed charges against a western Michigan man they say stored about 500 barrels of hazardous chemicals on his property, leading to a $1.3 million federal and state cleanup. The Kalamazoo Gazette says 52-year-old Donald Haugen of Texas Township was arraigned in district court on two counts of knowingly releasing or causing the release of a hazardous substance. The charges stem from a 2008 fire at Haugen's house, which is about 10 miles southwest of Kalamazoo in Kalamazoo County. There was no answer on Haugen's home phone number Monday night. Firefighters responding to the fire say they found hundreds of barrels of hazardous waste in the woods behind the house. Environmental cleanup crews say the barrels contained substances that included herbicides, pesticides, mercury and flammable materials. Flint Convicted embezzler pleads no contest in tax case FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- An embezzler who was on parole when he briefly obtained a $9.1 million state tax credit pleaded no contest to attempted fraud on Monday, prosecutors said. Richard A. Short also pleaded no contest to unlawfully using a financial transaction device for using the ATM card of an elderly neighbor who suffered from dementia, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said. Short's sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 30. Short was arrested a day after sharing the stage with then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm in March 2010 as she announced his company, RASCO, would get the tax credits. He got the grant after saying the company planned to improve the lives of poor people overseas by using renewable energy to provide electricity, clean drinking water, sanitation and telephone and Internet service. Short's ability to get a business tax credit for a company he apparently created on his trailer park home computer deeply embarrassed the state's economic development officials. Before his arrest, Short had a lengthy criminal history. His prison record and the fact that he was on parole could easily be found by searching the state's offender database online. Officials at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. said they never conducted a background check on Short. They also failed to check his other paperwork, including an apparently fake letter Leyton said Short wrote claiming he had $10 million in a trust fund to finance RASCO's operations. After Short's arrest, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority began doing background checks on applicants for state tax breaks. Granholm also ordered a shakeup of the Economic Growth Authority board. Gov. Rick Snyder, who took office Jan. 1, has tried to vastly decrease the number of state tax credits going to individual companies. Short was convicted in 2002 of embezzling money from Harding Energy Inc. of Muskegon County's Norton Shores and sentenced to at least two years in prison. He also pleaded guilty in 2002 to earlier fraud charges in Oakland and Genesee counties, according to Corrections Department and state police records. He was paroled in April 2004 but was returned to prison the following February for violating his parole with additional fraudulent activities, then paroled in January 2007. Published: Wed, Jul 20, 2011