|
Thursday, April 1, 2004
ACLU to study inmates' cases
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan will examine cases of 150 state inmates who are serving sentences of life in prison without parole for crimes committed when they were juveniles.
The prisoners, ages 17 to 73, are serving their terms for murders committed when they were 16 and younger, said attorney Deborah Labelle, director of the project.
DISAPPEARANCE: Body is not missing New Haven woman
Police had hoped to solve one mystery, but instead they're left with two.
The body discovered last week in an Ottawa County lake was not Judith Mattise, the New Haven woman missing since May 20, police said Wednesday.
LIVING A SAILOR'S DREAM: Doug and Sara's big adventure
She had breast cancer. Then he had a heart attack.
So Doug Roberts, formerly of Ann Arbor, and Sara Boys, who used to hail from Flint, decided an adjustment was in order.
Their lives now move at a languid pace around ports-of-call with names like lyrics -- Brindisi, Lefkas, Koroni.
State Senate OKs dove hunting
LANSING -- Hunters won an apparent short-lived victory Wednesday as the Senate voted to allow the hunting of mourning doves, a songbird protected in Michigan for 99 years.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she will veto the bill because it would not put the controversial dove hunting issue to a public vote, a spokesperson said.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Conservative majority is altering court's methods
Four justices who joined the Michigan Supreme Court since 1997 form a solid, conservative majority, a Free Press analysis of cases decided in 2002-03 shows.
Chief Justice Maura Corrigan, and Justices Stephen Markman, Clifford Taylor and Robert Young Jr., all nominated by the Republican Party, formed the core of the majority opinion on almost every decision, the analysis found.
Highway ruling shows court's differences
One of the more notorious decisions by the Michigan Supreme Court in recent years involved the rights of injured parties to sue over alleged highway defects.
Fans of the court consider it a marvel of principled decision-making. Critics call it an abomination.
Hunting vote could fly either way today
LANSING -- The effort to legalize dove hunting is headed for a showdown in the Senate today, but unless lawmakers put the question on a ballot, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said she'll veto it.
IN COURT: Attorney general to appeal petition ruling
The state attorney general said Tuesday his office will appeal a lower court ruling that said a state board should not have approved petition forms being circulated by a group trying to end affirmative action at Michigan public universities and other public agencies.
Pollution limits exceeded by many
Nearly half of Michigan's large companies and municipalities polluted more than their permits allowed during an 18-month period studied by a research group.
And that was good, compared with other states.
State marks new holiday with visits, food
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and other leaders will travel the state today celebrating Michigan's first Cesar Chavez Day, commemorating the life of the late champion of farmworkers rights.
Chavez founded the United Farm Workers of America union and was a strong advocate for worker rights and social justice in Michigan in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Video lottery spurs race to build tracks
With video lottery terminals a looming possibility for Michigan horse tracks, the race to get in the game is on among people who've never owned a track.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Hearing on judge's conduct to be set
The Michigan Supreme Court is expected to appoint a master within two weeks to hear evidence in a sexual harassment complaint against 53rd District Judge Frank R. Del Vero.
NEWS IN A MINUTE: Politics -- It's official: Marlinga running for re-election
The superintendent of the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center has been added to a federal lawsuit filed by a former detainee.
Ron Gekiere is the seventh defendant in the U.S. District Court suit filed by Eric Seales of Roseville in December. Macomb County also is a defendent.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Body in lake could end search for New Haven woman
Police in Ottawa County should know today or Tuesday whether a body found in a west Michigan lake is that of a Macomb County woman who disappeared last May.
Drain commissioners know flow
CHARLEVOIX -- Jo Anne Bier Beemon campaigned with a plunger in her hand and an aluminum boat strapped to her '87 Ford.
"Only rain to the drain. Slow the flow," the 57-year-old Ada native declared as she was elected Charlevoix County drain commissioner -- the only member of the Green Party to win an election in Michigan in 2000.
Judge facing charges after female colleagues, others say he harassed them
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission has filed a formal complaint against 53rd District Judge Frank R. Del Vero, alleging he sexually harassed court employees and female defendants.
NEWS IN A MINUTE: Politics -- Commissioners to name member's replacement
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick announced plans Sunday to run for re-election. The Democrat from Detroit has represented the 13th District for eight years.
She is the mother of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
By the Associated Press
CRIME
4 men are hurt, 1 killed
in nightclub shooting
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Challenge to affirmative action petition drive tossed
A Michigan judge said Friday it was too early to rule on the constitutionality of a proposed ballot initiative to end affirmative action.
Opponents of a petition drive to put the issue on the ballot had argued that the initiative violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and contradicts a recent Supreme Court decision upholding racial preferences.
Inmate who often stabbed himself dies
Robert Edwin Nitz, a mentally ill man who was widely known to doctors, law enforcement and the mental health system in Michigan for his habit of regularly stabbing himself in the stomach, died Thursday at a prison hospital in Jackson.
He was 41 years old.
Outsiders' trash standards set
Laws designed to curb the flow of out-of-state trash to Michigan were signed into law Friday by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Hailed by the governor and leaders in both major political parties as a breakthrough in the long-running effort to stem the flow of Canadian waste, the legislation was decried as partly futile and partly unconstitutional by opponents.
Friday, March 26, 2004
Affirmative action backers win ruling on petitions
LANSING -- An Ingham County judge sided with advocates for affirmative action Thursday, ordering a state elections panel to rescind its approval of petitions being circulated to ban race and gender preferences in Michigan.
NEWS IN A MINUTE: Detroit -- Cause of fatal blaze might never be known
Fire Department investigators say they might not be able to determine what started a Sunday night blaze in an east-side Detroit home that killed a 9-year-old boy.
|
