ANTRIM
No one hurt during house fire
TRAVERSE CITY — Firefighters in Antrim County battled a house fire in Central Lake Township.
The Jan. 18 blaze at 10393 Meggison Road is believed to have started from a chimney fire and spread into the attic, where most of the damage was contained, said a report from the Antrim County Sheriff's Office.
No injuries were reported, though smoke and water damaged the rest of the house, which was being renovated.
Firefighters had trouble reaching the location and several units were rerouted because a portion of the road is seasonal, police said.
Woman missing since Tuesday
ELK RAPIDS — The mother of a teenager whose death is under investigation is missing from her Elk Rapids home.
Anne Avery-Miller, 37, is missing from her 914 South U.S. 31 house, Elk Rapids Police Chief Michael Miles said. She was last seen Monday at the residence, where she runs a barber shop.
Authorities are probing the death of Avery-Miller's son, Sam Avery, 16, who was found dead of a gunshot wound inside the house on Nov. 7. Officials haven't ruled out foul play in the death, Antrim County Prosecutor Charles Koop said.
Avery-Miller also faces a Feb. 6 trial on a felony charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. The charges stem from an incident last year when she allegedly attempted to hit an ex-boyfriend with her car, Koop said.
BENZIE
Crystal Mountain plans $10M upgrade
THOMPSONVILLE — A $10 million upgrade that includes an expanded spa, new residential housing and the state's only alpine slide is planned by Crystal Mountain Resort.
Resort officials said last week work will begin this spring on The Crystal Spa, a $4 million, 13,000-square-foot expansion of the resort's indoor pool and fitness area. It will be a LEED-certified project incorporating green building practices.
A new residential neighborhood called The Bungalows at Crystal Glen will feature three- and four-bedroom units. Also planned is a new alpine slide slated to open this summer.
The resort worked through the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corp. to line up $1.1 million in local, state and federal low-interest financing, much of it from the Benzie County EDC's revolving loan fund. The expansion is expected to add up to 32 new jobs, resort officials said.
Arrest made in rash of break-ins
FRANKFORT — Benzie County deputies arrested a suspect and recovered stolen items tied to a recent rash of burglaries of vacation homes around Crystal Lake.
Authorities searched a home in Frankfort early Thursday, found numerous stolen items and arrested a Benzie County man. His name is being withheld until he is arraigned, said Detective Cody Kastl of the Benzie County Sheriff's Department.
Additional stolen property was recovered in Elberta and Thompsonville. More arrests are expected after two remaining suspects also allegedly confessed to the crimes, officials said.
CHEBOYGAN
Three die in area snowmobile crashes
TRAVERSE CITY — Three separate snowmobile accidents killed three people in northern Lower Michigan.
Weekend crashes in Cheboygan County and Wexford County resulted in the deaths of Norman Andrew Pavwoski of Cheboygan and Kellie Ann Whitmill, 36, of Ortonville. A snowmobiler also died in Leelanau County.
The Cheboygan driver died at the Cheboygan hospital from injuries suffered when the snowmobile he operated ran off Crump Road in Cheboygan County's Munro Township Jan. 18, according to a report from the county sheriff's department.
A crash around noon Jan. 19 in Wexford County's South Branch Township killed another snowmobile driver. The crash occurred on M-55 where a Department of Natural Resources trail crosses the road.
Whitmill failed to yield the right of way to a vehicle travelling on M-55 and was struck by the car, said a report from the Cadillac post of the Michigan State Police.
A 40-year-old Empire man died last Sunday at the scene of a snowmobile accident at the Empire Township airport runway in Leelanau County. The sheriff's office did not release the man's name and continued to investigate the incident.
Teen dies after being hit by car
WOLVERINE — A Wolverine teenager died after being struck by a vehicle in Cheboygan County's Wilmot Township.
Emergency responders were called at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday to Wolverine Road, east of Shire Road, after a car driven east by Patrick James Murphy, 56, of Wolverine, struck pedestrian Nicholas Leese, 17, also of Wolverine.
Leese was pronounced dead at the scene, said trooper Mark Tamlyn from the Michigan State Police post in Cheboygan.
Leese wore dark clothing while he walked home along the side of the road during poor weather conditions and it was still before dawn, all considered factors in the collision, Tamlyn said.
Police await toxicology and crash reports before the case will be sent for review by the prosecutor.
Salt truck overturns in Hebron Twp.
CHEBOYGAN — A freightliner hauling road salt overturned in a Cheboygan County ditch.
Emergency responders were called around 12:20 p.m. Wednesday to a traffic wreck that happened when Jerry William Guy, 57, of Ossineke, was driving the salt truck west on Levering Road in Hebron Township. He apparently did not notice a stopped vehicle that was waiting to turn onto Hielman Road and was unable to stop in time.
The driver opted for the ditch to avoid a collision and the salt truck overturned. He received minor injuries, but medical treatment was not needed.
Guy was cited for driving too fast for conditions, said Sgt. Rick Miller of the Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department.
