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December 5, 2004Week in reviewBELLAIREJury has mixed verdict for building official BELLAIRE - A jury found former Antrim County building official Arlen Turner guilty of two misdemeanor violations of the state construction code, but deadlocked on a felony count against him for corruption by a public official. The jurors on Tuesday found Turner, 67, not guilty on another misdemeanor code violation, and deadlocked on two others. County circuit Judge Philip Rodgers Jr. early Tuesday encouraged jurors to continue deliberations after they passed him notes stating they couldn't reach verdicts on some charges. Hours later, Rodgers accepted a hung jury on three of six counts, including the most serious charge. County commissioners fired Turner in July after the state Bureau of Construction Codes took over construction permitting in the county, citing multiple violations of state law by the county department. CHARLEVOIX New prosecutor, board clash over salary cut CHARLEVOIX - Charlevoix County's new prosecutor wants to show potential offenders that crime doesn't pay. Before he takes office in January, though, he wants to show county commissioners his new job doesn't pay enough. Commissioners set John Jarema's salary for 2005 at $63,000 - 26 percent less than outgoing prosecutor Mary Beth Kur's annual pay of $84,700. Jarema defeated Kur in the August Republican primary. "They are doing something unprecedented," Jarema said, adding that five of six county board members openly supported Kur in the election. Jarema said his starting salary will be less than the $63,335 Kur made when she started as prosecutor nine years ago. "...They're mad because I sued the county," Jarema said, referring to his whistleblower suit against the county and Kur after she fired him as chief deputy prosecutor in 2002. The county settled the suit with Jarema for $50,000 last year. Police investigate business break-ins BOYNE CITY - City police are investigating two "smash and grab" burglaries at local businesses. The first occurred early No. 27 at the Shell gas station on M-75 south; the second at the Boyne River Inn bar and restaurant downtown early Tuesday. In both cases, the subjects broke glass to gain entry, then removed specific items in a very short amount of time, police said. A large quantity of cigarettes was taken from the Shell station, police said. Anyone with information regarding the break-ins is asked to call the Boyne City Police Department at (231) 582-6611. Council, DDA support marina, park project CHARLEVOIX - Work on a completely revamped city marina on Round Lake could begin after next Labor Day. The city council and downtown development authority expressed unanimous support for a $12 million project that also would renovate East Park next to the marina. The marina project would increase the number of boat slips from 34 to 67, replacing fixed individual docks with four floating finger-piers, design team leader Peter Pollack said. The state Waterways Commission pledged to contribute $6.8 million of the project cost, with the DDA agreeing to pay $2.3 million in local match money and an additional $1.5 million for items a Waterways grant won't fund, such as a new pavilion building, amphitheater seating, fish pond and ice skating infrastructure in the park. Both council and DDA members assured skeptical audience members their taxes won't be raised to fund marina and park improvements. Board backs increase in prosecutor's pay CHARLEVOIX - Charlevoix County commissioners backed off a plan to slash the pay of prosecutor-elect John Jarema, and also won't separate civil counsel duties from the prosecutor's office. Commissioners on Wednesday agreed to increase Jarema's salary for 2005 from a planned $63,000 to $74,500. Jarema's new salary will be a 12 percent reduction from outgoing prosecutor Mary Beth Kur's $84,700 yearly pay. Jarema supporters crowded the meeting room Wednesday to express their displeasure at the board's initial move. Commissioners also agreed to hold off on separating civil county duties from the prosecutor's office after learning they could hire outside counsel on a per-case basis as needed. CRAWFORD Funds provide upgrade for Camp Grayling GRAYLING - Camp Grayling is slated to get a $20.5 million facelift. The United States Army and the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs approved $18.5 million to construct a new headquarters building and $2 million for a machine gun range at the Michigan National Guard training camp. State Representative Matt Gillard, who announced the funding Thursday, said he hopes the project will bring more jobs to the region. EMMET Levering man jailed after shotgun incident PETOSKEY - A Levering man was arrested on 14 felony and misdemeanor charges, including attempted murder. Dennis Erdelyi, 33, was arrested by Emmet County Sheriff's deputies Nov. 26 after entering a Little Traverse Township home with a loaded shotgun and allegedly threatening to kill his wife. The home's owner was able to subdue Erdelyi and wrest the gun from him, Sheriff Peter Wallin said. Several people were in the home at the time of the incident, including three children, Wallin said. Erdelyi is in the Emmet jail awaiting further court proceedings. GRAND TRAVERSE Appeals court allows removal of equipment TRAVERSE CITY - The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered that equipment already "detached" from the bayfront power plant may be removed from the site and the nearby substation may be dismantled