BENZIE
Prosecutor Cicchelli faces hearing
BEULAH -- A state attorney grievance board filed a complaint against Benzie County Prosecutor Anthony Cicchelli for ordering the dismissal of his stepson's speeding ticket.
The Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission served Cicchelli with a formal complaint Oct. 10, said commission attorney Cynthia Bullington. The complaint alleges Cicchelli committed "professional misconduct" by ordering a magistrate to dismiss a speeding ticket issued to his stepson, Larry Marshall Hoffman, 21.
Michigan State Police on March 18 ticketed Hoffman for driving 60 mph in a 55-mph zone on U.S. 31. About a week later, Cicchelli ordered Benzie Magistrate Hope Cicansky to throw out the ticket.
The next step is for Cicchelli to file a formal response to the grievance commission's complaint, Bullington said. A Dec. 1 hearing is scheduled in front of an attorney panel.
CHARLEVOIX
Ex-DNR officer to be sentenced
CHARLEVOIX -- Former state conservation officer Kevin Lockman will be sentenced for receiving and concealing stolen property this week.
Lockman, 35, of Boyne City, will appear Nov. 7 before 33rd Circuit Court Judge Richard Pajtas in Charlevoix. He pleaded guilty to receiving and concealing stolen property between $200 and $1,000, a misdemeanor.
Lockman, a former Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer, initially was charged with receiving and concealing stolen property in excess of $20,000, a 10-year felony. His crime is connected to those of his wife, Karla Lockman, who is in state prison after her conviction for embezzling $1.38 million between January and May 2005 from now-defunct Northern Preferred Title Company in Charlevoix County.
Kevin Lockman used more than $33,000 of the stolen funds to pay for his wife's lawyer.
GRAND TRAVERSE
TC board officially appoints Bifoss
TRAVERSE CITY -- R. Ben Bifoss is slated to take over as Traverse City's manager.
City commissioners on Monday unanimously appointed Bifoss and approved an agreement to pay him $90,000 starting Nov. 18.
His salary could jump to $98,000 after roughly six and a half months when city commissioners revisit the terms of the ongoing agreement.
Former city Manager Richard Lewis made $98,000 before leaving his post of 17 years.
Bifoss, 55, will also get $10,000 for relocation expenses, a car allowance of $250 per month and five weeks of vacation.
Minors cited for alcohol possession
TRAVERSE CITY -- Police cited three suspects for being minors in possession of alcohol after a fight at a Traverse City apartment complex.
City police responded to a report of a fight in progress at the Bay Hill apartment complex on Veterans Drive shortly before 4 a.m. last Sunday. Officers arrived and found two underage males walking from the area. They led police to an apartment in the complex, where officers said they found another male, 17, highly intoxicated and passed out.
All three individuals, ages 17, 19 and 20, were cited for being minors in possession of alcohol.
The 17-year-old was taken to Munson Medical Center for evaluation and eventually taken to jail on a charge of resisting and obstructing police.
Man charged with drunken driving
TRAVERSE CITY -- An Upper Peninsula man was arrested for drunken driving after an argument at a Traverse City residence.
Traverse City Police went to a Barlow Street residence at about 2:30 a.m. Oct. 25 on a report of an altercation. Officers determined several family members were at the residence drinking, and one had a handgun. The handgun was put away, but after a period of time someone allegedly pulled out the handgun and made a statement about playing "Russian roulette," police said.
That caused an argument and altercation, police said, and the man got in his vehicle, rammed another vehicle parked nearby and left the area. The man, 26, of Rudyard, was found in his vehicle along Parsons Road and arrested for drunken driving. During the investigation, police also arrested a 28-year-old man from Dafter on an outstanding warrant.
A .38-caliber revolver was found at the residence and taken into evidence. The incident remains under investigation.
Man faces drunken driving charge
TRAVERSE CITY -- A Blair Township man faces a felony drunken driving charge.
William Jesse Stevenson, 29, is charged with third-offense drunken driving and operating with a suspended license.
