Daily Briefs

State Supreme Court rejects appeal in snowmobile deaths


MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — The families of two sisters whose snowmobile plunged off a cliff on Mackinac Island in 2010 will get a chance to take their case to a jury.

The Michigan Supreme Court last week turned down an appeal from Arctic Cat, the snowmobile maker, although two justices wanted to hear the case. It means a key decision by the state appeals court will stand.

Karen Schwarck and Edith Bonno died when their snowmobile went into reverse and over the West Bluff on Mackinac Island. The appeals court said there’s enough evidence to have a jury decide whether a reverse alarm on the snowmobile was defective.

Justices Brian Zahra and Stephen Markman wanted the Supreme Court to take the case. Zahra says the theory offered by relatives is “no more probable” than others.

 

Former ‘Survivor’ contestant gets sentenced to prison for child porn
 

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A former contestant of the CBS TV show “Survivor” has been sentenced to at least a year in prison for possessing child pornography.

Michael Skupin appeared Tuesday in Oakland County court in suburban Detroit. He asked for mercy from the judge and said he’s “deeply sorry.” But Skupin denied downloading the photos on his laptop.

In a separate case, he was placed on probation and ordered to pay $31,800 to victims of a financial scheme. During that investigation, authorities found child porn on Skupin’s laptop. He was convicted in November.
Skupin will be eligible for parole after a year. The longest he can be kept in prison is four years.

In 2001, Skupin had to be evacuated from the “Survivor II: The Australian Outback” after falling into a campfire, but he returned for “Survivor: Philippines” in 2012.

 

CIA photography and Rosie the  Riveter topics of museum talks

 


YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Yankee Air Museum in southeastern Michigan is offering a double-header presentation next week ranging from World War II's Rosie the Riveter to modern-day CIA photography.

The Ypsilanti Township museum has scheduled the talks for Jan. 4 featuring Rosie the Riveter chronicler Donnaleen Lanktree and intelligence historian Michael Lechlitner.

Lechlitner will discuss how photos can aid the CIA with national security, natural disaster relief and global disease awareness. Lanktree plans to share some of the many "Rosie" stories she has collected.

The museum is in part of the former Willow Run Bomber Plant. That's where Rose Will Monroe and other workers built the B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II.

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