November 27, 2005

Week in review

Goodwill pulls out of transition house plan
      MANCELONA - Goodwill Industries of Northwest Michigan scrapped plans to convert a shuttered motel into a transition home for recently released prisoners because residents and village officials resisted the proposal.
      Goodwill administrators informed the Mancelona Village Council of the decision Monday.
      " ... (W)e said we would not proceed without the cooperation of your council, and we accept your decision," Goodwill director Cecil McNally wrote Monday in a letter to Village President David Tucker - a reference to a Nov. 15 council vote that opposed the project.
      Legally, the vote meant nothing, but "without cooperation from local businesses and government, it just makes (running the transition house) difficult," McNally said.
      Locals learned of the nonprofit's intentions to house as many as 16 recently released state and local prisoners in Mancelona in late September - after Goodwill secured a lease for the property and began making renovations.
      A petition circulated to halt the project.
     
BENZIE

Clear cut near trail is part of logging plan
      LAKE ANN - Traverse City resident Mark Lyons uses the Lake Ann Trail to run, bike or cross-country ski a couple of times a week, depending on the season.
      He recently looked for online information about the trail on the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Web page. After a few clicks, he found something that made him pause - a proposed clear cut of timber right next to the trail.
      The proposed 18-acre clear cut of aspen trees intended for an area adjacent to the Lake Ann Trail is part of the state's 2007 logging plans for state lands in the Traverse City DNR unit. That includes nearly 1,300 acres of clear cuts among the more than 26,000 acres inventoried in Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska and Manistee counties.
      Dave Lemmien, DNR unit manager, said the aspen stand next to the Lake Ann Trail is more than 70 years old.
      "What we're trying to do in that area is to be proactive. (The trees) are hitting the end of their life cycle and will break off and die off," a potential danger to trail users, Lemmien said.
     
Lake Ann man held on child sex charges
      LAKE ANN - A Lake Ann man is in trouble downstate after he allegedly traveled to Oakland County for what he thought was a rendezvous with an underage girl.
      Richard Joseph Marth, 34, a paramedic for North Flight EMS in Traverse City, is charged with child sexually abusive activity and using a computer to commit a crime, both 20-year felonies, after he allegedly met what he thought was a 13-year-old girl in an Internet chat room.
      The "girl" in reality was an Oakland County sheriff's sergeant whom Marth allegedly told he wanted to have sex with and videotape.
      Officers set up a meeting with Marth in Oakland County. When he arrived, police said Marth had three laptop computers, a video camera and sex-related items in his vehicle.

CHEBOYGAN

Convicted pedophile sentenced to prison
      CHEBOYGAN - A convicted pedophile was sentenced to 27 to 50 years in state prison.
      James Edward Kitchen, 39, of Cheboygan, was sentenced Tuesday by 53rd Circuit Judge Scott Pavlich after a jury found him guilty last month on four counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree.
      A 12-year-old girl testified at the trial about sexual abuse that began when she was 7 years old and ended three years later when she told her mother. The incidents happened on Hebron Mail Road in Cheboygan County and the Mackinaw Apartments in Cheboygan.
     
CRAWFORD

Ohio man, 82, dies following accident
      GRAYLING - An 82-year-old Ohio man died after a traffic accident at Four Mile Road and Interstate 75.
      Ralph H. Greenisen of Bryan, Ohio, died last Sunday at Grayling Mercy Hospital about five hours after he exited southbound I-75 around 1:40 p.m. and failed to stop for the intersection at the end of the ramp.
      Officials said Greenisen, who was wearing his seat belt, died from a combination of factors, including age, general health, prior medical problems and injuries from the accident. The man thought he'd exited I-75 onto U.S. Highway 127, police said, and alcohol was not a factor in the accident.
     
EMMET

Land deal will expand Wilderness State Park
      MACKINAW CITY - Wilderness State Park will grow a bit, thanks to a land deal between the state and the Little Traverse Conservancy.
      Early next year, the state will purchase 160 acres of private land at the edge of the park from the conservancy for $280,000. The parcel, a half-mile square along Wilderness Park Drive at the park's existing eastern boundary, is surrounded by public lands.
      The conservancy bought the parcel from a group of hunters in February 2004 for $285,000, Emmet County records show. One seven-acre section of the property runs virtually up to the Lake Michigan shoreline, separated from the water by a narrow strip of state-owned beach.
      State officials in Lansing are expected to sign off on the purchase at a hearing Dec. 1, said Bob Couvreur, real estate services manager for the Department of Natural Resources.
     
GRAND TRAVERSE

Two more face charges in East Bay Township
      TRAVERSE CITY - Glen Lile ran for East Bay Township office last year with change in mind.
      But he had no idea his victory in a race for township supervisor would lead to criminal charges against three township officials.
      Ex-Supervisor Joseph Bartko, whom Lile defeated in the August 2004 primary, was charged Tuesday with four felony counts for alleged financial impropriety in office, while current Treasurer Debora Watson was charged with a misdemeanor for alleged neglect in office.
      Bartko and Watson join township Clerk Janice Gee, who's awaiting trial on 14 felony counts, as central figures in a financial scandal in the Grand Traverse County community.
      Criminal charges against the three occurred after multiple audits of township financial records uncovered myriad concerns about missing money, alleged double-dipping, improper spending and other problems.
     
Police track down alleged purse-snatcher
      TRAVERSE CITY - A local man is in jail after he allegedly snatched a purse during a volleyball game at a local school.
      City police Capt. Steve Morgan said officers responded to Central Grade School on West Seventh Street just after 8 p.m. Monday on reports that a man had taken a purse from the gym.
      Morgan said several witness descriptions led to the arrest of a 27-year-old Traverse City man a short time later at the Whiting Hotel.
      Police detained the suspect and allegedly found the purse in his possession.
     
