Daily Briefs

Man charged with killing parakeet in Detroit-area pet shop


ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — A man faces criminal charges for allegedly stomping a parakeet to death inside a Detroit-area pet shop.

Ali Chehade, 22, of Dearborn, was arraigned Thursday on third-degree animal killing, the Wayne County prosecutor’s office said.

A judge ordered Chehade to undergo a psychological evaluation. He also is not allowed to have animals or pets in his home, prosecutors said.

The Associated Press was unable to immediately determine whether Chehade had an attorney who could comment on the allegations. A probable cause conference was scheduled for June 7, followed by a June 14 preliminary examination.

Police who responded to the Allen Park pet shop on May 18 for an animal cruelty complaint found the parakeet inside a smashed cardboard box. Store owner Michael Simms said a man came in upset and wanted a $30 refund for the bird.

“I calmed him down and continued to tell him, ‘I’ll give you credit. You can get anything in the store and I’ll make sure the bird is OK,’” Simms told WDIV-TV. “With how irate he was, I didn’t know how he was going to care for it. I was more worried about the animal than anything.”

But when Simms opened the box, he saw that the parakeet had a bloody wing. In an encounter recorded on store surveillance video, the man grabbed the box, threw it to the floor and stomped on it before leaving.

 

Whitmer proposes eliminating longtime school funding gap
 

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday proposed using a budget surplus to finally eliminate a funding gap among K-12 districts, 27 years after Michigan overhauled the financing of public education.

Under the Democratic governor’s revised proposal, all districts and charter schools would receive $8,692 in base per-student aid from the state. That is $581, or 7%, more for most. Districts at the top end would get an additional $163, or a nearly 2% increase.

An existing $418 gap between lower- and higher-funded schools would be fully closed.

The $664 million in proposed spending was outlined as part of a $2.6 billion plan to spend surplus state revenues and a portion of federal COVID-19 relief funding.

“With the resources we have available to us thanks to federal aid and a state surplus, we can making lasting, transformative investments in our kids and schools that will have positive impacts for generations,” Whitmer said in a statement. She announced the framework as a school in Bay City.

Whitmer proposed giving schools $500 million to hire and retain more teachers, psychologists, social workers, counselors and nurses, and to relieve student loans for mental health workers and nurses in high-need districts. Another $500 million would be used to upgrade school infrastructure.


––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/subscriptions
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available

––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available