BENZIE
Season sees first snowmobile fatalities
LAKE ANN -- A snowmobiler in Benzie County apparently was driving too fast when she missed a curve and struck a tree, becoming the county's first snowmobile death this season.
Candace Grace McDonald, 29, of the Midland County village of Sanford, died early Sunday after the Saturday evening crash. Sheriff Rory Heckman said both alcohol and speed played a role.
McDonald was riding with her father and her husband when she crashed about 8:20 p.m. Saturday on Burnt Mill Road near Hooker Road in Almira Township.
She took a curve too quickly and her sled hit a snowbank, forcing her airborne, Heckman said. McDonald and her family were riding along the road, he added, and not on a marked trail.
Deputies' observations and witness statements led investigators to consider alcohol a factor, Undersheriff Bill Sholten said, adding that witnesses said they were aware McDonald had been drinking prior to the crash.
He did not know her blood-alcohol level.
Accused killer's freedom in question
BEULAH -- A Benzie County judge soon will decide whether accused murderer Joni Holbrook should remain free on bond as she awaits trial.
Holbrook is charged with an open count of murder in the Aug. 10 shooting death of her husband, Michigan State Police Sgt. Melvin P. Holbrook. District Judge Nancy Kida granted Joni Holbrook bond several weeks after her arrest, but Circuit Judge James M. Batzer on Dec. 8 told her she needed to produce a doctor's note to remain free.
Kida granted bond because Holbrook's attorneys said she had a severe heart condition, but Batzer wanted a doctor's note as proof.
Her attorneys recently produced documents requested by Batzer, Benzie County Prosecutor J.B. Daugherty said. He wouldn't provide details.
A hearing is expected to be scheduled shortly. Batzer is expected to make a decision on Holbrook's bond then.
Holbrook attorney Jesse L. Williams said her defense team submitted letters from three professionals, including two medical doctors.
"Judge Batzer, in my opinion, has been very reasonable about this, and I'm hopeful he'll let her stay out," Williams said. "It's so important for her defense to have access to her; there's so much work to be done." Daugherty told Batzer Holbrook should be locked up because of the severity of the charge, though her attorneys questioned why he didn't initially challenge bond when Kida granted it in October.
GRAND TRAVERSE
Budget woes define school year
TRAVERSE CITY -- Local school administrators have tried to stave off budget deficits all year; they've drawn down fund balances and cut as many extras as possible.
But they believe the 2010-11 school year could be worse if the state continues to reduce per-student amounts awarded to districts.
The state's Senate Fiscal Agency issued an economic outlook report last week that indicates per-student funding levels could be cut $215 next year. The figure, while higher than the $165 per student taken this year, is less than the $400 to $500 initially discussed.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm had said another $127 would be taken this month, but later suspended the plan. The Senate Fiscal Agency now reports that a midyear cut may not be necessary.
State lawmakers will participate in a revenue conference Jan. 11.
"In any other context, this is really, really bad news," said Paul Soma, chief financial officer for Traverse City Area Public Schools. "Somehow, that's coming across as good news." Administrators place next year's shortfall between $6 million and $11 million, and Soma said the new information could mean a deficit near the lower end. This year's budget is about $90 million.
A $215-per-student cut would mean a loss of roughly $2.15 million in revenues for TCAPS.
With all the talk about next year, it's easy to forget that Traverse City school board members in March shaved about $2.4 million from the district's general fund.
But the scope almost certainly will be greater in 2010-11.
"I don't think there are a whole lot of really popular cuts in there, but I think it's a really good place to start," said Megan Crandall, a school board member and co-chairwoman of the district's recent budget committee. "We need to meet immediately." Kingsley Area Schools reduced expenses by roughly $115,000, Superintendent Lynn Gullekson said, and ended a state-funded preschool program to use the money in the general fund.
Longtime Peninsula Twp. planner to retire
MAPLETON -- Peninsula Township Supervisor Rob Manigold will need to find somebody else to shovel the town hall walk.
Township planner Gordon Hayward, 74, will retire after a career in planning that helped preserve open space in areas ranging from the Boardman River and Traverse City waterfront to one-third of the land in Peninsula Township.
"For 21 years he's the first guy here in the morning. He'll even shovel the walk, and he'll be the last one to leave at night," Manigold said.
The township will hold a public farewell reception for Hayward on Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Jolly Pumpkin Old Mission behind Bowers Harbor Inn.
Hayward downplays his role in Peninsula Township's first-of-its-kind effort to purchase and protect open space. Township voters in 1994 approved a tax to purchase development rights, and became the nation's first community to tax itself for such a program.
To date, the township has purchased easements that cover 2,970 acres valued at about $18.6 million, Hayward said.
"I may have played some role, but it was really the people of Peninsula Township who wanted to keep the character of the township," Hayward said.
Born in Kalkaska County, Hayward owned a dairy farm after a stint flying planes for the U.S. Air Force. He served as Kalkaska County board chairman, and became involved in Boardman River preservation efforts.
Cause of Christmas Day fire still a mystery
TRAVERSE CITY -- Fire officials continue to sift through debris in an effort to learn what caused a deadly fire on Christmas Day.
Nancy Wright, 76, and her daughter, Tammy, 56, died Friday morning after fire destroyed their home on High Lake in East Bay Township. The blaze broke out just hours after they hosted a family Christmas party.
