July 20, 2008 12:00 am BENZIE Septage tank collapses during test FRANKFORT -- Expansion of the Frankfort and Elberta sewage treatment plant will be delayed by at least six weeks after a tank collapsed during testing. A wall failed in a sewage sludge holding tank July 8 and spewed about 400,000 gallons of well water. The approximately $1 million expansion and upgrade project for the Betsie Lake Utility Authority was considered finished except for the water test on the tank, said general contractor Robert Spence of Spence Brothers. Spence said it will take a couple weeks to generate a report on why the tank failed and maybe a month to fix the flaws. The tank was a concrete prefabricated unit installed by the company that built it, Spence said. Spence declined to identify the subcontractor until engineers determine the cause of the tank failure. Because the tank had not been placed into service, its collapse had no impact on normal plant operations, he said. Spence said there will be no additional cost to the authority or taxpayers to fix the tank. Cicchelli drops bid for re-election BEULAH -- Benzie County Prosecutor Anthony Cicchelli last week sent letters to his August primary challenger and others that said he won't serve another term as prosecutor, months after the official deadline to remove his name from the ballot. "After lengthy consideration I have decided that, even if elected, I will not serve as county prosecutor next term," Cicchelli wrote in a statement dated July 15. Benzie County Republican Party Treasurer Jan Mick called the move a "wise decision." "People weren't satisfied with him and (challenger John B. Daugherty) is a much better choice," she said. Party officials hadn't received notice of Cicchelli's decision by Thursday and didn't try to influence him, said Chairman Rex O'Connor. The official deadline to withdraw from the August primary was May 16. Cicchelli will appear on the ballot beside Daugherty, a Beulah attorney and fellow Republican, said county Clerk Dawn Olney. Daugherty said he received Cicchelli's statement by mail Wednesday. Cicchelli, 42, served as prosecutor for more than 11 years, during which time he twice was investigated for fixing tickets for friends and family. The winner of the August primary will appear on the November ballot opposite Lake Ann attorney Michael Lawrence Smith, the only Democrat seeking the position. GRAND TRAVERSE Light & Power hires new controller Traverse City -- Traverse City Light & Power hired Tim Arends as its new controller. Arends, the city's deputy treasurer since 1990, will transition over the next several months into his new job. Arends holds an accounting degree from Ferris State University and served nine years on the board of directors for the Michigan Municipal Treasurers Association. Ed Rice, Light & Power's interim executive director, recently created the controller position during organizational restructuring. Outage halts film ticket sales TRAVERSE CITY -- Early ticket sales for the Traverse City Film Festival resumed Tuesday after a massive power outage hit the Canadian company that processes the event's ticket requests. TixSys, the festival's Vancouver-based ticket vendor, went dark Monday after the outage shut down much of the city's financial district. The Vancouver Sun reported on its Web site that a failed circuit was to blame. Ticket sales started Monday for members of the Friends of the Traverse City Film Festival. The ticket line on Monday at times extended outside the door of the festival box office at 300 E. Front St. Deb Lake, the festival's executive director, said festival staff couldn't access its list of friends to inform them of the problem because it, too, was housed on the vendor's crashed server. All orders placed before the site crashed were completed, Lake said, and contact information was taken from anyone who stood in line Monday afternoon. Local banks weather financial storm TRAVERSE CITY -- The recent failure of California-based IndyMac Bancorp., combined with a series of recent stock losses at major financial institutions and jittery financial markets, is prompting numerous inquiries to local banks about their financial health. The number of "troubled" or "problematic" banks in the U.S. identified by the BauerFinancial Inc. research firm increased 61 percent in the first quarter of 2008. The plethora of banks in the Traverse City area seem to be weathering the financial storm so far. Of the dozen-plus banks operating in the city, all are rated as at least "adequate" or "good" by Bauer, a Florida-based company that has issued quarterly evaluations on thousands of financial institutions across the country since 1983. Those ratings are largely determined by a bank's capital ratio -- the percentage of a bank's capital to its risk-weighted assets. Northwestern Bank, a locally based bank founded in 1955 that boasts around $800 million in assets, is the only local bank that garners a 5-star rating from Bauer. Cherry Festival week breaks records TRAVERSE CITY -- Tom Menzel expected a strong year for the National Cherry Festival, but couldn't have predicted it would go so well. "We thought we'd have a good festival, but we definitely didn't expect that we'd have the numbers