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December 19, 2004Week in reviewBENZIEProsecution wraps up case in Unger hearing BEULAH - Prosecutors rested their case Monday in a hearing to determine whether Mark Unger of Huntington Woods should stand trial in the death of his wife at a nearby resort. Unger, 44, is charged with first-degree murder. His wife, 37-year-old Florence Unger, was found dead Oct. 25, 2003, at the Watervale Resort. The couple, who were in the middle of divorce proceedings, and their two young sons were there on a weekend trip. Florence's body was discovered floating at the shallow edge of Lower Herring Lake. Prosecutors contend her husband pushed her from a boathouse roof to a concrete deck 12 feet below and dragged her, alive but badly injured, into the lake, where she drowned. Unger insists he loved his wife and did not kill her. Defense attorney Robert Harrison said his team would file a motion next week asking Benzie County District Judge Brent Danielson to dismiss the charge. Man gets life sentence for killing grandmother BEULAH - John Thomas Robertson shouldn't expect family members who attended his sentencing to visit him in prison. "From this day forward you are not a part of our family, you are the sick animal that murdered our mother," said Sharon Daenzer, Robertson's aunt and daughter of 78-year-old Lillian Mae Ross, shot to death by Robertson on Oct. 19, 2003. Robertson, 32, of Flint, was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for second-degree murder and using a firearm during a felony for Ross' death. Family members crowded the courtroom to watch Robertson's sentencing, and some said afterward that Robertson's show of remorse at the hearing seemed false. Robertson's attorney, James Bearinger, said the 14 years Robertson spent in prison before he was released and killed Ross about a year later left Robertson unable to adjust to life outside the penal system. Robertson served time for assault and malicious destruction of police or fire property. Honor man fined for filling in wetlands BEULAH - An Honor man was fined $400 for filling in wetlands along 160 feet of the Platte River. Daniel Kaczynski completed restoration of the property after warrants were issued for wetlands violations by David Bedells, assistant prosecutor for Benzie County, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, officials said. Kaczynski pleaded guilty and was sentenced by 85th District Court Judge Brent Danielson recently. The case stemmed from an inspection of the property by DEQ staff. EMMET Talks between hospital, nurses fail PETOSKEY - Another 2½ hours of negotiating between Northern Michigan Hospital management and the union representing striking nurses netted no contract but more acrimony. NMH officials in a recent newsletter discussed the lack of progress at the most recent negotiating session, and accused Teamsters Local 406 attorney Ted Iorio of "repeatedly conceding the union's goal of trying to harm the hospital, and threatening to continue efforts to hurt the hospital." Iorio called management's claims "nonsense." "What was said was the dispute has hurt the hospital. The failure of the hospital to bargain in good faith has caused the documented hurt the hospital has experienced," he said. Iorio said he was referring to the hospital's $11 million operating loss in 2003, reduced patient loads and the loss of striking nurses "with a tremendous amount of experience." Hospital management in their newsletter called the strike period "two years of union attacks." The two sides have agreed to another bargaining session on Jan. 5. Hospital says nurses petition against union PETOSKEY - Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey says a maj-ority of its registered nurses have signed a petition to dump the Teamsters union as their bargaining agent. As a result, the hospital said Tuesday it would not continue talks with the Teamsters as a strike that began two years ago - one of the longest ever by nurses - drags on. "We're hoping this is the beginning of the end of the strike," hospital spokeswoman Barbara Allen said. Don't count on it, responded Ted Iorio, attorney for Teamsters Local 406. He dismissed the petition as a tactic to avoid a vote on whether to decertify the union as the nurses' representative, which he said would fail as it did a year ago. Iorio said the union might file an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, which would determine whether the petition was legitimate. Allen said working nurses circulated the petition with no involvement from the hospital. 