CRAWFORD
Crawford wildfire 95 percent contained
GRAYLING — Authorities continue to work to contain a large wildfire in Crawford County.
The fire has consumed 8,586 acres in the county's South Branch Township, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
It remained about 95 percent contained as of Thursday afternoon.
The other 5 percent is in a marshy area on the fire's western edge, said Ada Takacs, a DNRE public information officer in Roscommon. Its softer soil makes it harder to get suppression lines to hold.
"We got into some areas that are a little wetter," she said. "It still has the potential to jump over that line." The DNRE reported 12 destroyed homes, six damaged homes and 36 other buildings that have been affected.
Another 181 structures, both within and outside the fire's border, were considered threatened but are standing, Takacs said.
Efforts could be hampered by a projected warm, dry holiday weekend.
GRAND
TRAVERSE
Officers plead guilty to misdemeanor
TRAVERSE CITY — Plain-clothed police officers and others who support two fired Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies stood in unison as a judge called the pair to a court podium.
Robert Sillers and Mark Noffke stood before 86th District Court Judge John D. Foresman on Tuesday for sentencing on a single charge each of neglecting to perform the duties of a public officer, a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.
Noffke and Sillers pleaded guilty for failing to perform sobriety tests on off-duty Traverse City Police Officer Joseph Soffredine after he missed a curve on Cedar Run Road in Garfield Township and barreled into a wooded area Feb. 7 at about 3:20 a.m.
Foresman didn't impose jail time or probation, and instead sentenced each to about $550 in fines and costs. He suggested they already received tough enough punishment when Sheriff Tom Bensley fired them this month after a lengthy investigation.
"I'm not sure that losing your job is necessary, but I don't have anything to do with that," he said.
But Foresman admonished the two for their behavior and said he understood that the law enforcement community has to take a "hard position" with their conduct. He suggested their behavior might have been influenced by the older, more experienced Soffredine's plight.
Soffredine pleads guilty, will return to road duty
TRAVERSE CITY — A last-minute guilty plea to impaired driving won't cost Traverse City Police Officer Joseph L. Soffredine his job or driving privileges.
Soffredine, 38, pleaded guilty Tuesday in 86th District Court to driving while impaired by alcohol, hours before jury selection was slated to begin in his trial for drunken driving. Judge John D. Foresman sentenced Soffredine to six months probation and four days of community service.
He's also expected to pay more than $1,000 in court fines and costs.
"It's my fault, it's my responsibility," Soffredine said in court. "I'm the only one to blame here. I apologize to the citizens of this community that I love so much." Traverse City Police Chief Mike Warren won't further discipline Soffredine, who was suspended four weeks without pay in late February, weeks after he crashed and burned his Dodge Durango early Feb. 7 off Cedar Run Road in Garfield Township.
Soffredine is scheduled to work road patrol on Thursday.
"I'm not taking him off the schedule," said Warren, who succeeded Soffredine's father, Ralph, as Traverse City's police chief. Ralph Soffredine is a Traverse City commissioner and a candidate for the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners.
Joseph Soffredine crashed his SUV into a ditch after a night of drinking in Traverse City. About an hour before the crash, he grabbed a man by the shirt and shoved him against a bar stool at the House of Doggs restaurant on Union Street.
Decision time: TCAPS to choose new sup't
TRAVERSE CITY — To Ellie Long, it appears the candidates for Traverse City's next public school superintendent did their homework.
She attended multiple interviews with school board members this month and heard a variety of perspectives on issues the district faces.
"I was very impressed with the questions that the school board members asked," said Long, of Traverse City, who also is a member of the League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area.
"It's not easy to choose between candidates who have very different styles." School board members now have to choose the district's next leader, a decision that could come as soon as June 3.
The board this week again interviewed Tom Goodney, deputy superintendent of the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio in Columbus, Ohio; and Steve Cousins, superintendent of Reeths-Puffer Schools in Muskegon.
Both finalists toured the district on separate days and answered questions on everything from their collective bargaining philosophies to the best way to teach literacy.
Both candidates worked as educators, something staff members said they wanted in a new chief administrator, board member Gary Appel said. Their clear difference is in their current roles.
The board now has to decide who best fits the district's identity and priorities, Appel said.
