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BENZIE
Joni Holbrook enters guilty plea
BEULAH — Tina Lehn thinks it's for the best that those tied to a Michigan State Police sergeant's slaying won't endure a long, drawn-out trial.
Lehn has known accused murderer Joni Holbrook since middle school and was relieved to hear she agreed Tuesday to an 11th-hour deal in the Aug. 10 shooting death of her husband, Melvin Paul Holbrook.
Holbrook pleaded guilty to a count of second-degree murder, and that means a trial expected to last three weeks won't be necessary. She told Benzie Circuit Court Judge James Batzer she shot her husband as he slept.
"I got out of bed where he was sleeping, sat on the couch in the living room for about 20 minutes with my head spinning out of control, and I went to the garage where his vehicle was parked; reached into the vehicle where he kept his Michigan State Police service revolver; returned to the house with the gun, and shot him in his sleep," she said.
Her plea likely is a relief to loved ones on both sides, Lehn said.
"I'm just glad the families don't have to go through a big long trial ... It's been a long road for both of them," she said. "Joni's parents, I can't even imagine what they're going through, let alone Paul's family." Joni Holbrook initially did not give investigators a motive for the slaying, but during her plea said Melvin Holbrook mentally, physically and sexually abused her for several years.
Melvin Holbrook, 53, spent 23 years with the state police and worked as a desk sergeant at the Traverse City post at the time of his death. He previously served at posts in Ionia, Coldwater, Manistee and Richmond.
Holbrook to remain in jail until sentencing
BEULAH — Joni Holbrook likely will remain in a Benzie County Jail cell for another month as she awaits sentencing for killing her state police sergeant husband.
Officials will conduct a pre-sentence investigation before Benzie Circuit Judge James M. Batzer decides how many years Joni Holbrook, 48, will spend behind bars. A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
"They typically take four-to-six weeks, but if she doesn't have a prior criminal history that we have to go looking for in other states, it could be sooner," Batzer said.
Joni Holbrook pleaded guilty on Tuesday to second-degree murder after she agreed to a last-minute deal in the Aug. 10, 2009, shooting death of her husband, Melvin Paul Holbrook.
As part of the deal, Joni Holbrook will spend no more than 15 years in prison. The prosecutor's offer shocked Williams, who this week planned to try the case. Trial was set to begin Wednesday.
charlevoix
Sex charges against Mikko are dismissed
CHARLEVOIX — Former 13th Circuit Court referee Dennis Mikko won't stand trial for explicit images found in his briefcase, e-mail and on his county-issued computer.
Charlevoix Circuit Judge Richard M. Pajtas on Wednesday dismissed a lengthy list of felony charges against Mikko, his attorney said.
"I believe that none of the charges rose to the level that (prosecutors) believed they did," said Mikko's attorney, Craig Elhart. "(Mikko) was ecstatic. He's very pleased that his nearly one year of troubles are done with." Mikko faced 10 counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and a count of using a computer to commit a crime. His trial was set to begin next month. Prosecutors have 21 days to appeal the judge's decision.
Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider did not return a call for comment.
Mikko was arrested in September and charged with five counts of possessing child sexually abusive material. The original charges stem from photos found in a briefcase underneath Mikko's desk at the Robert P. Griffin Hall of Justice.
GRAND
TRAVERSE
TCL&P seeks fulltime long-term planner
TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Light & Power decided it needs another staffer to help figure out long-term energy generation plans.
The public utility is advertising in downstate venues for a "generation project manager." The full-time position would be responsible for planning Light & Power's local generation plans.
Light & Power uses a single wind turbine to generate a tiny fraction of the power it provides to customers; the rest is bought and shipped up from downstate.
The utility recently sidelined its push to construct at least one local wood-burning biomass power plant, but still hopes to build some form of local generation facility.
"If we're going to do local generation, no matter what type, we're going to either use consultants, which are expensive, or invest in some permanent expertise," Ed Rice, Light & Power's executive director, said of the advertised position.
Light & Power has advertised for weeks, but received only four applicants for the position so far, Rice said. None were qualified. Officials are offering a salary between $65,000 and $85,000.
The utility is only advertising for the position downstate, Rice said, though he believes he soon may be forced to broaden that scope. Rice hopes to find someone who either works or used to work for a major power generation company and has significant experience in the field.
"We don't want this to be a training position," he said.
West Front parking deck may be bigger
TRAVERSE CITY — A proposed West Front Street parking deck will have to be bigger than previously discussed, city officials said.
The city moves closer to approving plans for a large deck at 305 W. Front St., a large lot just north of the 10-story Riverview Terrace housing complex. The deck would complement an adjacent mixed-use complex proposed by local developer Jerry Snowden.
Officials commissioned a series of deck designs several months ago, and city commissioners opted to move toward a 271-space, $8.7 million deck over a 405-space, $11.6 million deck. The smaller deck could be expanded in the future, commissioners reasoned, and they wanted to use as little tax-increment financing dollars for the project as possible.
But City Manager Ben Bifoss on Monday told commissioners that the smaller deck won't cut it.
"Nobody thinks that 271 parking spaces are going to be sufficient to fill the needs," he said.
Snowden's development alone — which is slated to include a movie theater — will need more than 300 spaces, Bifoss said.
But Bifoss said he's going to attempt to spend no more TIF money on the larger deck and instead seek other funding sources. TIF money was slated to cover roughly $5.2 million of the $8.7 million deck, Bifoss said.
Police have busy close to Cherry Fest
TRAVERSE CITY — The National Cherry Festival ended with a drunken, drugged-up bang for local police, who handled a host of disturbances as the event wound to a close.
