Lansing
Michigan House panels OK $450 million for roads
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan lawmakers have taken a step toward spending $450 million a year more on deteriorating roads, mostly by redirecting existing tax dollars.
A House committee on Wednesday voted to permanently shift money from Michigan’s general fund to transportation spending. Another panel approved legislation bringing the diesel tax in line with the gasoline tax and taxing fuels on price instead of a flat per-gallon basis.
Fuel taxes would grow with inflation.
The $450 million is just a third of what Gov. Rick Snyder says is needed to bring Michigan roads up to far. Michigan’s gasoline taxes are among the country’s highest while its per-capita road spending is among the lowest because the sales tax on fuel primarily goes to non-transportation funding.
Legislators want to dedicate more of it to roads.
Flint
Life-sized Bobby Crim statue planned for city
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A life-sized statue of the founder of the Crim Festival of Races is expected to greet runners this summer at the starting line for the annual event, organizers said.
Joe Rundell of Genesee County’s Vienna Township recently finished work on the statue of Bobby Crim, The Flint Journal reported. Movers on Tuesday took the work from the sculptor’s studio to a foundry in Clarkston, where it will be cast in bronze.
The statue is to be unveiled Aug. 21, ahead of the 2014 HealthPlus Crim Festival of Races weekend. Gerry Myers, CEO of the Crim Fitness Foundation, said the statue will be installed on a small city-owned slice of property. It was commissioned by Crim directors.
“He’s going to be facing the Crim’s starting line,” Myers said.
The statue shows Crim in running gear with a Crim Race bib pinned to his shirt. He has a smile on his face and both arms outstretched in a celebration pose.
Bobby Crim said it’s exciting but that the statue wasn’t his idea. He said the real people to recognize are all the volunteers who make the event possible.
“I haven’t done that much to deserve it,” Crim said. “I think of the thousands of volunteers. ... If I could say anything, I think it’s a tribute to them.”
Crim, a former Michigan House speaker, created the Crim Road Race in 1977. The event has evolved over the years. Crim Festival of Races events this year include 10-mile, 8-kilometer and 5-kilometer races, along with the Teddy Bear Trot, on Aug. 23.
Rundell said he based the statue on several photos of Crim through the years. To make the representation of Crim, Rundell built a figure out of PVC pipe, then covered the pipe with a spray-on foam. On top of that, he added clay, and carved in details.
“It’s how he would have looked if you sort of combined a lot of different years,” said Rundell, who also has made several downtown statues of auto industry pioneers.
Ludington
Mother of man who killed state trooper pleads
LUDINGTON, Mich. (AP) — The mother of a man convicted of killing a Michigan state trooper has pleaded to an accessory charge.
The Ludington Daily News reports Tammi Lynne Spofford pleaded no contest in Mason County Circuit Court Tuesday to accessory after the fact of a felony.
The Irons resident is accused of helping her son, Eric Knysz (NIZE’), and his wife, Sarah Knysz, after the fatal shooting of Michigan State Police Trooper Paul Butterfield last year.
Spofford’s no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but will be treated as one when she is sentenced June 17.
Eric Knysz was found guilty in February of killing Butterfield and hanged himself last month at a detention center in Jackson. Sarah Knysz is serving 2-5 years in prison for accessory after the fact.
Walker
Improvements planned for western Michigan trails
WALKER, Mich. (AP) — Improvements are planned this summer for two popular recreational trails in western Michigan.
The Grand Rapids Press reports that work is slated for completion by fall on a stretch of the Fred Meijer Pioneer Trail in Walker, near Grand Rapids. A section that includes a 5-foot-wide sidewalk will be widened during a $100,000 project.
Walker has contributed $50,000 toward the cost of that project, with the remainder coming from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Meanwhile, a section of the Paul Henry Thornapple Trail will be paved. The $100,000 project includes creating a bike lane on a bridge. Gaines Township is contributing $75,000 toward the cost with another $10,000 coming from the Kent County Parks Foundation.
Both projects are in Kent County.
