State Roundup

Alabama
NFL player seeks to avoid trial on DUI charges
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A lawyer for Detroit Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley requested on Wednesday that the player be allowed to go through a pre-trial diversion program instead of facing a trial in Alabama.
Fairley was charged with driving under the influence and attempting to elude police following a May 27 arrest. His Mobile County District Court trial was set to start Wednesday morning, but attorney Sid Harrell instead filed paperwork requesting Fairley attend an anti-DUI course after stipulating to a first-time DUI.
“He will have to live up to that agreement and attend the program,” Harrell said. He said a judge will have to review the request and hold a hearing.
Fairley was not in court. He participated in practice with the Lions in Allen Park, Mich., on Wednesday morning.
The Lions are preparing for a game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
Harrell said he expected a hearing on the request for the pre-trial diversion program to be scheduled sometime in the next two months. Harrell said he expected the hearing to be arranged to accommodate his client’s NFL schedule.
Fairley was arrested after a state trooper said he was traveling at 100 mph in his Cadillac Escalade and initially didn’t pull over. He also faces a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge Nov. 27 in his hometown of Mobile.
Harrell said expected the misdemeanor charge to be dropped once Fairley completes the diversion program.
“He is already drug tested every week by the NFL,” Harrell said
Fairley was a 2011 first-round pick after helping lead Auburn to a national title.

Bangor
Authorities seek man in case of 3 missing cows
BANGOR, Mich. (AP) — Authorities in southwestern Michigan are seeking a man they say traded two cows he didn’t own for a four-wheeler and illegally sold another cow at auction.
The Van Buren County sheriff’s department says they’re trying to arrest the 26-year-old man from the Bangor area who may have moved to North Carolina for a job.
He’s charged with larceny by conversion, but authorities aren’t immediately releasing his name.
The person who reported the cows stolen says he made an agreement with the man to board them from May until November, but the man claimed the cows got loose.
Deputies investigated after an initial report of the missing cows in July and determined two cows had been traded and the other sold in Indiana.

Joyfield Township
Opponents to wind farm look to heliports for help
JOYFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Some residents of Michigan’s rural northwestern Lower Peninsula are applying for permits to establish heliports in their efforts to block rural wind turbine development.
Turbines can’t be built near the liftoff and landing pads for helicopters, and observers say the tactic could gain momentum statewide, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported Wednesday.
Benzie County’s Joyfield Township once was considered part of a site for a proposed wind farm. The community of 800 now could soon have up to eight licensed, stand-alone public heliports. That comes after Joyfield Township residents last year recalled three township trustees and replaced them with wind farm project opponents.
Heliports could prevent construction of wind turbines or any structure taller than 200 feet within almost a one-mile radius of the landing pads, the state said. According to the township, at least one permit has gone to a resident who wanted to figure out a way to prevent wind turbine development.
Tom Hart, who unsuccessfully ran for township supervisor, said wind development proponents were shocked by the number of heliport proposals.
“We really have grown weary of these tricks and gimmicks,” he said.
Myron Burzynski, who said he isn’t part of the wind farm opposition, constructed a heliport for what he said is as a side business to promote tourism.
“I’m working strictly with one pilot,” Burzynski said. “I can’t speak for the others.”
Joyfield Township’s emergence as a possible location of numerous heliports has been met with skepticism among some residents.
“It seems pretty fishy to me,” said Susan Zenker, who lives near one of the proposed heliports. “I know all of the people who have applied, and as far as I know not one of them has a helicopter.”
The idea of heliports comes after a political fight about wind turbines in the area. Earlier this year, Duke Energy Renewables announced that it discontinued plans to build a wind farm in Benzie and Manistee counties. Estimates for the project said it would include anywhere between 62 to 112 turbines.
The company started looking for sites in 2009. Duke Energy’s original plan included property in four townships but that had been scaled back to two.
“It’s a contentious issue that’s not going away gracefully,” said Ted Wood, Joyfield Township clerk.

Lansing
Audit knocks state’s oversight of road agencies
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state Treasury Department admits it’s been six years since it performed certain performance audits of local agencies that get more than $1 billion in gas taxes and vehicle fees.
The department made the disclosure to the state auditor general, who wanted to know if the agency was complying with Michigan law.
The Treasury Department says no performance audits have been done since 2006 due to a lack of money. A new law now gives the job to the Department of Transportation, although the audits won’t be mandatory.
In response, the County Road Association of Michigan says there are many other checks and balances. The group says many annual checks of how road money is spent typically are posted online.

Rothbury
Autopsy: Man died of heart failure at music festival
ROTHBURY, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a 37-year-old Connecticut man who died in June at a music festival in Michigan had heart failure after an apparent drug overdose.
The Muskegon Chronicle reports Wednesday that Michigan State Police released autopsy results for Michael Benway Jr. of East Haven.
Benway's body was found June 29 at a campsite used for the festival. An autopsy report found that he had a painkiller and amphetamines in his system.
The four-day Electric Forest festival took place near the West Michigan village of Rothbury.