State Roundup

Ann Arbor
University of Michigan acquires Hayden's papers

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - The University of Michigan has acquired the papers of Tom Hayden, an alumnus and founding member of Students for a Democratic Society, the school announced Tuesday.

The SDS was created at the University of Michigan, and its early declaration, the Port Huron Statement, helped embody the idealism of the early 1960s. The group supported civil rights, opposed the nuclear arms race and was critical of the U.S. government.

"Tom was there 'at the creation,' you might say, of '60s protest movements," said Michigan history professor Howard Brick.

The Tom Hayden Papers, which includes personal documents, photographs and recordings, will open Sept. 18 for access by external scholars, as well as U-M faculty and undergraduate and graduate students.

Also included in the collection is Hayden's extensive FBI file, which contains detailed government records of his travels, speeches and other activities spanning the 1960s and '70s. Hayden, along with ex-wife Jane Fonda and folk singer Joan Baez, acquired the documents after successfully suing the federal government over suspected illegal surveillance.

In the decades since his student activism, Hayden served as a California state lawmaker and wrote 20 books. His latest is "Inspiring Participatory Democracy: Student Movements from Port Huron to Today."

Hayden plans to be back on campus Sept. 15-21 to engage with students and discuss the collection.

"Ann Arbor is really where a new life began for me. So many memories are deeply embedded there," he said. "There are so many 'nuggets' in these thousands of pages, and I want to share my interpretations with the young student researchers who will become the future."

Traverse City
Man relocates 156-year-old marble headstone

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - A Michigan man has moved his great-great-grandmother's marble headstone to northwestern Michigan after it spent 156 years at an Ontario cemetery.

Tim Carroll, 76, of Mapleton recently completely a four-year effort to bring Dorothy Carroll's 500-pound headstone to her husband Peter Carroll's final resting place, the Traverse City Record-Eagle reported.

"I guess it's because I'm a hopeless romantic," Tim Carroll said. "I hated the thought of her being there all alone. She was over there by herself; he was over here by himself."

Tim Carroll said he was concerned that construction and fluctuating weather would destroy the headstone within the next several years.

"Between the freezing and thawing and lichens, I don't think it (the marker) was going to last another 10 years," he said. "I mean, 'ashes to ashes' and all of that, but you don't want to see your relatives turn to ash before your eyes."

After carefully documenting Dorothy Carroll's lineage and making necessary arrangements, Tim Carroll drove a pickup truck across the Canadian border to Oakwood Cemetery in Traverse City.

A brief memorial service was held at the gravesite Monday afternoon.

Lansing
Study: Michigan lacks disaster plans for children

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - An aid group says Michigan doesn't require a basic safety plan to protect children in school and child care from disasters.

Save the Children on Tuesday released its 2014 National Report Card on Protecting Children in Disasters.

After Hurricane Katrina exposed problems in the nation's disaster preparedness, the presidentially appointed National Commission on Children and Disaster issued final recommendations in 2010. It called on states to require K-12 schools to have comprehensive disaster preparedness plans and child care centers to have disaster plans for evacuation, family reunification and special needs students.

According to the Save the Children study, Michigan and Iowa do not require any of the four recommended plans.

A message seeking comment was left before business hours Tuesday with a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder.

Mount Clemens
Archdiocese finds priest 'negligent' in sexual assault

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) - The Archdiocese of Detroit has found a Mount Clemens priest was "negligent" when he didn't promptly report a sexual assault on church property to police.

The archdioceses says an investigation by a panel of church law judges concluded Rev. Michael Cooney of St. Peter's Catholic Church didn't properly notify police in 2011. The panel says Cooney failed to take measures to protect a 14-year-old girl when he learned a 19-year-old usher had sexually abused her at a church event.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron says Cooney has apologized for not taking action. He says he's requiring Cooney to make a retreat and write letters of apology to people involved.

The teen's family filed a lawsuit in Macomb County court against the 19-year-old, Cooney and the archdiocese. An undisclosed settlement was reached in 2013.

Saugatuck Township
Conservationists try to rescue Sau­gatuck channel

SAUGATUCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Michigan conservationists are seeking to reclaim land purchased eight years ago by an Oklahoma businessman.

The state Department of Natural Resources applied for a $500,000 grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to buy more than 150 acres north of the Kalamazoo River, the Grand Rapids Press reported.

Aubrey McClendon bought 412 acres, more than 300 of which have yet to be developed, spanning both sides of the Saugatuck channel in 2006. The department hopes to buy McClendon's untouched land near Saugatuck Dunes State Park in an effort to protect the remaining area, even though the land is not on the market.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We don't want to let it pass without making a real attempt to save that land," said Vaughn Maatman, director of the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, which is working closely with the department to carry forth the effort.

The group is working with the department to raise private funds for the Saugatuck channel effort. It ultimately hopes to secure all 315 acres, which includes roughly 1,700 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline and 2,400 feet along the Kalamazoo River.

"We think this really could be one of the crown jewels in the state system," Maatman said.

The Land Conservancy gave McClendon $19 million for 171 acres on the channel's south side in 2009.

McClendon, who has been battling with conservationists and government officials to develop the northern section of his land for years, was last known to be asking $40 million for the entire property.

Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said he is interested in preserving the land through a mix of public and private funding if it can be secured.

"There's nothing more spectacular than the Lake Michigan shoreline through that dune area," Creagh said.

The department's application for funding is limited to 150 acres, he said, because the land would buffer Saugatuck Dunes State Park if McClendon is able to continue with his development plans. But the application can be amended later to include more property, according to a department spokesperson.

Paul Yauk, land program manager for the department's Parks and Recreation Division, said he's hopeful the land will be available.

"We'll keep our fingers crossed. I think if we come up with the dollars, we'll have a willing seller," he said.

Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund board members are expected to make final decisions on park projects in December.