that came," said Menzel, who wrapped his third and possibly final year as festival executive director. "For tickets sales, the midway, vendors, revenues were all up. All the areas were up." Festival sponsorship revenue increased 16 percent from last year and Wicksell Distributing, which provided beer for the festival's beer tent, reported that July 11 was the best day in company history. Tourists' dollars extended beyond the festival and Open Space. Five out of six local Tom's Food Stores had record sales, while Oleson's Food Stores, Sam's Club and Glen's Market all reported high sales. The Traverse City Visitors Bureau reported an increase of 6.4 percent in the number of people who stopped for information. Bureau President Brad Van Dommelen said it appeared more people stayed in the area longer than usual, likely because of the bad economy. Woman allegedly kicks officer Traverse City -- A Kingsley woman faces criminal charges after she allegedly kicked a police officer. Catherine Elizabeth Hinds-McKee, 37, is charged with operating while intoxicated and assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer. Grand Traverse County sheriff's deputies arrested her Monday. Police said Hinds-McKee kicked a deputy in the face as the deputy placed her under arrest for alleged drunken driving on Barlow Street in Garfield Township, court records show. Man faces drunken driving charge Traverse City -- A Fife Lake man faces a drunken driving charge. Joshua Douglas Johnson, 31, is charged with third-offense drunken driving and second-offense operating with a suspended license. A preliminary examination is set for July 29. A Grand Traverse County sheriff's deputy arrived July 12 at the scene of a one-vehicle rollover crash on Williamsburg Road. The deputy said Johnson told him he was the driver and the crash happened because he was drunk, court records show. Johnson was convicted of drunken driving in 1996 and 2004, according to records. Adult business drops lawsuit TRAVERSE CITY -- A porn purveyor dropped a lawsuit meant to force Garfield Township to accept his adult, sexually-oriented business near a church and residential neighborhood. "It's a great day for the citizens of Garfield Township," said township Supervisor Lee Wilson. Traverse City resident Brad Vannatter, who operates Fantasies Unlimited adult stores, wanted to peddle a variety of sexually explicit magazines, videos, novelties and other items from the former Celebrations party supply store along Cass Road just north of South Airport Road. Vannatter never asked the township for a zoning permit but instead went directly to federal court with a suit that alleged the township's 11-year-old adult-oriented business zoning ordinance was unconstitutional. Township officials quickly realized Vannatter had a case and before the end of May updated the ordinance. The new ordinance changed the approval process, but kept several restrictions, including a 750-foot setback from churches, schools and residential neighborhoods. Township officials also added new requirements, such as background investigations on all employees and owners. In an e-mail to board members, township attorney Kent Gerberding said Vannatter has the right to file a new lawsuit but added, "We don't think we will hear from them again." Teen faces multiple charges TRAVERSE CITY -- A Traverse City teen faces marijuana possession, bond violation and false identification charges. A Grand Traverse sheriff's deputy stopped a vehicle near the intersection of Highview and High Lake roads Wednesday, according to a police statement. Police said the driver, 19, didn't give his real name, but the deputy allegedly recognized him from previous arrests. The deputy asked if there was any marijuana in the vehicle, and the man told him there was, according to the statement. A drug detection dog allegedly located two small bags of what appeared to be marijuana in the vehicle, police said. The deputy discovered the driver was out on bond from 86th District Court and wasn't supposed to be in possession of alcohol or drugs, and he arrested the driver. Man faces drunken driving charges Traverse City -- A man with seven prior drunken driving convictions faces new charges. Freddie Elmer Buchanan Jr., 50, is charged with third-offense drunken driving, operating without security and unlawful use of license plates. A Grand Traverse sheriff's deputy arrested him Monday. The deputy said he stopped Buchanan's vehicle for an improper plate and because Buchanan wasn't wearing a seat belt, court records show. Buchanan smelled strongly of alcohol and had difficulty maintaining his balance, the deputy said. Buchanan has seven prior operating while intoxicated or operating while impaired convictions dating back to 1981, records show. A preliminary examination is scheduled for July 31. LEELANAU Man charged with negligent homicide Suttons bay -- A downstate man involved in a deadly Leelanau County traffic crash was bound over for trial on a negligent homicide charge. Police said Robert Nadai, 55, of Royal Oak, allegedly drove through a stop sign on Hoxie Road at Bugai Road and into the path of a vehicle carrying several people Oct. 13. Five people were sent to the hospital after the crash, and