A Grand Traverse Sheriff's deputy responded to a one-car crash on Hammond Road in East Bay Township Oct. 21, court records show. Stevenson was the driver of the vehicle, and he allegedly told the deputy he drank prior to driving.
Stevenson previously was convicted of operating while intoxicated in 2003 and 2007, records show.
Man allegedly stole and forged checks
TRAVERSE CITY -- A man faces multiple criminal charges after police said he stole and forged checks.
Gary Wayne Bell, 50, of Traverse City, is charged with three counts of forgery and three counts of uttering and publishing. A preliminary examination is scheduled for Nov. 10.
A woman told police Bell stole checks from her while he lived with her, court records show. She said he made them out to himself, forged her signature and presented them for payment. The three checks were written in August and total about $800, records show.
Eighth-grader killed by car in U.P.
TRAVERSE CITY -- Students at Traverse City West Middle School grieved Tuesday for Christina Brooks, an eighth-grade student who died Monday after being struck by a car in the Upper Peninsula Sunday afternoon.
Christina, 13, was struck by a car at about 3 p.m. Sunday on southbound I-75 in Mackinac County's St. Ignace Township.
She was on the shoulder of the interstate after her family stopped to help a stranded driver, Mackinac County Sheriff Scott Strait said.
Christina was taken to the Mackinac Straits Hospital in St. Ignace and later transferred to a Grand Rapids hospital, where she died shortly before 10:30 a.m. Monday.
NMC Foundation loses $2.1M
TRAVERSE CITY -- Northwestern Michigan College's fundraising wing saw the value of its investments fall $2.1 million during the third quarter this year, and officials said losses could hurt programs and scholarships next academic year.
The community college itself does not invest in the stock market, but it's a different story for the NMC Foundation.
The nonprofit fundraising group's investments took a beating between July and September, and more losses are expected for the turbulent month of October, officials said.
That means much less in interest earnings available to spend next academic year. NMC's foundation awarded a record high of $1 million in scholarships this year.
Court rejects Meijer's appeal
TRAVERSE CITY -- The state Supreme Court rejected Meijer Inc.'s appeal of a local judge's decision that allowed an Acme Township planning commissioner and other township officials to sue the retailer for harassment.
The state's high court last week issued an order that denied Meijer's appeal. The state Court of Appeals in late August also rejected Meijer's objection to a June ruling by 13th Circuit Judge Philip Rodgers.
Rodgers said then that Acme Planning Commissioner Robert Carstens was free to sue Meijer.
Carstens alleges that Meijer, the Village at Grand Traverse LLC and its former attorneys intentionally harmed township officials through a frivolous 2005 lawsuit, illegal campaign activity and financial support of a local citizens group.
But Carstens' suit remains on hold until 19th Circuit Court Judge James Batzer determines if Rodgers should be disqualified from continuing to preside over a case that began in 2005.
Meijer's former attorneys, Dickinson Wright PLLC and lead attorney Timothy Stoepker, filed a motion asking that Rodgers be disqualified due to alleged bias against Stoepker.
Parking deck may revive road plan
TRAVERSE CITY -- John Snodgrass is worried a new public parking deck in Old Town and more jobs at Hagerty Insurance Agency will increase traffic in his neighborhood.
That's why he believes now is the perfect time to get moving on a long-awaited new road along the west side of Boardman Lake.
Traverse City engineer Tim Lodge on Monday gave city commissioners an update on the proposed road called Boardman Lake Avenue.
It would begin at Eighth Street and run south along the railroad corridor before merging into Cass Street near the Traverse City Golf and Country Club.
Local officials worked on the project for years, but most progress has been stalled until they can obtain a right-of-way along the railroad corridor from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The city has allocated more than $580,000 toward the project, and there's also anticipated brownfield redevelopment funds.
But Bonnie Willings contends the road isn't worth the money.
She lives at Lake Ridge Condominiums off 14th Street on Boardman Lake.
"I don't think it would help the traffic and I think it would jeopardize the neighborhood by adding a third busy street," she said.
GT Mall owner facing crunch
TRAVERSE CITY -- General Growth Properties, owners of Garfield Township-based Grand Traverse Mall, replaced its top two officers and will sell some properties as it deals with the nation's credit crunch.