despite an injunction it granted earlier that halted all demolition work there. Jeff Nixon and preservation group Save TC Building sued the city and Traverse City Light & Power in their quest to save the brick portion of the plant. The court of appeals on Nov. 19 granted an injunction to stop all demolition at the plant after Circuit Judge Thomas Power denied a similar request in October. The city asked the court to clarify what the injunction covered, and recently the court agreed to let the utility remove equipment "previously detached from the building." The order also allows the utility to "dismantle and remove the substation," according to an order signed by presiding judge Jane E. Markey. Utility chairman Fred Nelson said the clarification will allow the Honduran company that paid $400,000 for a portion of the plant's equipment to continue some of its work. Cherry processor faces investigation WILLIAMSBURG - Money provided by Grand Traverse County helped a local cherry processor expand its business, but also led to a series of environmental problems that has impeded its ability to repay the loan. Cherry Blossom LLC, formerly known as Williamsburg Receiving and Storage, is five months behind in its payments to Grand Traverse County's economic development corporation and faces another investigation by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Jean Derenzy, director of the county's EDC, said the county plans to meet with Cherry Blossom's attorneys to discuss the delinquency and possible ways to restructure the loan. Cherry Queen injured in rollover accident TRAVERSE CITY - Officials at the National Cherry Festival said Cherry Queen Margaret "Maggie" Schneider's medical condition is improving after she was injured in a single-vehicle accident near Midland. Schneider, 21, of Traverse City, who was crowned queen July 9, is in the Neuro Trauma Unit of Hurley Medical Center in Flint after suffering multiple injuries Monday morning when the sport utility vehicle she was driving left U.S. 10 roadway near Midland and rolled over several times. Schneider broke both her legs and suffered a broken hand, along with other injuries. Officials put rumble strips at boat launch TRAVERSE CITY - Officials continue adding safety measures at the boat launch site that claimed a local woman and three young girls. Jim Valade, facilities superintendent of the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, said temporary rumble strips were installed on the Crescent Shores Road to alert motorists of the Long Lake access site. The site claimed Dr. Karen Gilhooly and her daughter Rowan Sanford, along with schoolmates Sierra Fetterolf and Anna Maas, on Nov. 3 when the car they were traveling in entered Long Lake. Police said Gilhooly, 46, and the girls were heading to a concert in Interlochen when they may have mistakenly turned onto Crescent Shores Road. Next spring, permanent strips will be created 150 feet back from the dead end sign that marks the water's edge, Valade said. Commission revises lease with Bart's BBQ TRAVERSE CITY - The city is reworking a lease deal in hopes of putting some sizzle into a fledgling restaurant in the downtown parking deck. The city commission agreed to defer collection of around $90,000 in public financing for Bart's Texas Style BBQ restaurant on East State Street. The restaurant leases almost 2,000 square feet of ground-floor space in the city's year-old $8 million Larry C. Hardy parking deck. The revised lease was recommended by the city's Downtown Development Authority board and approved by city commissioners two weeks ago. Restaurant owner Bart Wilson told city officials his business, which opened earlier this year, suffered in its first few months of operation because ongoing construction around the parking deck limited customer traffic. Poor summer weather also hurt the business, he said. The city spent almost $99,600 on improvements and finish work for the space leased by the restaurant, paid for with city parking revenues. Those costs were rolled into a five-year lease agreement. EDC forecloses on tool and die loan TRAVERSE CITY - The Grand Traverse County economic development corporation has foreclosed on the second loan in its history. The county foreclosed when Cope Tool and Die defaulted on an $80,000 building loan, but the owner said the business will remain operating. "The building is sold and the EDC will be getting some of its money back," said James Weider, owner of Cope Tool and Die. Officials are unsure how much will be repaid. Weider said he will rent half of the building in Garfield Township for his operation. Panel votes to spend $2M to expand jail TRAVERSE CITY - The Blue Ribbon Jail Committee resolved the easy question but is still several months away from a long-term solution for jail overcrowding. The committee voted unanimously to recommend the Grand Traverse County board spend up to $2 million to renovate and expand the current jail by 48 beds. Fifteen to 20 of those new beds will be filled immediately by inmates the county houses out at other jails. Experts predict the county will exceed the new 200 bed capacity in five to 10 years. Sheriff Scott Fewins said he was pleased they can address the safety concerns plus get some breathing room for a couple of years. "But there will be those that won't understand how after we spend $2 million in 2005 we'll still need to spend millions of dollars for 2010," Fewins said. The county already has the $2 million set aside for jail work, so no new taxes are needed. School bomb sweep turns