But officers are glad they didn't have to contend with much more than minor incidents and hooliganism throughout the hot, crowded week.
"It was hectic at times, and it's always a load off our minds when it is over, and we haven't had any major events," Traverse City police Capt. Steve Morgan said.
Officers went to Bay Hill Apartments at about 8 a.m. Saturday to break up a scuffle between two men, and found that one of them, 20, from Suttons Bay, had driven into several parked cars in the Bay Hill parking lot.
The Suttons Bay man attempted to run away when confronted, and the other man tackled and tried to hold him until police arrived. The Suttons Bay man was arrested for drunken driving.
Police at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday rounded up a man described as being "disorderly" near residences on Second Street. The man, 22, earned a trip to jail after police allegedly found marijuana on him.
An hour later, a bicyclist suffered head trauma after he struck a parked car as he rode west on Front Street. He was thrown from his bike and was treated at Munson Medical Center.
TCL&P petitions approved for ballot
TRAVERSE CITY — Margaret Dodd and company hustled around town to circulate two petitions that could drastically alter Traverse City Light & Power's operations.
Now the petitions are approved, and Dodd can unwind a bit.
"I'm relieved," said Dodd, a former Traverse City mayor. "We had a lot of people working on it, and it's nice to know it's on the road now." City Attorney Karrie Zeits on Wednesday afternoon said the petitions would be certified by day's end. That means residents will weigh in on two ballot questions in the November general election.
The first would bring Light & Power back under city control and make it essentially no different than any other city department. The city owned public utility now is run by its own seven-member board with limited city commission input.
Prosecutors ponder Mikko decision appeal
TRAVERSE CITY — Authorities plan to sift through court transcripts before they decide whether to appeal a judge's decision to dismiss criminal charges against Dennis Mikko.
Charlevoix Circuit Judge Richard M. Pajtas on Wednesday threw out several felony charges that accused Mikko, 53, of possessing child sexually abusive material. Prosecutors have less than three weeks to appeal if they hope to continue a case against Mikko, a former 13th Circuit Court referee.
"My next step is to get a transcript of the judge's decision, read it over and determine whether we want to appeal," Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider said Thursday. "There were a number of legal issues in this case, but until I see (Pajtas') reaction ... I'm not certain where we're going at this point." Mikko's attorney contends the ages of people featured in nude images from a magazine and Internet files found in Mikko's briefcase and county-issued computer did not play a role in Pajtas' decision. Pajtas determined those images did not qualify as child sexually abusive material.
"Age was never a factor," said Craig Elhart, Mikko's attorney. "None of them were defined as child sexually abusive material. Not all nudity, including child nudity, is child sexually abusive material."
Longtime TC barber Mark Beeman dies
TRAVERSE CITY — Every March 17, Mark Beeman would go to work at a local barber shop and dye his hair green.
It became an annual event, not just for St. Patrick's Day, but also because it was Beeman's birthday.
His sense of humor was one of his defining traits, friends and family said, and it's one of the things they'll miss most about him.
Beeman, who cut hair in Traverse City for about 50 years, died Wednesday of congestive heart failure at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, said his wife, Joann Beeman.
He was 87.
"Everywhere we go, he's sort of a celebrity," Joann said. "Everybody in town knows him, wherever he goes." Since at least 1988, Beeman had worked at Tonsorial Parlor barber shop in Meijer, where he was a manager. He was a barber at Robertson's Hair Center downtown prior to that.
HOGs take annual ride to benefit Father Fred
TRAVERSE CITY — The suggested donation is $20 to ride with the Northern Chapter Harley Owners Group in an annual charity event.
But, Paul Jarboe said, previous riders have paid as much as $50 or $100 to cruise with hundreds of other motorcycle enthusiasts up Old Mission Peninsula.
It's for a cause. Every dollar contributed during this weekend's 18th annual ride will be given to the nonprofit Father Fred Foundation in Traverse City.
Jarboe, a HOG member who will participate in the "Ride for Father Fred" for the ninth time, said the event attracts riders from across Michigan.
"The ride on Sunday always brings people out with their lawn chairs to watch," he said. "I'm told from people who watch that they hear us coming long before they see us." Saturday's activities include a 120-mile poker run through parts of Grand Traverse, Benzie and Leelanau counties, as well as a motorcycle show on Front Street. The hallmark peninsula ride begins at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Contracts approved for member libraries
TRAVERSE CITY — Three community libraries reached operating agreements with Grand Traverse County's library system that establish funding levels through next year.
Traverse Area District Library board members recently approved contracts for Interlochen and Peninsula Township member libraries. They reached a deal with a library in Fife Lake a month ago.
The contracts, good through December 2011, indicate the district library system annually will pay $164,000 to Peninsula, $163,000 to Interlochen and $132,000 to Fife Lake.
The three member libraries differ from branches in that they have their own directors and boards, but receive the bulk of their funding from TADL.
The district system also provides the members with technology and access to a region-wide catalog.
Compared to last year, Peninsula's rate is nearly flat and Interlochen's is down slightly from $165,255. Fife Lake's allocation will increase from $103,543.
The latter had been one of the lowest-funded libraries in the system, TADL Director Metta Lansdale said.
Fife Lake will increase its 31-hour schedule by seven hours each week, Director Emily Clark said.
"That's what we had been hoping for," she said. "We were very pleased."
Library representatives described the talks, which lasted at least a year, as a lengthy volley of proposals for funding.
Fife Lake accepted TADL's most recent proposal. Interlochen and Peninsula's library boards countered with another offer that TADL accepted.
"Finally, we both gave a little," said Donn Gresso, Interlochen's board president.