'Missing' teens found at home of friend PELLSTON - Three dozen people searched the frigid woods of northern Emmet County all night for two missing, snowmobiling teenagers, only to learn the boys were sleeping comfortably at a friend's house. The teens were last seen on a snowmobile at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and authorities were alerted just before 11 p.m. when they hadn't returned home, Sheriff Peter Wallin said. By 1 a.m. Wednesday, 36 men and women from five area fire departments, the Harbor Springs Snowmobile Club and the Red Cross began to search snowmobile trails, two-tracks and roads in Readmond, Friendship, Cross Village and Center townships, Wallin said. The sheriff's department was making plans to expand the ground search with the Michigan State Police and an air search with the U.S. Coast Guard at dawn, he said. At 6:30 a.m. Wednesday search crews learned the teens were fine, having spent the night at the house of a friend unknown to either parent. Federal grant helps protect bird habitat PETOSKEY - The Little Traverse Conservancy received a $1 million federal grant to protect more than 1,400 acres of migratory bird habitat in Chippewa County. The funds come through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, a federal program designed for the long-term protection of habitat needed by waterfowl and other migratory birds in North America. The conservancy also received an $850,000 grant from the program in 2002 to protect additional lands. GRAND TRAVERSE Man gets prison term for child sex crimes TRAVERSE CITY - A Traverse City man who admitted he used the Internet to meet underage girls has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison. Robert Scott Haas, 30, who pleaded guilty to charges of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, possession of child sexual abusive material, and accosting a child for immoral purposes, appeared Dec. 10 in 13th Circuit Court. Haas was arrested July 12 in the parking lot of the Grand Traverse Mall, where he is accused of arranging through the Internet to meet 15-year-old "Kelly" - who turned out to be an undercover detective with the Grand Traverse Sheriff's Office. Haas was originally charged with two felonies for using the Internet to commit a crime and attempting to solicit or accost a child under 16 years. He faced additional charges after police found out he took a 15-year-old girl to a hotel room. City eyes annexation for development TRAVERSE CITY - The city will "build a case" to Garfield Township officials about why the township should consider annexing to Traverse City some township property on which a housing development is planned. The proposed Incochee development in Garfield Township is allowed by right and includes between 65 and 69 houses on 45 acres just west of the city's Slabtown neighborhood. Monday, several city commissioners asked city manager Richard Lewis to approach Garfield Township officials about allowing the city to annex the property. City commissioner Phill Orth said the development will use city services such as streets, police and fire. Several Slabtown residents in attendance said they have safety concerns about the development and said it could bring in hundreds of car trips to the neighborhood through entrances at Wayne and Ramsdell streets. Garfield Township zoning administrator Dennis Habedank said because the development is allowed by right there are no required public hearings. Incident lands student in more trouble TRAVERSE CITY - A high school student convicted of assault this month is in trouble again after he allegedly punched another spectator at a high school hockey match. Eric Apsey, 18, found guilty Dec. 2 on two charges of misdemeanor assault and battery for attacking a fellow student in September, was charged with assault Monday after allegedly hitting a spectator Dec. 10 after the Great Northern Classic match-up between Traverse City Central and Cadillac at Howe Arena. Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle said Apsey, banned from Central's hockey team for an on-ice fight after a game with Cheboygan on Feb. 27, allegedly punched the Cadillac spectator in the groin while walking past. Because of the new assault charge, LaBelle said his office will file a motion to revoke Apsey's bond in the previous assault conviction. He's scheduled to be sentenced in that case on Dec. 17. Apsey also spent 15 days in jail in March for punching another student in the face during a road rage altercation. State officials firm on Cool Cities criteria TRAVERSE CITY - State officials aren't backing off their refusal to pay rent and utility expenses with part of a $100,000 state Cool Cities grant. The stance casts doubt on local plans to create an "entrepreneurial institute" downtown. Conference calls last week between state and local officials failed to resolve a dispute over using 40 percent of the state grant for rent and utilities at the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce building. State officials said the grant can't be used for those items, which could nix plans for setting up