Mason
Man gets life in prison for role in hit-and-run crash
MASON, Mich. (AP) — A 28-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for a hit-and-run crash in Ingham County.
The Lansing State Journal reports Jordan Dunn on Wednesday received the mandatory term for first-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Ben Berlin in Vevay Township.
Dunn told the court: “I’ll never possibly know what the family is going through and I’m sorry, deeply sorry, for the loss.”
A jury convicted Dunn in June. Prosecutors said that Dunn slammed on the brakes, drove in reverse and then paused on Oct. 30 before driving a pickup at Berlin. Dunn’s attorney, Vince Green, had argued that Dunn was confronted that night by an angry crowd.
Berlin had a wife and four children. His two sons testified as eyewitnesses to the crash.
Ann Arbor
Family to mark anniversary of student’s death
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Family members of a University of Michigan medical student who was slain a year ago plan to mark the anniversary this week by spending time in Ann Arbor and visiting his grave.
Paul DeWolf’s family on Thursday plans to visit with Ann Arbor police detectives who investigated the case, medical school officials and DeWolf’s friends, The Ann Arbor News reported. They also will travel to Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta.
“This month has been difficult,” said his father, Thom DeWolf, “as we’ve been anticipating it and ramping up to it. There were a lot of things that came up that caused us to reflect again on the events.”
Authorities believe the 25-year-old was killed a year ago Wednesday in his off-campus medical fraternity house. His was found the next day. Three men were charged in the death and one of them has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
DeWolf, who would have graduated this past May, was a native of Schoolcraft in southwestern Michigan and a graduate of Grand Valley State University. He was attending medical school on an Air Force scholarship and held the rank of second lieutenant.
Thom DeWolf said he and his family went camping for a few days this month near Lake Michigan in the Muskegon area, where they’d vacationed in the past. The trip brought back a rush of memories — including his son chasing seagulls with a remote-control car.
“He loved the beach and loved the water,” he said.
The family also is working to set up a scholarship fund in Paul DeWolf’s name.
East Lansing
Concrete pours into Michigan State physics site
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The construction of a new national facility for nuclear science at Michigan State University is continuing with the addition of 140 truckloads of concrete.
About 1,400 cubic yards of concrete will be poured Wednesday for a portion of a tunnel floor in what will be the school’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, The Lansing State Journal reported. The tunnel will hold the facility’s superconducting linear accelerator, which will produce beams of subatomic particles traveling at half the speed of light.
Reid Goniwiecha, regional sales manager for Superior Materials LLC, said it will take 19 trucks about eight hours to do the job.
He said crews will need to complete four more concrete pours just to finish the floor of the tunnel. The next pour will take place in a couple of weeks, after the area has been waterproofed and reinforced with steel.
The $730 million research facility known as FRIB is funded by the Department of Energy Office of Science, Michigan State University and the State of Michigan. The university won a national competition to host the project in 2008.
The 227,000 square foot building is expected to open sometime between 2020 and 2022.
Saginaw
Man convicted of halfway house murders in 2013
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan jury has convicted a man of murder for fatally shooting two men in a Saginaw halfway house last year.
The Saginaw News reports the jury took about 30 minutes to convict Willie Blakney on Tuesday of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder. The 25-year-old was convicted in the Sept. 25 shooting deaths of Joseph Ball and Donyea Johnson. He also was convicted of assault with intent to kill Michael Skipper, who was shot but survived.
First-degree premeditated murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Blakney’s lawyer says his client will appeal.
Detroit
Ex-Detroit official Pugh wants sex lawsuit tossed
DETROIT (AP) — Former Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a teenager who says Pugh made sexual advances toward him.
The Detroit News reports that Pugh in a filing on Monday denies allegations made by the teen. The filing says he’s representing himself in the case.
A complaint filed in June says Pugh sent suggestive texts and spent money on the teen as part of a sexual grooming plan. The boy’s lawyer, Bill Seikaly, has said that Detroit Public Schools failed to protect his client from Pugh, who met the teen through a school leadership forum.
The school district has said a vigorous defense is planned.
Pugh resigned from the council last year and has been living in New York.
Negaunee
$200K upgrade planned at iron mining museum
NEGAUNEE, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan museum that chronicles the state’s iron mining history will receive a $200,000 renovation.
The Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee Township plans to focus on the addition of 21st century upgrades, the Mining Journal reported. It will incorporate modern technology to educate and engage visitors of all ages.
Troy Henderson, a historian with the Michigan Historical Center, said the exhibits will be updated to include the current state of the iron industry. He said a lot has changed in the past few decades.
“When the museum was built in 1987, the iron industry at that point, it was looking kind of bleak, actually,” Henderson said. “And since then, that hasn’t been the case ... It’s really picked up and the market has become more global.”
He said the industry’s revival can be credited to the development of mining technology. The upgraded exhibits will tell that important story through interactive media.
Museum officials also hope to create a database of newspaper articles that will allow people to search for information about miners who were killed or injured.
The museum’s remodeling efforts will be funded by five annual donations of $40,000 from Cliffs Foundation. The first phase of construction is set to begin this winter.
Covert Township
Agency finds that plant breached nuke security plan
COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Federal regulators have determined Palisades Nuclear Plant staff willfully violated the plant’s security plan in 2012.
The Kalamazoo Gazette reports the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an order Tuesday to the owner of the Lake Michigan shoreline facility following a settlement.
The plant is owned by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. and has had numerous shutdowns in recent years. Entergy’s nuclear division disputes that the actions were willful. It has agreed to take corrective actions for failure to follow procedures.
The order involves an incident in which an unqualified employee filled two hours of a shift for a security department worker. Regulators say the incident was of very low security significance.
The agency said in June that plant operators have improved their safety performance but work culture problems persist.
Lansing
Advocacy group: Getting health subsidies is OK
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An advocacy group for the poor says that the 237,000 Michigan residents who are getting subsidies for health insurance under the federal health law shouldn’t feel any immediate effect from one court’s ruling against the program.
A divided panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled Tuesday that the law authorizes tax credits only for people who buy insurance through state-established markets. Michigan’s program relies on the federal health exchange.
Later Tuesday, a federal appeals court in Virginia reached the opposite conclusion.
The Michigan League for Public Policy says it’s confident the law will be upheld.
Democrat Mark Totten criticized Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette for backing the lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. Schuette says Congress should “get the IRS out” of the health care system.
