Lansing
State gets $3.5M for substance abuse prevention
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is getting $3.5 million to support substance abuse prevention efforts for young people.
The Michigan Department of Community Health says Wednesday its Bureau of Substance Abuse and Addiction Services has been awarded the three-year grant. The money is to help address underage drinking among those ages 12 to 20, and prescription drug misuse and abuse by those ages 12 to 25.
Michigan was among a number of states to apply for the funding.
The state says efforts in Lake, Clare, Baraga, Roscommon, Gladwin, Luce, Genesee, Saginaw, Muskegon and Wayne counties will get support, as well as work with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
Lansing
Police across state run sex offender sweep
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Law enforcement agencies across Michigan are conducting their ninth annual statewide sex offender sweep.
Operation Verify runs through Oct. 30.
The Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act requires registered sex offenders to regularly report to their local law enforcement agency, sheriff’s office or nearest state police post to verify their address.
All registered sex offenders must also report a change of name, address, employment, campus enrollment, Internet identifiers and vehicle within three business days of any change. Failure to do so is a four-year felony.
As of Oct. 1, there were 40,155 offenders on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry with 37,261 in compliance with the registry’s requirements.
Fennville
No deal struck in lawsuit over cannery waste
FENNVILLE, Mich. (AP) — A mediator has been unable to settle a lawsuit by property owners who say their wells were contaminated by a fruit cannery in southwestern Michigan.
Grand Rapids lawyer Jon Muth last week notified a federal judge that mediation has ended without a deal.
Birds Eye Foods is accused of spoiling groundwater by spraying wastewater for years onto fields in the Fennville area, 50 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. The cannery produces fruit fillings, sauces and glazes.
A lawsuit in Kalamazoo federal court says the company should have known about the dangers of spraying wastewater laced with chemicals. A new treatment system was announced in 2010.
Muskegon
Key hearing for Ex-Mich. charter school director
MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) — A key court hearing is scheduled for the former director of a West Michigan charter school who faces multiple felony charges after authorities say she falsified records.
The state attorney general’s office has charged Barbara Stellard with a number of felony and high court misdemeanor counts that stem from reports filed in 2008.
An arrest warrant indicates that while Stellard was “an officer or employee of WayPoint Academy ... (she) did willfully falsify a record having a bearing on school aid.”
Stellard is to appear Wednesday for a preliminary examination in Muskegon District Court.
Her lawyer, Terry Nolan, says there had been “falsified” records, but that they had been done by someone else. He says his client simply signed off on them and “absolutely proclaims her innocence.”
Birmingham
Man arrested for carrying an M-1 sues over arrest
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (AP) — An 18-year-old man who was acquitted of a crime for carrying a loaded M-1 rifle as he walked through the downtown of an affluent Detroit suburb is suing over his arrest.
Sean Combs of Troy tells the Detroit Free Press that the federal lawsuit aims to get Birmingham and its police officers to agree with his claim that they were wrong for arresting him April 13. He says he was exercising his right to bear arms. No dollar amount is specified in the suit.
A judge in July threw out a charge of resisting and obstructing police. A jury then found Combs not guilty of brandishing a firearm and disturbing the peace.
City attorney Tim Currier says the complaint will be fought. Currier says police didn’t do anything wrong.
Traverse City
Woman in 2001 flight flap faces ID theft charge
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A northern Michigan woman who gained national attention for disrupting a flight to China in 2001 has been charged after authorities say she used the driver’s license of one of her sisters to get prescription drugs.
The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports 33-year-old Crystal Mikula of Buckley faces a felony identity theft charge. Authorities say the drugs were obtained through a doctor in Traverse City and her sister, Angela, found out about the prescriptions and notified police.
There was no working telephone listing for Crystal Mikula in the area. She didn’t have a lawyer on record in the case in Grand Traverse County District Court.
Crystal Mikula and her twin sister, Cynthia, were arrested in 2001 after the flight they were taking to a modeling competition was diverted to Alaska.
Petoskey
‘Batman’ says he tells paper he has good intentions
PETOSKEY, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man whose effort to keep an eye on his community while wearing a Batman outfit landed him in court says he has good intentions.
Mark Wayne Williams tells the Petoskey News-Review that dressing in costume is his way of saying “it’s not up to the government to save us.”
State troopers arrested the 33-year-old Sept. 29 because they say he refused to leave them alone while they searched for a driver who fled an accident. Williams was charged with resisting and obstructing police in an investigation.
He is due in court Thursday.
It’s not Williams’ first brush with the law as the caped crusader. He was arrested last year after police received a report of a man dressed as Batman on the roof of a Petoskey business.
Ann Arbor
2 football coaches suspended after high school brawl
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Two Ann Arbor high school football coaches have been suspended following a midfield brawl that may have started with a push among them.
Ann Arbor Public Schools director of communications Liz Margolis tells AnnArbor.com the suspensions come from the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Margolis says there could be further consequences for the coaches, players and assistants, and decisions are expected soon.
Police also are investigating.
Ann Arbor Pioneer had just defeated Huron High School 35-6 on Friday when Pioneer head coach Paul Test and Huron head coach Cory Gildersleeve got into a heated exchange. A brawl erupted that included players and it left one player injured after he was hit in the face with a crutch.
Test has said he was pushed. Gildersleeve denied pushing the opposing coach.
Deerfield
Soldier with 4 kids killed in Afghanistan
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A soldier from western Michigan who was looking forward to watching his four young children grow up has been killed in an insurgent attack in Afghanistan, authorities and his family said Tuesday.
Army Sgt. Robert J. Billings, 30, died Saturday of wounds from an improvised explosive device blast in Spin Boldak, according to the Defense Department.
Billings graduated in 2001 from Morley Stanwood High School in Deerfield Township, about 40 miles northeast of Grand Rapids. He later moved to Virginia, where he met his wife, Christy, said his grandmother, Elaine Billings. He later enlisted in the Army and had one previous combat posting in Iraq in 2009 and 2010.
His grandmother said he and his wife have four children, ages 3 to 10.
Billings came from a military family. His father spent 20 years in the Navy, and his grandfather served in the Army.
Former teacher Tim Paczewski said Billings made a strong impression during his time at Morley Stanwood.
Billings showed “a lot of determination. He was very goal oriented when he was a student here; very likable always had a smile on his face, got a long very well with his classmates as well as staff,” Paczewski said.
Billings was part of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
His remains were flown back to the U.S., arriving Monday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