the institute in the vacant 4,000-square-foot second floor of the chamber building on Grandview Parkway. Robert Johnson, the state's Cool Cities coordinator and acting assistant executive director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, said Tuesday local partners will have to modify their plans to save the project. Man gets 90 days for following motorists TRAVERSE CITY - A man who admitted following female motorists in an attempt to meet them will spend the next three months in jail. Jose Vega, 31, received a 90-day jail sentence from 86th District Court Judge Thomas Phillips Tuesday, weeks after he pleaded guilty to one charge of disturbing the peace and one count of disorderly conduct. In October, the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's office began receiving reports from female drivers who had separate incidents with Vega along M-72, where he attempted to flag them down. During the investigation, other reports surfaced from female motorists who had run-ins with Vega around Grand Traverse County. Stolen car complaint leads to drug search TRAVERSE CITY - Grand Traverse County Sheriff's officials said a local woman's arrest for stealing a car led to a search warrant for drugs at an area apartment complex. Undersheriff Nathan Alger said deputies received a report of a stolen vehicle at 3:12 a.m. Tuesday from Manor Lane off Barlow Road, which led officers to a female suspect at Le Grande Vue Apartments. At the apartment complex, Alger said officers found the suspect in possession of keys to the stolen vehicle. That arrest also led to a search warrant for alleged drug possession at the apartment later Tuesday morning, Alger said. Board votes to close an elementary school TRAVERSE CITY - A Traverse City elementary school will close, but its classrooms will house students from Old Mission Peninsula elementary while that school undergoes a $2.5 million renovation. The Traverse City Area Public School board voted Monday to shutter one of its elementary schools - which one will be decided by the board in February, said superintendent James Pavelka. This summer, the district will begin the renovation of Old Mission. A $42 million bond approved by voters in June includes funds to renovate one elementary school annually, starting with Old Mission and followed by Traverse Heights and Glenn Loomis. Renovations are expected to take one year at each school, and students from the school under repair will move to the closed elementary school. In turn, students who attend the elementary school to be closed will enroll in other elementary schools. The district closed East Bay in 2002 and said then more closures might be necessary. Family files lawsuit over inmate's death TRAVERSE CITY - A suit filed by the family of an Elk Rapids man who died after collapsing at the Grand Traverse County jail alleges jail and medical personnel failed to realize he was being over-medicated. The suit, filed by the estate of Christopher Morden in the 13th Judicial Circuit Court, alleges Grand Traverse County, Sheriff Scott Fewins, the jail and medical personnel did not take proper precautions in regulating Morden's medication. Morden, 20, was jailed in February 2002 on felony charges of home invasion and receiving and concealing a stolen firearm. The suit alleges Dr. Marilyn Conlon and David Wilcox, a doctor of osteopathy, increased Morden's medications after he was jailed. Administrators sign contract with district TRAVERSE CITY - The Traverse City school district ratified a three-year contract with the Traverse City Administrators' Association. The 36-member group includes building principals, assistant principals and building athletic directors, whose contract had expired June 30. The agreement includes a 1.5 percent on-schedule wage increase for 2004-05 and 2005-06, an off-schedule 0.5 percent increase in January 2005 and 2006 and a 1 percent longevity schedule increase for 2004-05. Association members will change health insurance carriers from Michigan Employee Benefits Services to Priority Health. Police identify body of homeless man TRAVERSE CITY - Police identified a man found dead by hunters in Garfield Township as Robert Cocking, 57. Cocking was discovered Dec. 11 by a hunter and his 13-year-old son. Grand Traverse County Undersheriff Nate Alger said Cocking was homeless and had apparently been in the area for four years. An autopsy conducted in Grand Rapids revealed the primary cause of death to be chronic ethanol abuse, with an underlying cause of death listed as ketoacidosis. TC-TALUS takes over transportation study TRAVERSE CITY - State officials quashed a self-appointed transportation group's plan to have the Grand Traverse County board oversee a $3.3 million federal grant for a local transportation study. The Michigan Department of Transportation said the county board doesn't