up nothing TRAVERSE CITY - A Grand Traverse Sheriff's Department canine unit turned up no bombs during a sweep at East Junior High School. A search was conducted before classes began Thursday and again after students arrived. In September, school officials found a scribbled threat on a bathroom wall. Officials said they suspected the message was only a prank but wanted take every precaution to ensure student safety. Pavelka wins statewide honor TRAVERSE CITY - Outgoing Traverse City Area Public Schools superintendent James Pavelka will leave on a high note. Pavelka recently was named Superintendent of the Year by his peers in the Michigan Association of School Administrators. Pavelka will retire at the end of the school year after a 26-year career in education. Pavelka, who takes the top honor for MASA Region II, is one of 10 superintendents across the state recognized for "tremendous effort and dedication to enriching the lives of children and the community." Pavelka also is recognized for strong leadership, creativity in meeting student students, communication skills and professionalism. Student convicted of assault and battery TRAVERSE CITY - Eric Apsey, 18, a senior at Central High School, was found guilty Thursday after a daylong trial in 86th District Court on two counts of misdemeanor assault and battery for attacking a fellow student in September. Each charge against Apsey carries a maximum of 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. He will be sentenced Dec. 17 by Judge Michael Haley. It is not the first legal run-in for Apsey, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail in March when he pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace for punching another student in the face during a road rage incident. After the road encounter, Apsey allegedly started an on-ice fight Feb. 27 with a referee and two opposing players after Central lost a Big North Conference Tournament semifinal hockey game to Cheboygan High School. But prosecutors agreed to dismiss the charges as long as Apsey agreed not to play hockey this season. KALKASKA Grant buys equipment for fire department SHARON - Increased spending on homeland security after the Sept. 11 attacks created a windfall for Kalkaska County's Garfield Township fire department. For the third year in a row, the township won a grant from the Department of Homeland Security. Over three years, the township has taken in around $275,000 that has been used to buy a tanker truck, life-saving equipment and training for the volunteer department. This year's grant will go to purchase rescue equipment like spreaders, cutters, hydraulic rams and Jaws of Life. LEELANAU Feds come up short on Crystal River deal GLEN ARBOR - Federal officials failed to come through with all the money they pledged to close a deal to make 104 acres along the Crystal River part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. A federal appropriations bill signed into law earmarked $1.5 million for the Crystal River project - not the $2 million originally promised. The appropriations bill was gutted by roughly $100 million in across-the-board, last-minute cuts. The $2 million in federal money was one part of a three-step plan to purchase 104 acres of environmentally sensitive property from the Homestead Resort near Glen Arbor. MISSAUKEE Police seek three in McBain drug operation MCBAIN - A monthlong investigation by the Traverse Narcotics Team netted a drug operation including morphine and marijuana, officials said. Early Tuesday, officials from TNT, the Missaukee County Sheriff's Department, and the Michigan State Police executed two search warrants at a residence in McBain, where police said morphine pills and marijuana were seized. Police said three suspects have been identified and are being sought on arrest warrants. OTSEGO State police considers merging dispatchers GAYLORD - Carol Bugai is not anxious to relocate or commute to East Lansing. But she may have to if her job as a dispatcher for the Michigan State Police in Gaylord is transferred to a proposed dispatch super center in East Lansing. Ten state dispatchers may have to relocate, commute or find other jobs if the transfer happens. State police director Col. Tadarial J. Sturdivant will make the final call whether to consolidate four dispatch centers, said MSP spokeswoman Shanon Akans. The centers include East Lansing, Gaylord, Bridgeport and Paw Paw. Jay Gliwa, director of Otsego County 911, said if the state removes their employees from the dispatch center in Gaylord, local leaders must hire four dispatchers to pick up the slack. The facility is shared between the county and state. ROSCOMMON Masked robber strikes Prudenville store PRUDENVILLE - A store clerk and her 13-year-old daughter were robbed of the night deposit as they closed the Prudenville Shell Mini-mart on West Houghton Lake Drive, police reported. According to the Roscommon County Sheriff's Department, shortly before 1 a.m. last Sunday a masked man ran up to the victim's car, shoved something hard in her side, and threatened to harm the woman's daughter if she did not hand over the night deposit. The suspect was described as a white male, 19 to 22 years of age, about 5 feet 7 inches tall with light-colored hair and a medium build. He was dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans. His face was covered by a blue bandanna with a white floral pattern. Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriff's department at (989) 275-5101.
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