Victim of racial slur to seek charges
      TRAVERSE CITY - A Northwestern Michigan College student asked police to pursue a criminal investigation for a racial slur she found scrawled on her dormitory room door.
      Krystel Jackson, 18, asked Traverse City police to reopen the case after initially saying she did not want to seek charges, according to documents obtained by the Record-Eagle through the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.
      Capt. Patrick Hinds said police are particularly concerned because the incident appears to be "racially motivated," rather than something done in anger as the result of a dispute.
      Jackson, a resident of the campus's West Hall who was born in South Africa and grew up in Switzerland, found the phrase "African Tribal Bitch" written on her door in permanent marker when returning to her room with a friend on Nov. 2.
      College officials said Brian Helmsley, not a student of the college, admitted writing the slur. Officials banned him from the dorm buildings for more than a year unless he's accompanied by a security officer.
     
Woman charged with forgery, embezzling
      TRAVERSE CITY - A Fife Lake woman is accused of allegedly bilking her employer out of more than $100,000 in forged checks during the last decade.
      Kethleene "Kathy" Kildow, 48, is charged with two counts of felony forgery and four counts of embezzlement over $20,000 after she allegedly stole money from her employer, Cabinets By Robert Inc., of Traverse City.
      An arrest warrant for Kildow was issued through 86th District Court Wednesday.
      An official at the business told Michigan State Police that Kildow allegedly wrote herself two business checks totaling more than $13,000 in March and April of 2004.
      Company officials said an internal audit later found other missing money since 1994 that totaled more than $100,000.
      Kildow, who has yet to be arraigned, faces a maximum of 14 years in prison and restitution on the six felony charges.
     
KALKASKA

Woman dies in house fire, 2 others escape
      MANCELONA - A house fire claimed one life and left two others homeless for Thanksgiving.
      Helen Marie Van Alstine, 56, died Tuesday in a fire in her Rapid River Township home. The Kalkaska County Sheriff's Department called Van Alstine a "possible victim" pending identification through dental records.
      An official with the Simpson-Modetz Funeral Home in Waterford confirmed the victim's identity and said they would handle her funeral. Arrangements have not been finalized.
      Van Alstine lived in the house at 442 1st Avenue with her husband, James, and James' mother, Norma Nicholson, county records show.
      The modular home in northern Kalkaska County caught fire around 6:20 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Firefighters discovered a body inside, which was sent Wednesday morning to Grand Rapids for an autopsy, Kalkaska Sheriff William Artress said.
      Three teenagers driving by the home saw flames inside and attempted to help people out of the building, Artress said.
     
MANISTEE

Hunters find body in woods near river
      TRAVERSE CITY - Hunters in Manistee County's Dickson Township discovered a body, and police believe it to be a woman who disappeared from a care home last month.
      Wilma Frederickson walked away from a care home Oct. 17, said a press release from the Manistee County Sheriff's Office. Police believe it was her body hunters found Monday in a heavily wooded area on the edge of Leitch's Bayou on the Manistee River. The location of the body was less than a half-mile from Frederickson's care home, police said.
      The county medical examiner will examine the remains, after which a final report on the cause of death will be issued.
     
Woman dies, husband hurt in U.S. 31 crash
      MANISTEE - A Manistee woman died after she crossed the center line on U.S. 31 and crashed into a van.
      State police said the crash took the life of 72-year-old Elizabeth Kitson. Her husband, David Kitson, is in critical condition in Grand Rapids, police said.
      The crash happened at around 3:50 p.m. Monday near Kemmer Road. Two people in the van were treated for non-life threatening injuries.
     
Prosecutor seeks charge against driver
      MANISTEE - A special prosecutor will pursue a misdemeanor charge against an Interlochen woman involved in a collision that killed a Benzie County sheriff's deputy.
      Manistee County Prosecutor Ford Stone said Wednesday he authorized a misdemeanor charge of operating without a valid drivers license against Roxanna Tolar, 26, for her role in an Aug. 9 crash that killed Cory Lee Gunther, 27.
      Stone was appointed special prosecutor in October to determine if charges should be brought Tolar, who was driving the passenger car that Gunther's motorcycle collided with on Reynolds Road in Inland Township.
      Stone said a number of factors prevented him from pursuing other charges. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine.
      State police determined Gunther, a four-year member of the Benzie department, was traveling nearly 80 mph on his motorcycle before he attempted to avoid Tolar's 2002 Buick Century when she pulled into his path.
      Tolar's license was suspended in 2001 for failing to pay tickets for not displaying a valid license and for an equipment violation.
      The license expired in 2003 and was not renewed, according to Michigan Secretary of State records.
     
WEXFORD

Falmouth woman arraigned in thefts
      CADILLAC - A 45-year-old Falmouth woman faces multiple felony charges related to recent thefts at the McBain Jiffy Mart.
      Sylvia S. Decker was arraigned Nov. 18 in 84th District Court on charges of embezzlement between $1,000 and $20,000, conspiracy to commit larceny in a building and habitual offender fourth offense.
      Decker was an employee at the Jiffy Mart when she allegedly stole money with help from Linda Hamilton, another employee already arrested and convicted for her role in the theft.
     
Second man charged in theft from rail yard
      CADILLAC - A second Mesick man is being charged with stealing railroad ties and plates from a Cadillac railroad yard and selling them for scrap.
      Wesley David Parker, 22, was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of larceny over $1,000 but under $20,000, a five-year felony.
      Michigan State Police this month arrested Harold Lee Terry, 27, of Mesick, on the same charge after he and Parker allegedly were caught selling metal valued at $8,000 to area scrap yards.