State Roundup

Northfield Twp. Funeral set for Marine lost in 1944 bomber crash NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Nearly seven decades after his family learned he was missing in the South Pacific following a World War II bomber crash, a funeral is planned for a U.S. Marine whose remains were recovered following a search for another downed plane. Pfc. John Albert Donovan's funeral, with military honors, is scheduled to take place Friday at Old St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washtenaw County's Northfield Township, the Lansing State Journal reported. Josephine Demianenko, 82, his only surviving sibling, is expected to attend. "It's a lot of mixed feelings," she told the newspaper Tuesday. "You feel sad, but you're glad they found his remains." Donovan, who grew up in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth, was 22 at the time of the crash. Demianenko said her brother was a reserved, nice young man. "My mother always said the same thing," she said. "He was very smart. He was an A student. Real smart, but real nice. He was nice to everyone." Demianenko recalls answering the door for a telegram in April 1944, informing her parents that her brother was missing. "I gave it to my sister and she gave it to my mother when my mother came home. She was at a church meeting. She was very shocked," Demianenko said. The aerial radio operator and six other crew members were aboard a Marine Corps PBJ-1 bomber on a mission near the island of Espiritu Santo. The plane was presumed lost at sea, but it was found in 1994 by a privately funded mission scouring the rugged, remote area of the island for a wreckage of another plane. Some remains were recovered then, and others were recovered in trips that continued until 2011. The remains were identified this year, the military said. Family members gave DNA samples to help identify the remains. Following Friday's funeral service, Donovan will be buried in a family plot. "I can't wait for all this to take place," said Tim Donovan, a nephew who lives in Fowlerville. "This is just amazing to me." Detroit Detroiters find jobs on schools building program DETROIT (AP) -- City residents and Detroit-based companies have received a large chunk of the contract work being done under a $500.5 million Detroit Public Schools capital improvement program, officials said Wednesday. More than 60 percent of all subcontracts were awarded to businesses headquartered in Detroit and more than half of all worker hours were by people living in the economically stressed city, Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Roy Roberts said. Detroit's unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation, with some estimates suggesting at least one in four adults are without jobs. Under the three-year capital improvement program, which ends this year, seven schools have been built or are near completion. Nine others have been renovated and security upgrades were made at 123 schools. Four new schools will open this fall. Skilled jobs included architects and engineers. City residents also performed a variety of non-skilled jobs on the project. The regional target for local workers is between 25 percent and 45 percent, according to the school district. More than 200 Detroit students also were employed as part of a summer work program. Detroit voters approved bonds for the project in 2009. The school district "made a commitment to not only build state-of-the-art learning facilities but also to employ Detroiters while doing it," Roberts said in a news release. "I'm proud to say we beat average participation goals for our region by employing more Detroit workers and businesses which make this bond issue a success not only for our students but for our local economy and the city of Detroit." Luddington Michigan dad gets 10 to 15 years for missing baby LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) -- A West Michigan man blamed for the disappearance of his baby daughter was sentenced Tuesday to 10 to 15 years in prison for an unlawful imprisonment conviction in the case, which police say they now are treating as a homicide. Mason County Circuit Judge Richard Cooper in Ludington issued the sentence for Sean M. Phillips, 22. The charge carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison. The Victory Township man said, "No, your honor," when Cooper asked him if he wanted to say anything before the sentencing. Katherine Phillips was 4? months old when she was last seen in June 2011. She lived with her mother, Ariel Courtland, in Ludington, about 80 miles northwest of Grand Rapids. The child hasn't been found despite extensive searches. April Lange, the baby's grandmother, cried when the sentence was announced and said she was "ecstatic," the Ludington Daily News reported. Ludington police Chief Mark Barnett, county Sheriff Jeff Fiers and state police Lt. Kevin Leavitt said in a joint statement that the investigation into the baby's whereabouts "is officially transitioning to a homicide investigation" and that the FBI is also participating. The officers said investigators "are convinced that one individual, Sean Michael Phillips, knows the location of Katherine's body." "It is our belief that the evidence considered by (the jury) ... along with new evidence and information being developed, will result in the issuance of additional charges," the law officers said. County Prosecutor Paul Spaniola said Phillips took the baby from Courtland because he feared a court-ordered paternity test would confirm he was the father. A jury found Sean Phillips guilty April 27 after a two-week trial. After the sentencing, Spaniola said tiny seeds found in Phillips' tennis shoes have been germinated in hopes of determining what plants they are. That could help narrow down the search areas for the baby, Mlive.com reported. Defense lawyer Annette Smedley has said the verdict will be appealed based on the judge's instructions to jurors, among other issues. She said she doesn't know what happened to the baby. Published: Thu, Jun 7, 2012