qualify under Public Act 51 for road funding. Though other agencies qualify, MDOT already has a contract with TC-TALUS to do transportation planning in the Traverse City region. TC-TALUS,which stands for Traverse City Transportation and Land Use Study, is an intergovernmental transportation and land use planning group with city, county, township and road commission representatives. The TC-TALUS board recently voted to invite the self-appointed transportation group to come under its wing. Munson E.R. benefits from land donation TRAVERSE CITY - A gift of land, valued at $1 million, will help build a new emergency room facility at Munson Medical Center. Helen Rollert-Riordan transferred to Munson the deed to a piece of Long Lake property that boasts 200 feet of lakefront frontage. Munson expects to sell the property for $1 million or more. The hospital is in the middle of a $10 million campaign to expand emergency room services. Rollert-Riordan's gift, in addition to a $500,000 donation she gave last December, boosts the campaign total to $7.5 million. Judge Haley responds to football ticket issue TRAVERSE CITY - The chief judge of the 86th District Court said he did not act improperly by accepting free football tickets from a defense attorney, according to a written response to a judicial watchdog group's allegations. The state Judicial Tenure Commission accused Judge Michael Haley of impropriety for accepting a pair of University of Michigan football tickets from attorney and former judge Richard Benedict. Haley, who in January acknowledged his actions created a bad appearance, was sentencing a Benedict client when the ticket swap occurred. When Benedict approached Haley to offer the tickets, Haley was "surprised and taken aback by Mr. Benedict's inappropriate action," according to his response. But Haley said he had no responsibility to rebuff or admonish Benedict. M-37 closed after car-truck accident TRAVERSE CITY - Several vehicles were damaged and one motorist was seriously injured in a car-truck crash along M-37 in Blair Township. Grand Traverse County sheriff's officers said a 31-year-old driver was transported to Munson Medical Center. The man, whose name and residence were not released, was listed in critical condition Thursday evening, police said. No other serious injuries were reported. Investigators said the crash happened around 11 a.m. Thursday. A southbound vehicle along M-37 attempted to make a left turn onto Blair Townhall Road when it was hit from behind and pushed into the opposite lane, where it was struck by a northbound tractor-trailer carrying a load of empty apple crates. The truck also struck another southbound vehicle before leaving the roadway. A hazardous material cleanup company from Kalkaska was called in to clean spilled diesel fuel from the truck. The crash forced M-37 to be closed for several hours to clear the road and for investigators to reconstruct the collision. Man faces shooting charges in dispute TRAVERSE CITY - A local man faces multiple felony charges including attempted homicide after a domestic altercation escalated into a shooting incident in East Bay Township. The 41-year-old man is being held at the Grand Traverse County jail on two counts of attempted homicide, home invasion, domestic assault and other charges following his arrest just after midnight Thursday at an apartment on Mahoney Drive. County sheriff's deputies said the incident began with a domestic dispute between the suspect and his girlfriend, and led to threats against his sister, who lived nearby. Undersheriff Nate Alger said the suspect contacted his mother and threatened to kill his sister, and left for the sister's house with a handgun. The mother then called 911 to report the threat, Alger said. Investigators said the suspect drove to his sister's house, entered the residence, then threatened the woman and another man with the gun. The two men fought over the weapon, while the woman ran out of the house and called authorities on a cell phone. The gun discharged three times during the struggle, investigators said, although no one was injured. Planners delay review of The Village project ACME - Township planners will hold off on reviewing the first phase of The Village development along M-72, pending court rulings in a lawsuit that challenges the project. A divided township planning commission decided last week to table the site plan review process for the beginning portions of the 182-acre development - a new Meijer store, roads, utility lines and other infrastructure. The township board approved conceptual plans for The Village in September - a move that prompted a lawsuit from the Concerned Citizens of Acme Township. The case is before 13th Circuit Judge Philip Rodgers and township officials hope for answers early next year. LEELANAU Conservancy finalizes loans for land transfer