Daily Briefs . . .

Man accused of forced labor sentenced to prison for child abuse

DETROIT (AP) — A man accused of using African children as forced labor in his Ypsilanti home has been sentenced after being convicted of child abuse.

The Ann Arbor News reports Wednesday that 46-year-old Jean-Claude Toviave was ordered Monday to spend 7 years 11 months to 15 years in prison.

Toviave was a political dissident in Togo before being granted asylum in the U.S. He helped four children emigrate from that country in 2006 with fraudulent papers. They said they were beaten if they didn’t follow orders to vacuum, iron, cook, clean and shine shoes at their Ypsilanti home.

Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge David Swartz told Toviave that “there is absolutely no excuse” for the abuse.
Toviave earlier was convicted on federal forced labor charges, but that was overturned.

 

Ford jumps into the car-sharing pool  with pilot program


NEW YORK (AP) — Ford is following the ride-sharing craze, launching its own pilot program in six U.S. cities and in London.

Under the program, customers who finance their vehicles through Ford Motor Credit will be able to rent their vehicle to pre-screened drivers for short-term use, helping to defray some monthly vehicle ownership costs.

“As most vehicles are parked and out of use much of the time, this can help us gauge our customers’ desires to pick up extra cash and keep their vehicles in use,” David McClelland, Ford Credit vice president of marketing, said in a written statement.

Ford Motor Co. said that 14,000 customers in the U.S. will be invited to participate, along with 12,000 in London.

U.S. customers will partake through ride-share company Getaround, while London customers will use easyCar Club.

The program is being offered through November to Ford Credit customers in Chicago, Washington D.C., Portland, Oregon and California locations including Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco.

The ride-sharing industry is showing strong growth and more traditional auto companies are clamoring to get aboard.

Avis spent $491 million two years ago to buy Zipcar, tapping into strong demand for short-term car rentals in urban areas. Enterprise runs CarShare and Daimler AG runs Car2Go in multiple European and U.S. cities.

The number of users has doubled over six years, according to the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at the University of California. While it is tiny compared with the traditional car rental industry, annual revenue has reached about $400 million, researchers found.

 

Holiday Hours
 

The 36th District Court and the Third Circuit Court will be closed on July 3 in observance of Independence Day. The court will reopen July 6. The Wayne County Probate Court will be closed in observance of Independence Day on Friday, July 3, 2015  and will reopen on July 6, at 8 a.m.

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