Detroit
Man must pay $30K for child he didn't father
DETROIT (AP) - A judge says a Detroit man must pay $30,000 in back child support for his ex-girlfriend's child even though he's not the father.
Carnell Alexander brought his case to Wayne County Circuit Court with hopes for a fix. Instead, WXYZ-TV reports Judge Kathleen McCarthy told him Tuesday he waited too long to challenge the situation and "failed to take this matter seriously."
Alexander says the paternity case started in the 1980s when the woman gave his name to a case worker so she could get assistance for her baby. The woman agrees he's not the father and a DNA test taken years after the 1987 birth backs that up.
More challenges are planned. Alexander's lawyer Cherika Harris says an arrest warrant due to unpaid child support has been dropped.
Flint
Man faces 3rd trial in strangling of deputy's sister
FLINT, Mich. (AP) - A Flint man is facing a third trial in the 2011 strangulation death the sister of a Genesee County sheriff's deputy.
The Flint Journal reports jury selection is Wednesday for the trial of Lorenzo Relerford Jr. in the death of 47-year-old Jeanne Hank of Grand Blanc.
Jurors convicted Relerford in 2012 of first-degree felony murder and a judge sentenced him to the mandatory term of life in prison without parole. The Michigan appeals court in 2013 court threw out the conviction, saying his rights were violated when the jury saw his leg shackles.
Prosecutors have said there was plenty of evidence even if jurors formed a bad opinion of Relerford based on the shackles.
A second trial ended last year in a mistrial after jurors couldn't reach a verdict.
Flint
Mother, daughter charged with false pretenses
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A Flint woman is accused of trying to pose as her mother to work as a substitute teacher.
Twenty-four-year-old Dayonlynn Bell and her mother, 44-year-old Donna Farley, each pleaded not guilty to a charge of false pretenses Tuesday. Both asked for court-appointed attorneys.
According to a press release, Bell used her mother's teacher identification Monday while pretending to be a substitute teacher at Riverside Elementary School in Waterford Township. She was arrested after being confronted by school officials.
Bell allegedly told investigators with the Watertown Police Department that she impersonated her mother because Farley didn't want to miss an appointment. The police department claims the women admitted they followed through with the scheme because they needed money.
Both of them are scheduled to return to court next week.
Ann Arbor
City commits to more affordable priced rentals
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - Ann Arbor has committed to creating nearly 2,800 new affordable priced rental units in the city by 2035.
City Council this week voted 10-1 to adopt affordable housing goals, The Ann Arbor News reported. That's part of a larger goal of adding 3,137 affordable non-student rental units between Ann Arbor and Pittsfield Township over the next 20 years.
Officials also hope to increase demand for market-rate housing in the Ypsilanti area by 4,187 units.
The goals are in a consultant's report identifying a number of possible tools to expand the supply of affordable housing, including changes in zoning, policy and other measures. Additional funding from Ann Arbor also would be part of the likely plans.
Mayor Christopher Taylor said difficult community conversations will take place about next steps for the plans in Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan. Regardless, Taylor said affordable housing is a worthy goal that reflects the city's values.
"It's something that we as a community truly care about, and I think this will give us an opportunity moving forward to see where we care about it," he said.
The council supported the creation of a regional workgroup to advance the goals identified in consultant's report.
Councilman Jack Eaton cast the dissenting vote. He said he supports the city's efforts to fund affordable housing, but that the report, which he called "ill conceived," goes too far.
"It has at its core this idea that we can change market forces through government intervention, and I have found that when the government meddles in markets, you end up with considerable unforeseen consequences," Eaton said.
Lansing
Michigan lobbyists spent near record $37M in 2014
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A new report says lobbyists spent a near record total of about $37 million in 2014 trying to influence legislation in Michigan.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network said Tuesday that lobbyists' spending in 2014 totaled $37,038,329. That's just short of the record spending reported for 2012, a total of $37,152,883.
Several lobbyists' reports for the last few months of 2014 still need to be filed, so it's possible that the 2014 total could set a new record.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network says the state's disclosure laws leave the public "largely in the dark about lobbyists' activity."
The law doesn't require lobbyists to disclose the specific causes they promoted.
Eastpointe
Man charged in stabbing deaths of baby, girlfriend
EASTPOINTE, Mich. (AP) - Southeastern Michigan authorities say a 30-year-old man fatally stabbed his girlfriend and their 13-month-old daughter at their home in the Detroit suburb of Eastpointe.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith says that Curtis Hampton has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths 29-year-old Monique Rakowski and her daughter Carmon.
Mike Rakowski says he was concerned about the whereabouts of his daughter and granddaughter when he went to their Eastpointe home and discovered their bodies Thursday.
Smith says Hampton was being arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Eastpointe District Court. It wasn't immediately known if he has a lawyer.
Authorities say Hampton surrendered after the attack to police in Dearborn.
First-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison without possibility of parole.
Published: Thu, Feb 19, 2015