GLEN ARBOR - Ink is drying on a contract that comes close to completing the transfer of 104 acres of sensitive land along the Crystal River to the National Park Service and the Leelanau Conservancy. The conservancy finalized loans from National City Bank and the Great Lakes Revolving Loan Fund worth $4.85 million to purchase 59 acres, said Brian Price, executive director of the conservancy. That closes three-quarters of the deal, Price said. Last month, the National Park Service acquired a 22-acre section of the property and is working on securing funds for the final 23-acre parcel. The Leelanau Conservancy is acting as an intermediary between The Homestead resort - which wanted to sell all the property at once - and the park service, which could not afford to purchase all the property. MANISTEE Tondu lawsuit seeks $810M in damages MANISTEE - A would-be power plant developer now wants $810 million in damages from the city for blocking a plan to build a coal-fired power plant on the shore of Lake Manistee. Manistee Salt Works Development Corp., an arm of Tondu Corp., sued the City of Manistee in federal court in July and originally asked for $100 million in damages. In a statement of disclosures filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, the company's lawyers now say the damages reach $810 million. That figure is based on "an expected annual profit of approximately $27 million, projected out 30 years," according to the filing. In the filing, Manistee Salt Works said the damage figure was based on a preliminary calculation and was subject to change. The figure also does not include attorney fees. The case is scheduled for a settlement conference in February and a jury trial is scheduled for January 2006. OTSEGO Man charged with home invasion, assault GAYLORD - A Johannesburg man was arraigned on home invasion and assault charges, felony counts that could result in a 20-year prison sentence. George Albert Deline, 52, allegedly broke into the home of a 41-year-old Gaylord woman last Sunday evening, assaulted her and left her bound and gagged. The woman freed herself and ran for help when the attacker left. Deline was arrested Monday and on Tuesday Judge Patricia A. Morse of the 46th Trial Court set his bond at $5,000. Deline had not yet retained an attorney and police say he does not have a criminal record. Gaylord Police Chief John Jenkins said Deline was acquainted with the woman's family, but police do not know what precipitated the attack. Dispatch surcharge awaits state's decision GAYLORD - A proposed telephone surcharge hike in Otsego County to pay for more emergency dispatchers is on hold until next month while county leaders mull the possible transfer of 10 state-paid dispatchers to Lansing. Michigan State Police director Col. Tadarial J. Sturdivant has yet to decide whether to consolidate four dispatch centers, including East Lansing, Gaylord, Bridgeport and Paw Paw. Jay Gliwa, director of Otsego County 911, said if the state removes employees from the dispatch center in Gaylord, local leaders must hire four dispatchers to keep at least two dispatchers working 24 hours per day. The county and state share the facility. County leaders adopt smoking restrictions GAYLORD - Otsego County leaders are the first within the four-county region of the Northwest Michigan Community Health Agency to adopt recommended smoke-free workplace restrictions. Employers would be required to maintain a smoke-free environment for employees and the public, except for restaurants, bars, hotels and motels. Outdoor smoking areas must be away from doors, open windows and ventilation systems, according to the ban approved last week by the Otsego County Board of Commissioners. The other counties in the agency's region are Antrim, Charlevoix and Emmet, which can either adopt the regulations or opt out of the code enforcement. WEXFORD Officials close school over roof concerns MESICK - Mesick school officials closed the high school at least through the holiday break after structural problems were found in the six-year-old building. It's the second area school that's had its academic year interrupted by structural problems in recent months. Kingsley high school closed in February because heavy snow damaged the roof. Mesick school superintendent Ron Ford said structural engineers on Dec. 10 noticed bowed roof trusses above portions of the high school during unrelated roof and ventilation improvements. The consultants relayed their concerns to school officials on Monday, after classes had been canceled because of bad weather. The school board then decided to leave the building closed. Ford said they hope to know this week whether the high school can re-open on schedule after the Christmas break, or if other accommodations for students will be needed.
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