Claribel Crego Snyder, 91, of Traverse City, eventually died. Nadai was bound over to circuit court July 11 after a district court preliminary examination, Chief Assistant Leelanau County Prosecutor Doug Donaldson said. The negligent homicide charge is a high court misdemeanor, Donaldson said, and carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail. Nadai remains free on bond. MANISTEE Garbage washes up on beaches Manistee -- Piles of garbage sporadically washed up along more than 13 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline in Manistee County, from Magoon Creek south of Manistee north to Portage Lake in Onekama, officials said. Trash also was found south of Ludington, said local health department official Tom Reichard. Manistee's First Street beach was closed Monday morning, and city workers collected more than 12 cubic yards of debris from the site, city Manager Mitch Deisch said. Test results on Tuesday showed acceptable levels of E. coli at Manistee beaches, Reichard said. Most of the garbage appeared to be household refuse, but Reichard said he heard reports of medical waste, such as prescription bottles and syringes. Petty Officer Ryan Bedes from the U.S. Coast Guard station in Manistee said labels on a lot of the rubbish came from Wisconsin, but "there's no way to pinpoint where it came from." Coast Guard intelligence agents are investigating the case, and staff from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's medical waste program also were on site. Program designed to boost downtown Manistee -- Officials called a program designed to pump life into downtown Manistee an "important step" toward a healthier city. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority chose Manistee for participation in its "Michigan Main Street" program. The city will tap the know-how of national and state experts on promotion, historic rehabilitation, economic growth and more over the course of the five-year program. Manistee will join about 30 other municipalities across the state that have worked with the program since its inception in 2003. MSHDA announced Manistee's acceptance into the program Thursday. It will be provided at no cost to the city, Borgstrom said, although the city is required to hire a full-time Main Street director to coordinate the program's various aspects. MISSAUKEE Motorcyclist dies in traffic accident LAKE CITY -- A Houghton Lake motorcyclist died in a traffic crash in Missaukee County. Sheriff's deputies responded to a crash at the intersection of M-55 and Seven Mile Road at about 10 a.m. last Sunday. Matthew T. Kennedy, 36, was riding his motorcycle west on M-55 and was struck by a pickup truck turning north onto Seven Mile Road, police said. Authorities took Kennedy to Mercy Hospital in Cadillac, where he was pronounced dead. The driver of the truck, an 80-year-old Lake City man, wasn't injured. Missaukee Undersheriff Will Yancer said the results of the investigation will be sent to the county prosecutor's office for review. OTSEGO Lottery system will give doe permits GAYLORD -- Deer hunters across the region must enter a state lottery system for a chance at a doe permit since state officials changed the rules after five years of over-the-counter sales. There are no doe licenses this year in Benzie, Grand Traverse or Kalkaska counties and many surrounding areas only will have permits for private land. Whether for public or private land, all doe permits in the area will be issued through a lottery system because last year's permits quickly sold out, some places in just minutes. Applications for the doe permit lottery went on sale Tuesday and will be available through Aug. 15. The drawing results will be posted Sept. 8 and any leftover doe licenses will be sold over-the-counter on Sept. 17. Each county has a different number of doe permits available through the lottery, many only on private land. There are 400 available in Leelanau; 2,500 in Manistee; 5,000 in Antrim; and 3,400 in both Charlevoix and Wexford counties. Other areas have doe licenses for both private and public land, including Crawford, Otsego, Emmet and Cheboygan counties. Judges are reassigned under new plan GAYLORD -- Three northern Michigan counties now have five chief judges. The Michigan Supreme Court ordered a chief judge to be put in charge of the 87th District Court in Otsego, Crawford and Kalkaska counties, as well as a chief judge to head up the 46th Circuit Court in the same three counties. Also, each of the counties has a chief probate judge. It's a way to bring the hierarchy of judges in line with the daily operations of the court since the three counties broke apart their shared court system in October 2006, said Rudi Edel, court administrator in Otsego County. It's now a constitutional court system rather than the former shared court system, he said. A new concurrent jurisdiction plan was sent to the state Supreme Court for consideration and the approval order was issued this month. The three new chief probate judges include Judge Michael Cooper in Otsego County, Judge Monte Burmeister in Crawford County and Judge Lynne Buday in Kalkaska County. All of their terms end Jan. 1, 2010.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.