ANTRIM
Allegations of sex abuse emerge
MANCELONA -- Authorities charged a Mancelona Township man with multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct after allegations surfaced in a separate sex crime investigation.
Tony Lee Prentice, 40, is charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person 13 to 15 and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. Antrim County sheriff's deputies arrested him Wednesday.
Prentice in December allegedly had multiple sexual encounters with a teen male who lived with him in his fifth-wheel trailer, Antrim Detective Sgt. James Janisse said. Deputies found out about Prentice's alleged acts as they investigated a complaint against a woman who lived with Prentice, Janisse said. That woman, Terri Lyn Harper, 34, allegedly assaulted the same victim and was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in February.
CHEBOYGAN
Hunter may inspire change in policy
INDIAN RIVER -- An Indian River resident's case is the catalyst for a proposed change in Michigan hunting laws that would remove protection for albino and other genetically mutated all-white deer.
The Natural Resources Commission was to consider the proposal Thursday in Lansing.
The state's about-face is good policy, John Ingersoll believes, but it doesn't go far enough, and doesn't account for the thousands of dollars he lost in a lawsuit he hoped would clear his name.
In December 2004, Ingersoll shot a predominantly white deer while hunting in Emmet County and took it to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources field office in Indian River.
Allegations that he'd killed a protected deer prompted Ingersoll to file a defamation lawsuit in Cheboygan County against seven area residents who publicly made that accusation.
Ingersoll's lawsuit was thrown out of court and he was ordered to pay the defendants' legal costs. He has since spent thousands more trying to prove he didn't commit a crime.
Ingersoll wants DNR officials charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and violating his constitutional rights, he said.
Ingersoll is currently appealing the dismissal of his defamation lawsuit, said his Traverse City attorney, Jonathan Moothart.
GRAND TRAVERSE
Beach reporting program reworked
TRAVERSE CITY -- A new advisory system will give area beachgoers a more comprehensive report of water quality while officials boost efforts to lower E. coli levels.
The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay and health department launched a revamped beach monitoring program last week that specifically advises when it's safe to swim, wade, fish, boat or have any contact with the water.
Nine Lake Michigan beaches will be tested for E. coli each Wednesday through Sept. 3. The health department will send weekly updates and post advisories at the beaches as soon as test results are in, which typically takes 24 hours.
Notices now alert when it's safe to wade, fish and boat, which means avoiding water contact with the ears, eyes or mouth.
The city commission also took a stand against E. coli with an ordinance that outlaws feeding waterfowl and seagulls, whose waste can run into the water and increase bacteria levels.
Officials might use border collie dogs to chase away more ducks and geese, and dog waste will be targeted with educational signs and waste bag dispensers.
Hotel owner charged in dredging
TRAVERSE CITY -- A hotel owner charged with wetlands tampering surrendered to face criminal charges.
Eighty-Sixth District Court Judge John D. Foresman on May 30 arraigned Joseph Moffa on two misdemeanors for violation of state wetlands and submerged bottomlands law. Both offenses are punishable by up to one year in jail.
Moffa, 42, allegedly authorized a bulldozer to dredge and move great quantities of Great Lakes bottomlands near the Cherry Tree Inn on U.S. 31 near Holiday Road in East Bay Township.
State and federal authorities who investigated the inn and its owner determined a bulldozer drove as far as 122 feet into East Bay on Thanksgiving weekend in 2006. A pretrial is set for June 12.
Top candidate for post declines job
TRAVERSE CITY -- The search for a local United Way chapter's next executive director continues after a deal could not be reached with its top candidate.
The governance team of Traverse City-based United Way of Northwest Michigan was to meet Thursday to discuss its next steps in finding a leader to replace current director Pam Prairie. Prairie will retire July 1.
The candidate, whom board President Mike Hill declined to name, turned down the job Monday afternoon. Three finalists were interviewed recently.
Hill, also superintendent of the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District, said employment terms were a sticking point.
The challenge now is to hire a director by the deadline later this month. Hill said he expects to name a new leader, but a transition plan would be created if it seems unlikely to happen before Prairie leaves.
Garfield Twp. voters face crowded ballot
TRAVERSE CITY -- A flood of candidates for Garfield Township's Board of Trustees signals an abrupt change to a 30-year election tradition of lean ballots with few choices.
Every elected office in Grand Traverse County's most populous municipality is contested in the Aug. 5 Republican Primary, with 16 candidates vying to fill seven board seats.
Several of the challengers said Garfield residents are concerned about township officials' handling of a number of issues.
Residents cite rising taxes, the hiring of board trustee Joe McManus as deputy supervisor -- McManus was hired for a newly created position without the job being posted or other potential candidates interviewed -- and the messy handling of former Treasurer Judy McManus' extended leaves of absence and eventual resignation.
City OKs part of TCL&P's plan
TRAVERSE CITY -- City commissioners approved part of Traverse City Light & Power's six-year capital improvement plan, a document that presents estimated project costs.
Commissioners only confirmed the public utility's updated plan for the fiscal year that begins in July, and includes money for projects like a new distribution substation and wind farm development.
