State Roundup

Detroit
Dog rescue group gets dogs from animal control
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit-based dog rescue group is getting its first transfer of dogs from Detroit Animal Control.

Detroit Dog Rescue, which operates a no-kill shelter, says it received seven dogs on Tuesday after lobbying to be able to get dogs from animal control.
The transfer comes after Detroit Animal Control announced last week it was partnering with the Michigan Humane Society to make dozens of dogs a month available for transfer to rescue and foster organizations. Animal control has been criticized for its kill rate.

Detroit also announced that it’s moving animal control oversight back to the health department from the police department, where it was moved in 2012.

Saginaw
Plans delayed for year-round indoor farmers market
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Plans for a year-round indoor farmers market in Saginaw and relocating the city’s outdoor market are being pushed back to 2017.

The former offices of The Saginaw News will host the indoor market, commercial kitchen space, a ballroom, conference space and offices. That market and a new site for the Downtown Saginaw Farmers’ Market had been expected to open in 2016.

SVRC Industries, a nonprofit that provides services including access to job training and placement, is taking the lead on the building project. Dean Emerson, SVRC’s president and chief operating officer, tells The Saginaw News renovation will begin in May.

Demolition at an ex-Firestone Tire site will make way for the new outdoor market. The old market will operate under tents again next year.

Covert Township
Nuclear plant back in service after $58M project
COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Palisades nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan has returned to service after a $58 million refueling, maintenance and inspection project.

New Orleans-based Entergy, which owns the plant, has said it shut down automatically Sept. 16 due to a failure in the turbine generator system — a non-nuclear, non-safety related system. Entergy used the shutdown to get a start a few days earlier than planned on the project.

Safety upgrades ordered after the Japanese nuclear accident at Fukushima in 2011 also were made.

Entergy says the plant in Van Buren County’s Covert Township on the shore of Lake Michigan was reconnected to the grid Monday night.

Entergy also says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has returned Palisades to the agency’s highest safety category after giving it increased scrutiny.

Escanaba
Man heading to trial in deaths of 3 found in car
MANISTIQUE, Mich. (AP) — A 47-year-old man is heading to trial in the deaths of three people whose bodies were found in a burned-out car in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The Daily Press of Escanaba reports Garry Cordell was found competent for trial and a hearing was held Monday to determine whether there was enough evidence to send the case to trial.

The Manistique man is charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful imprisonment.

The court heard testimony from 46-year-old Kenneth Brunke, a former co-defendant who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and lying to a peace officer.
The bodies of 31-year-old Carrie Nelson, 25-year-old Heather Aldrich and 42-year-old Jody Hutchinson were found April 17 in Doyle Township, 70 miles southeast of Marquette.

Police have said the motive appears to be drug-related.

Maryville
Officials unveil plans for former power plant site
MARYSVILLE, Mich. (AP) — Proposed redevelopment plans have been unveiled for the former site of a coal-fired power plant in Marysville.

Mayor Dan Damman announced the plans Monday during his state of the city address. Officials want to demolish the DTE plant and transform the nearly 30-acre space into a multi-use destination along the waterfront, complete with a five-story hotel, a condominium building, a general retail building, and a two-story building with restaurants and other dining options.

The Times Herald reports that the proposal also calls for a riverfront promenade, a park, a marina and public dock, bike paths, and a fitness center.
Officials say it’s too early to provide a cost estimate for the redevelopment project, but the city won’t be responsible for cleaning up the site after demolition.


Grand Rapids
Man biking from Calif. to Florida for veterans
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man plans to bike more than 3,500 miles from California to Florida to raise money for a national nonprofit that supports injured veterans.

WOOD-TV reports that Grant Bergsma of Grandville is set to embark Nov. 1 from Los Angeles and pedal his way to Marco Island, Florida, by Dec. 7. He hopes to raise $100,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that offers support and services to veterans who have suffered physical or mental injuries to help them readjust to civilian life.

The Grand Rapids Press reports that Bergsma completed a 1,700-mile bicycle trek from Grandville to Marco Island in 2013 to raise money for Lou Gehrig’s disease in honor of a late family friend.

Fruitport Township
Woman who ran  animal rescue gets probation
FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A woman who ran a now-condemned animal rescue operation in western Michigan that was overrun with more than 1,000 rats has been placed on probation.

The Muskegon Chronicle reports 54-year-old Christine Lea Bishop of Muskegon County’s Fruitport Township was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in agreement that bars her from running her own animal-rescue service for two years.

If she sticks to probation terms, Bishop’s felony animal-neglect conviction will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Her lawyer Susan Knoll says Bishop is getting counseling.

Bishop ran Critter Cafe Rescue and has said the rat population started with a cage of pet rats outside the rented building in winter. Rabbits, ducks and cats also were cared for there. Authorities say she was overwhelmed. The operation was effectively shut down in mid-May.

Ann Arbor
Botanical garden displays clone of old redwood tree
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A sapling grown from the roots of a gigantic tree that was felled more than a century ago is on display at the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

The sapling is a clone of a coastal redwood taken from the Fieldbrook Stump in Humboldt County, California, which is 33 feet in diameter. Although the tree was cut down around 1890, the parent stump has continued producing sprouts.

The Michigan-based Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, which makes genetic copies of the world’s oldest and largest trees, developed the sapling.

It’s about 3 feet high and can be seen for the next several weeks at the Matthaei-Nichols gardens in Ann Arbor, which eventually will donate it to a botanical garden or organization where conditions offer a good chance for survival.

Lansing
State gets grant for behavioral health clinics
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has been awarded more than $980,000 to develop certified community behavioral health clinics.

Michigan is among 24 states chosen to receive a planning grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The state health department will use the funding to develop criteria for certified community behavioral health clinics, establish a payment system and prepare an application to participate in a two-year demonstration program.

In order to be considered a certified community behavioral health clinic, organizations must serve adults with mental illnesses, children with emotional disturbances and those struggling with substance abuse..

Howell
Man gets life for robbery, slaying
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man who drew scrutiny from investigators after a Facebook post about how to spend $30,000 has been sentenced to life in prison in the slaying of a landscaper known to carry cash.

WHMI-FM and the Livingston Daily Press & Argus of Howell report Monday that Anthony Sean Duke told a Livingston County court that he was innocent in the fatal shooting of 47-year-old Ronald Hauser.

The 26-year-old Duke of Webberville was convicted of murder. Hauser was found slain in December 2011.

A sheriff's investigator has said he repeatedly questioned Duke after learning about the 2012 social media post. Authorities say the post read: "What to do?? ... 30K I have to spend."
The post was made about a month after Hauser's death.

Warren
GM partners with DTE on solar array at plant
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — General Motors Co. is partnering with DTE Energy Co. to build an 800-kilowatt solar array at its Warren Transmission plant.
Detroit-based GM says 2,800 solar panels will generate electricity that will go back to the grid. DTE will own the array on 4.25 acres of land leased from GM.

Warren Transmission builds front-wheel drive transmissions for a variety of GM’s vehicles as well as the drive unit for the 2016 Chevrolet Volt.
GM says the solar array will generate about 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the annual electricity needs of about 135 homes.

GM currently houses 46 megawatts of solar power at 19 facilities around the world.