State Roundup

Seville Township Worker rescues boy during attack by 4 Rottweilers SEVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Four Rottweilers attacked an 8-year-old boy in central Michigan, and his mother said they would have killed her son if not for a construction worker who came to the rescue. The dogs attacked Ethan Nokes, of Riverdale, on Monday in the fenced yard of a relative in Gratiot County's Seville Township, state police said. The boy was familiar with the dogs and was in the yard with a brother, police said. "They were out to kill him, no question," Ethan's mother, Doris Gifford, told WWTV. Kenneth Hansen, who owns a construction business and was working nearby, heard Ethan's screams, ran over and jumped the fence into the yard. "They were pulling on him in every direction. In another 30 seconds they would have torn him up," Hansen told The Daily News of Greenville. Police said Hansen carried Ethan into the house as the dogs were trying to pull the boy from his grasp. The dogs followed them inside. "I tried to keep my body between the dogs and him ... and they were yanking on him trying to get him away from me," Hansen said. Ethan, who had 22 bite wounds, was treated at a hospital and released, police said. Hansen wasn't injured during the rescue. Animal control was holding the dogs, which might be euthanized. The Gratiot County prosecutor's office is expected to review the case for possible charges against the dogs' owner. "I think that God put him there for a reason I have absolute faith in that," Gifford said. "I don't know. I don't have any other explanation other than it's God's timing and that's how things work. Gaylord Man blamed for heroin death will get new sentence GAYLORD, Mich. (AP) - The state appeals court says a northern Michigan judge went too far in sentencing a man to at least 20 years in prison for selling heroin that caused the death of an 18-year-old in Gaylord. The court says the reasons given by Otsego County Judge Dennis Murphy didn't justify a sentence that exceeded the guidelines. Anthony Beaty admitted selling heroin to someone who supplied it to Aubrey Checks. She died of an overdose in 2011. Beaty pleaded guilty to delivering a drug causing death. His guidelines called for a minimum sentence of seven to 11 years, but the judge believed 20 was more appropriate. A judge must give "substantial and compelling" reasons to go outside the guidelines. The appeals court says Murphy's reasons were improper. Lansing Cotter to propose alternative road plan in a few days LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A top Republican lawmaker says he will propose an alternative plan to increase road spending in "days, not weeks." House Speaker Kevin Cotter said Wednesday his plan will be "heavily dependent" on diverting money from elsewhere in the budget as opposed to tax increases. He's not ruling out a tax hike but says voters don't think $1.2 billion in additional spending on transportation should "all come from new revenue." Cotter supported Proposal 1, the 1-percentage point sales tax hike that voters defeated by a 4-1 ratio on Tuesday. He says the Republican-controlled Legislature should consider pulling money from restricted funds to pay for roads, mentioning economic development dollars. Some voters blamed lawmakers for punting the issue to them, and Cotter now says he'd prefer that legislators directly find a fix. East Lansing Proposal to decriminalize marijuana passes EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Voters in East Lansing have approved a measure to decriminalize marijuana. Unofficial returns from Tuesday's vote showed 65 percent in favor of the proposal and 35 percent voting against the measure. The charter amendment was to make the use, possession and transfer of up to 1 ounce of the marijuana legal for people 21 years or older on private property. Voters in a number of Michigan communities have approved similar measures in recent years. The vote comes amid statewide marijuana legalization efforts. Michigan bans marijuana use and possession unless it's medical marijuana. Howell Opening remarks made in Michigan road rage killing HOWELL, Mich. (AP) - A 69-year-old man charged with murder in the fatal shooting of another motorist in southeastern Michigan fired in self-defense after being punched in the jaw, a defense lawyer told jurors Tuesday. The case has been described as a fatal incident of road rage. But Martin Zale's attorney said it was the victim, Derek Flemming, who was the aggressor, not her client. Zale "had no other way to get out of it than to revert to his training and shoot in self-defense," Melissa Pearce said in her opening remarks. Flemming, 43, was killed last September near Howell, 45 miles northwest of Detroit. His wife, Amy Flemming, has said he walked up to Zale's pickup truck to complain about aggressive driving while both were stopped in traffic. Assistant prosecutor Daniel Rose told the jury that none of his witnesses will say that Flemming punched Zale, the Livingston Daily Press & Argus reported. "The shot came so fast (Flemming) didn't see it coming. ... The act he committed was nothing short of murder," Rose said of Zale. Pearce said Zale was aware of news stories about a Detroit-area soccer referee who was killed by a punch last summer and a local man who was pulled from a car and beaten. Those incidents, along with a heart condition, put Zale in "imminent fear" when he pulled the trigger, she said. Grand Rapids City removes cross display that began years ago GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Grand Rapids has removed a display of crosses on public property after the American Civil Liberties Union contacted the city. Pastor Van Covington, who helped start the display four decades ago, discovered the crosses were gone a few weeks ago when he went to pray at the site. The Grand Rapids Press reports the display ended Jan. 27, when city workers snapped the crosses off at their bases. In 1975, Covington took a first cross down after city officials told him it couldn't remain. He put up another the following year and added two more crosses when the city didn't ask him to take it down. The ACLU, however, contacted the city attorney's office Jan. 20. ACLU lawyer Miriam Aukerman says the ACLU received a complaint about the crosses. Published: Thu, May 07, 2015