They refused to approve revised plans for future years.
The Light & Power board of directors will hold public meetings on project plans before returning with more information and requesting city commission approval in December.
BATA officials work to cut costs
TRAVERSE CITY -- The Bay Area Transportation Authority is working to prune its operations and increase revenues in a tough economy worsened by high fuel prices and lower government funding.
The public bus authority's board of directors recently approved a plan to trim expenses by nearly $382,600 and boost revenues by $203,500.
BATA officials will institute internal measures such as scaling back employee travel, overtime and mileage costs, along with some service changes. They're hoping for more money from organizations that use Health Ride, a service that provides transportation to medical appointments.
Details aren't ironed out, but BATA interim executive director Don Scharmen is considering cost-saving measures such as closing the downtown transit center at 9 p.m. instead of 12 a.m.
He's also looking at cutting some extra midday trips from outlying Grand Traverse County towns for an annual savings of $40,560.
BATA plans to save more than $8,600 by canceling the Summer Fun Ride service that linked northern Leelanau County towns.
KALKASKA
Contract worker electrocuted
KALKASKA -- A Presque Isle County electrical worker died of electrocution in rural Kalkaska County.
Steven Walker, 47, died Monday morning while working near a power transformer in Kalkaska County's Blue Lake Township. Walker, of Millersburg in Presque Isle County, was a seven-year employee of Indian River-based Campbell Electric.
Company owner Carmen Campbell said Walker was "one of the safest linemen we had working for us," but wasn't wearing protective "hot gloves" at the time and was electrocuted.
Walker leaves behind four children, Campbell said.
LEELANAU
Superfund site goes to public auction
TRAVERSE CITY -- Leelanau County Treasurer Vicki Kilway doesn't expect any bidders when two acres near West Bay on Cedar Creek go to auction for unpaid taxes.
A bidder would need just $31,000 to cover back taxes and take ownership of a prime location on Cherry Bend Road next to Norris Elementary school. But Kilway expects contamination and millions of dollars in federal liens to keep the property under county ownership.
The former industrial laundry and dry cleaning operation is among the worst polluted sites in the nation. The Grand Traverse Overall Supply Co. site is a Superfund project of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA estimates removal of cancer-causing volatile organic compounds and dry cleaning chemicals from the soil and groundwater could take up to 10 years.
The county received the property when its owner, Iceless Co. LLC, stopped paying property taxes in 2005. It will try to sell the property at public auction on Aug. 1 in Manistee.
Park aims to halt illegal off-road traffic
EMPIRE -- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will be one of 10 national parks to implement a pilot program aimed at reducing illegal off-road traffic, the result of a federal lawsuit conservation groups filed against the National Park Service in 2005.
Sleeping Bear officials soon will launch a local outreach program, and improve ranger enforcement and reporting practices of illegal off-road vehicles in the park over the next three years.
The effort is part of a settlement recently reached between the park service and Bluewater Network, which represents a number of conservation and preservation groups.
The settlement requires the Park Service to implement a public education and deterrence pilot program at 10 national parks, develop environment impact statements and special rules to govern legal off-road vehicles, and work to set fines for violators, said attorney Mary Munson of the National Parks Conservation Association, one of the groups represented by Bluewater.
MANISTEE
Woman faces murder charge
MANISTEE -- Julia Lyons-Davis, 44, was arraigned Monday on a single, open count of murder in Manistee's 85th District Court. Police believe Lyons-Davis killed her elderly mother-in-law, Betty June Davis.
Davis, 75, died a few hours after family members found her unconscious in her Manistee apartment Sept. 18. A medical examiner classified the death a homicide and determined Davis died of blunt-force trauma, local authorities said.
Authorities charged Lyons-Davis with felony uttering and publishing shortly after Davis' death. Lyons-Davis allegedly forged a check in Davis' name in an effort to steal her money, and Manistee Prosecutor Ford Stone said investigators believe the homicide is tied to that incident.
Lyons-Davis has been at the Manistee County Jail since September while awaiting proceedings on the check forgery charge. The recent discovery of a journal she kept at the jail also played a role in Stone's decision to charge, he said.
Jail officials discovered the journal and provided photocopies of it to investigators, Stone said, but he wouldn't elaborate on its contents.
OTSEGO
Ex-Gaylord official pleads guilty
GAYLORD -- For years, Sherrie Schuster stole public money -- hundreds of thousands of dollars -- while serving as a Gaylord city official.
Schuster, 46, of Gaylord, acknowledged her crimes Thursday when she pleaded guilty to embezzlement and forgery before 46th Circuit Court Judge Janet Allen.
Schuster agreed to a plea bargain with Otsego County Prosecutor Kyle Legel. She will be sentenced next month for the theft of about $280,000 from the Gaylord Downtown Development Authority and the Michigan Downtown Association, officials said.
She remains free on a $20,000 personal recognizance bond after her arrest and arraignment Monday.
Conditions of the plea bargain involve the reduction of a 20-year felony embezzlement charge to a 15-year crime. Additionally, prosecutors dropped one of two forgery charges.
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