The Chicago-based real estate investment trust on Monday named independent company directors Adam Metz as interim CEO and Thomas Nolan as interim president, replacing John Bucksbaum and Robert Michaels. The company's stock has been in free-fall over the past year as it struggles with a staggering debt load estimated at more than $24 billion.
General Growth owns or operates more than 200 regional shopping malls across the country, including a dozen around Michigan. The company said it will sell three malls in Las Vegas as it assesses its holding that includes more than 24,000 retail stores across the country.
Some analysts predict the entire company could be sold or broken up and sold piecemeal.
Woman charged in fatal crash
TRAVERSE CITY -- An East Bay Township woman who allegedly caused a traffic crash that killed a downstate woman faces criminal charges.
Amber Elizabeth Clous, 23, is charged with operating while intoxicated causing death and negligent homicide. Prosecutors authorized the charges last week, and Clous hadn't yet been arrested Wednesday afternoon.
Lansing resident Karon Sue Black, 66, died in a Jan. 14 crash on County Road 633 near Bartlett Road in Mayfield Township. A pickup driven by Clous crossed the center line and was struck in the side by an oncoming van containing Black and her family.
Clous said she lost control of her vehicle because of icy road conditions -- an assertion backed up by a nearby driver who saw the collision, and Black's daughter, who drove the van -- but police contend a prescription drug may have played a role in the crash.
Clous was on the painkiller methadone for extensive pre-existing medical conditions, according to a police report, and deputies allegedly found pills crushed into powder in a large spoon in the truck's console.
Commissioners vote for free coverage
INTERLOCHEN -- A majority of Grand Traverse County's part-time commissioners flip-flopped on a previous vote to enact co-pays for their taxpayer-funded health insurance and decided to continue to receive free family health insurance.
Commissioners met at a non-televised stop in Green Lake Township on Wednesday and voted 5 to 4 to fend off a proposal that they pay 2 percent of their health care costs.
Other county-elected officials and non-union employees pay 10 percent of their health care costs.
KALKASKA
Man allegedly fled from police
KALKASKA -- Police arrested a man who allegedly tried to avoid a Kalkaska County sheriff's deputy.
The deputy went to a Rapid City residence early Tuesday morning on a harassment report. The suspect showed up while the deputy was there, spotted the officer and drove away.
The man wouldn't stop for the deputy and eventually came to a stop in front of a gate on a seasonal road in Clearwater Township. The suspect and a second person left the vehicle, and the suspect ran into the woods. Police detained the second person and later found the suspect hiding in the woods about 75 yards from the vehicle.
The suspect, 24, of Bellaire, was arrested for fleeing and eluding and operating while intoxicated. Police didn't release his name pending arraignment.
LEELANAU
Area fruit stands hit by thefts
TRAVERSE CITY -- Leelanau County has seen a rash of thefts from roadside fruit stands in recent months, county records show. Most such stands use an "honor system," in which visitors are expected to leave the appropriate amount of cash for the produce they take.
Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Oltersdorf said some people who run fruit stands have resorted to installing video cameras to catch thieves in the act. Others have tried increasingly creative ways to protect cash deposits, although one resident found even a 400-pound steel safe wasn't enough.
The safe, which had a slot for money, disappeared Oct. 18 from a Northport area stand run by Bob Houdek, who sells pumpkins and squash.
MISSAUKEE
Woman allegedly shoots boyfriend
LAKE CITY -- Police arrested a woman who allegedly shot her boyfriend with a deer rifle.
Amanda Lynn Wade is charged with five felony counts, including attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm while intoxicated, a court spokeswoman said.
Wade, 28, allegedly shot Billy Jo Mayhew, 34, in the forearm with a rifle after an Oct. 25 argument at their home in Richland Township.
Man killed in crash with semi-trailer
LAKE CITY -- A Crawford County man was killed in a collision with a milk tanker truck.
Michael Robert Treml, 46, drove a pickup truck east on M-55 near Dickerson Road in Missaukee County's Lake Township when he crossed the center line and struck a semi truck head on.
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