Officials seek source of E. coli in bay
TRAVERSE CITY — E. coli beach advisories are relatively few and far between on Grand Traverse Bay, and authorities hope an effort to target the source of bacteria outbreaks will keep it that way.
Various government and non-government officials who help monitor the bay contend they're not satisfied with issuing an E. coli advisory and waiting for the water to clear. They want to know, when possible, the root of the pesky, potentially harmful bacteria.
"Our economy relies on clean water, and our beaches are an important part of that," said Andy Knott, executive director of the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay. "We have nowhere near the number of beach closures that other beaches have, but we have to be vigilant to make sure we maintain that status." Local officials plan to pursue various grants and other resources in an effort to fund more bacteria "source tracking" studies in the bay and its watershed this year, in addition to regular beach testing.
Munson corporate members identified
TRAVERSE CITY — Munson Healthcare officials released a partial list of its corporate members, and in doing so identified more than 300 people who could have the final say in a potential blockbuster merger with Spectrum Health.
The corporate list includes so-called at-large members appointed by the Munson Healthcare board, and is a virtual who's-who of Traverse City area politicians, government officials, business representatives and other establishment movers and shakers. Munson officials released a redacted at-large member list Thursday afternoon that included the names of 166 people.
Other corporate members include representatives of Munson Healthcare's Board of Directors; Munson Medical Center's Board of Trustees; Munson Healthcare Regional Foundation Board of Trustees; and members of the boards of directors and trustees at Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital in Frankfort, Kalkaska Memorial Health Center, Mercy Hospitals in Cadillac and Grayling, Otsego Memorial Hospital in Gaylord, and West Shore Medical Center in Manistee.
Munson officials for weeks balked at sharing the corporate members list and said some members wished to remain anonymous. But that stance placed Munson at odds with its recent pledge to increase transparency in its Spectrum dealings.
Munson Healthcare early this month suddenly parted ways with CEO Doug Deck and vowed greater transparency as it struggles to convince the community that a merger with Grand Rapids-based Spectrum won't undermine Traverse City's influence in Munson operations.
In the end, Munson withheld the names of five of its at-large corporate members, Munson spokesman Dale Killingbeck said.
LEELANAU
Roman sentenced in fatal stabbing
SUTTONS BAY — A Leland Township man who fatally stabbed another Leelanau County resident in the back apologized to a packed courtroom for an altercation that he considers an overreaction.
But a written apology from Ricardo Roman Jr., 35, did not prevent a judge from sentencing him to no less than a decade in prison.
"I am very sorry," Roman said Monday in 13th Circuit Court. "I feel that I overreacted. I've had my share of problems with alcohol and drugs. One thing I've got to work on is changing my life." Thirteenth Circuit Court Judge Thomas G. Power sentenced Roman to a minimum of 10 and maximum of 30 years in prison for the stabbing death of Craig Romer, 33, of Suttons Bay. Roman is eligible for parole after 10 years.
Roman last November fatally stabbed Romer in the back with a 9-inch kitchen knife. He pleaded guilty last month as a habitual offender to a count of manslaughter, after a plea deal dismissed an open count of murder.
WEXFORD
Officials charged in meetings violation
CADILLAC — Four Wexford County public officials each face a misdemeanor criminal charge after authorities said they violated the state's Open Meetings Act.
County Commissioner Thomas Akers, 60, and county department of public works board members Robert Hilty, 69, Daniel Darnell, 62, and Beverly Monroe, 64, each are charged with a single misdemeanor violation of the act, a court spokeswoman said. All four waived their Monday arraignments.
Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Jeff Herweyer said the four were charged for "conducting official county business outside of a posted meeting" open to the public.
He wouldn't provide details, though he said all four were "very cooperative" with his investigation.
Cadillac attorney Roger Wotila, who's representing all four officials, said the group in September discussed a letter sent to a county public works employee regarding the county landfill.
Wotila contends the discussion was a "person A talks to person B, person B talks to person C" situation, and said the four weren't in the same place for talks at the same time.
"They did not in any way intentionally violate any act ... these are just people trying to do a civic duty," he said.
Wexford County Prosecutor Mark Smathers wouldn't take the case, citing a conflict of interest, so the Michigan Attorney General's office assigned Manistee County Prosecutor Ford Stone. He couldn't be reached for comment.
All four are out on personal recognizance bonds, a court spokeswoman said. If convicted, they could face a $1,000 fine, but no jail time.