"With the thing being almost completely burned up, it's pretty difficult," said Grand Traverse Metro Fire Chief Pat Parker. "It's right down to the blocks." Autopsy results also could give fire officials more information, but details have yet to be released, Parker said.
About 20 firefighters from four stations battled the blaze for nearly seven hours.
On Monday, Metro Fire Investigator Mike Lince brushed away snow and examined burn patterns.
Possible culprits include the home's wood-burning stove, as well as Christmas lights hung throughout the house at 376 High View Road.
"We're just trying to rule out everything," Parker said. "Family has told us those things possibly could have caused this."
Merchants: Parking deck work hurts sales
TRAVERSE CITY -- Construction on a $10 million Old Town parking deck is under way and some business owners contend the work is hurting sales.
"I hope it will be worth it in the end," said Donna McDonald, owner of Bay Bridal Boutique on East Eighth Street. "My sales from one day from before the construction -- I don't make that now in a week." The Old Town deck is being built on the block between Lake Avenue and Union, Cass and Eighth streets. It will have three stories and 522 parking spaces.
Construction closed Lake Avenue for a time and also snarled parking for nearby businesses and residents. Many hope the benefits from a public parking structure will outweigh financial losses experienced while it materializes.
"It started out tough in October, but things have gotten better," said Mike Deering, owner of Maxbauer's Meat Market on Union Street. "Thanksgiving was like normal and Christmas was pretty much normal." Parking spaces behind a row of shops on Union Street have been condensed as parking deck construction continues. Once customers figure out how to access the lot through the back alley, they discover there are available spaces about 95 percent of the time, Deering said.
But parking remains a concern for McDonald.
She has a number of parking spots behind her business that is operated inside a house nestled up immediately adjacent to the construction zone. She's lined the rear alley with pink balloons and ribbons to draw attention to her back-door entrance.
"People do not know where that alley is and my customers do not just come from Traverse City," McDonald said.
Conviction upheld in 2007 beating case
TRAVERSE CITY -- An appeals court upheld the conviction of a downstate man who bound another man with electrical cords, beat him and poured salt on his wounds inside a Traverse City residence.
A Grand Traverse County jury convicted Dimetri Curtis Smith, 20, of first-degree home invasion, armed robbery, unlawful imprisonment and several other felony charges after a Dec. 17, 2007, incident at a house on Grant Street. The Michigan Court of Appeals in a ruling released this week upheld the convictions.
Smith and two other men beat the victim, 23, after the victim arrived at the home to purchase crack cocaine, according to court documents.
They "pointed a 9-millimeter handgun at his head, beat and kicked him, tied him to a chair with electrical cord ... beat his bare body with a red broom handle then poured vinegar, bleach and salt in his wounds," the appeals ruling reads.
Smith, who is black, alleged on appeal that evidence was improperly admitted in the case, and that he was deprived of a fair trial because the jury was all white. The appeals court didn't bite.
"The trial court afforded potential jurors who might have any sort of race-related bias an opportunity to be excused without further interrogation, but none of the potential jurors expressed difficulty with or influence from a racial bias," the ruling reads. "Defendant ... failed to substantiate that racial prejudice compromised any juror." Smith, of Lansing, is serving a minimum 15-year prison sentence. Albion resident Glenn Deanglo Taylor, 20, Smith's accomplice in the crime, pleaded guilty to three felony charges and is serving a minimum five year sentence.
Forecast: Snow to arrive with the new year
TRAVERSE CITY -- Chris Kushman plans to ring in the new year on his cross-country skis.
But Kushman, 36, of Traverse City, might have to push his ski trip back a few hours.
That's because he'll most likely be busy shoveling his driveway this afternoon.
"We might just have to play it by ear, and tweak our plans if we need to," he said. "It depends on how much snow comes, but we'll try and get out regardless." More than a foot of new snow could blanket Traverse City this weekend, said officials with the National Weather Service station in Gaylord.
Mother Nature is expected to dump up to five inches of lake-effect snow this morning, and another five inches tonight, said NWS meteorologist Scott Rozanski.
"You could have 12 inches in the next couple days, but that could always linger around," he said.
Kushman and his son, Matthew, 4, said they'll welcome more snow. Matthew repeatedly plunged down a slide into a pile of snow this week at F&M; Park in Traverse City.
Matthew also plans to cross-country ski alongside his father today on the Vasa trail.
"I'm four years old, and I'm really good at skiing," he said.
Victim afraid to let new dog outside
TRAVERSE CITY -- Things just aren't the same for Jan Zimmerman.
The Garfield Township woman struggles with a suffocating sense of unease months after someone killed "Possum Pie," her beloved poodle mix of three years. She found the dog's dead and partially burned body near her home not long after letting him out the evening of April 12.
Zimmerman, who lives in Meadow Lane mobile home park off M-37, checks the locks on her doors more frequently, and she's litter-trained "Crikit," her new dog, for fear of a repeat incident.
"I'm still afraid to let this dog go outside," she said, gesturing to the small Pomeranian mix. "She's nine months old and she isn't even outdoor-trained yet, and that's just because I'm afraid." Police never identified a motive and still haven't solved the crime, but Zimmerman is hopeful investigators will one day pin down a suspect.
