State Round Up

Detroit: DMC: $500M in work to start when sale is complete
DETROIT (AP) — The head of the Detroit Medical Center says it will start 15 construction projects costing $500 million immediately on completion of its sale to Vanguard Health Systems Inc.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox still must approve the deal. Cox spokeswoman Joy Yearout said Monday that Cox's review should be completed by early September.

With Cox's OK, the eight-hospital nonprofit organization is scheduled to become part of the for-profit Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard on Oct. 1.

Medical Center chief executive Mike Duggan says the 15 projects will create 5,000 construction jobs.

Sale terms include Vanguard making $850 million in capital improvements over five years and paying off $417 million in medical center debt.

Traverse City: 5 Great Lakes states sue feds over Asian carp
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Five states are suing the federal government and Chicago's water department in federal court, demanding stronger action to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in northern Illinois.

It seeks an order to close Chicago shipping locks and gates that could provide a pathway to Lake Michigan for the voracious fish. The U.S. Supreme Court refused twice this year to order the locks closed.

State officials say the situation has become more urgent since a live Asian carp was found within a few miles of Lake Michigan last month.

The suit also asks for an expedited study of permanently separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins.

East Lansing: MSU heads $9.1M malaria prevention campaign in Malawi
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University is leading a $9.1 million federal research project in Malawi to try to control and stop the spread of malaria.

The university says the goal is to start a self-sustained research entity that can implement and test tactics against the mosquito-borne parasite that kills 1 million people worldwide each year.

The National Institutes of Health finances the work. Michigan State began malaria research in Malawi in 1985.

Internal medicine professor Terrie Taylor is leading the study. She spends half the year treating mainly child malaria patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi.

Malawi has 13 million people and had 4.4 million known malaria cases in the 12 months through June 2007.

Lansing: New network links authorities with broadcasters
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is starting a new emergency alert system that gives authorities a secure way to get notice to broadcasters.

The Michigan Emergency Alert System starts full operations Monday. It lets state police and emergency managers send messages to key radio and TV stations statewide.

The federally funded project can send the messages by both Internet and satellite for backup.

The messages can be sent in a short length format suitable for websites and text messages to mobile devices.

Utica: State seeks a few good women for handgun class
UTICA, Mich. (AP) — State wildlife officials have created a handgun safety and training class designed especially for women.

The $30 class will be held Monday at the Detroit Sportsmen’s Congress in the Detroit suburb of Utica.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment is offering the Introduction to Handgun Shooting through BOW, or its Becoming an Outdoors Woman program.

The class is designed to teach basic handgun shooting skills, including firearm safety, fundamentals of pistol shooting, ammunition basics and tips on buying a handgun.

South Lyon: Police: Woman killed daughter, 13, tried suicide
SOUTH LYON, Mich. (AP) — Police say a southeastern Michigan woman killed her disabled 13-year-old daughter with an overdose of prescription drugs, then tried to kill herself.

Police in South Lyon say a home health care worker found the 52-year-old woman and her daughter unconscious in bed Saturday. The daughter was declared dead at the scene.

Police say the girl had mental and physical disabilities and was abusive to her mother.

Police tell The Detroit News, WWJ-AM, WHMI-FM and WDIV-TV the mother is being treated for a drug overdose at a hospital.

Flint: Man, 40, dies after falling off golf cart
VENICE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Shiawassee County Sheriff officials say alcohol may have been a factor in the death of a 40-year-old Flint man who struck his head on the pavement after being thrown from a golf cart.

Police say David Webster died Saturday at McLaren Medical Center in Flint of injuries suffered after he was thrown from the cart at the Holiday Shores Campground and Resort.

The Argus-Press in Owosso says Webster was one of four people riding on the cart at the resort in Venice Township late Friday night. Police said the vehicle’s driver, a 41-year-old Flint man, made a turn, throwing Webster off.

Detroit: Detroit Historical Society marks city’s 309th
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Historical Society is celebrating the city’s 309th birthday with a day of events.

Detroit was founded July 24, 1701, but the City of Detroit’s 309th Birthday Party takes place this Sunday at the Detroit Historical Museum. Highlights include a “Belles and Bachelors of Fort Detroit” performance.

Admission is free.

The birthday event kicks off a week of free admission and extended hours at the Detroit Historical Museum. Starting Monday and running through July 25, the Historical Museum will be open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.