Traffic was redirected for more than three hours while the heavy truck was set upright and the salt loaded into another vehicle, Miller said.
GRAND TRAVERSE
City rejects vacation rental proposal
Traverse City — City commissioners shot down a proposal that would allow vacation home rentals in single- and two-family neighborhoods, a relief for the myriad residents who came out against the ordinance.
City staff estimated there are at least 20 vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods, which are illegal according to a city attorney opinion released last fall.
Staff drafted ordinance amendments to permit the rentals after vacation-home owners spoke out against the attorney's interpretation.
A couple commissioners said they each received nearly 100 phone calls and e-mails about the ordinance, which is more citizen input than they've ever gotten on an issue.
An overwhelming majority of those calls and e-mails were against the rentals, but those who spoke at Monday's meeting were more evenly split.
City brownfield still a possibility
Traverse City — City commissioners want more representation on the county's brownfield authority, but they also want to continue to consider creating their own board.
Grand Traverse County officials offered city commissioners two spots on the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority for 2008 on the condition they don't contemplate splitting off during that time.
Commissioners on Monday night voted in support of appointing Ralph Soffredine and Barbara Budros to the brownfield authority but also to continue to investigate forming a separate authority.
The nine-member county-appointed authority directs millions of dollars in state taxpayer money to developers of brownfield sites, based on criteria including contamination and blight.
Stair murder trial begins
Traverse City — The trial of Justin Stair, accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and burying the body near his parents' Whitewater Township home, began last week.
Stair, 21, is charged with an open count of murder and assault of a pregnant individual causing miscarriage or death of a fetus. Stair faces a potential life sentence if convicted on either charge.
A series of motions over the past few months caused the trial to be rescheduled several times. It initially was set for October.
Authorities believe Stair shot Dawnette Marie Harrell, 29, and buried her near his parents' Samels Road home in April 2006.
Family members and police searched for Harrell for more than a year. Police eventually searched property surrounding the Stair residence May 3 and found Harrell's partially exposed remains in a shallow grave about 80 yards from the house.
Authorities arrested Stair May 15 after they allegedly found Harrell's purse, her car keys and a .32 caliber revolver concealed in ceiling tiles at his parents' residence, records show. Harrell died of a .32 caliber gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.
Residents call for road panel election
TRAVERSE CITY — Bob Phelps believes Grand Traverse County's roads are in decline, and the Garfield Township resident wants changes at the helm of the county's road commission.
And if the county board won't tackle the task, he wants voters to be able to have a say.
Phelps is among those who want to be able to elect the three-member road commission, the public body whose members currently are appointed by the county board. Road commissioners control spending and oversee projects on all public county roads outside Traverse City.
The county board discussed Tuesday three issues surrounding the road commission: should it be elected; should it be expanded to five members; and should road commissioners' benefits be trimmed.
Road commissioners average more than $7,000 in pay and almost $11,000 in health, dental, vision and life insurance, plus a pension contribution for the part-time, policy-making job. Once they step down, ex-commissioners receive single-coverage health benefits or a comparable cash contribution to a medical savings account for the remainder of their lives.
Administrative tax to be repealed
Traverse City — City taxpayers will have one less fee to pay when they receive their property tax bills this year.
City commissioners agreed to eliminate the 1 percent administrative fee for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
The fee is permitted under state law and has been used to cover the city's costs of collecting taxes for other units such as the library and schools. The city implemented the fee in 2004.
The average homeowner pays about $25 for the fee each year, city assessor Deb Chavez said.
The elimination means a total of $331,550 will be cut from city tax collections, using current year figures.
Commissioners might also consider an income tax as a way to collect money from non-residents who work in the city.
Resort reaches proposed settlement
TRAVERSE CITY — The Grand Traverse Resort & Spa reached a proposed settlement with about 150 employees in a labor lawsuit.
Attorneys on both sides won't disclose potential settlement details until a judge formally approves the deal, likely this spring. But Traverse City attorney Mark Clark, one of two lawyers who represent about 150 current and former resort employees, said a settlement was reached through mediation in December.
The Acme-based resort allegedly violated state employment and wage laws when, between 2000 and 2006, it imposed $150 bi-weekly paycheck deductions for numerous health spa employees. The resort, one of the county's largest employers, allegedly used the revenue to help fund its marketing efforts and could be liable for more than $1 million, based on allegations in a class action suit filed in June in 13th Circuit Court.
Probe to determine trooper's fate
Traverse City — Michigan State Police brass are expected soon to decide the fate of a trooper convicted of hosting an underage drinking party.
An internal investigation into the conduct of trooper Robert Marble is complete, and findings were forwarded to state police headquarters in Lansing, 7th District commander Capt. Tim Rod said.
A judge in November sentenced Marble, a 20-year state police veteran from the Manistee post, to a week in jail on two counts of attempting to allow minors to consume alcohol.
Police arrested seven minors ranging in age from 17 to 20 years old for consuming alcohol at Marble's Manistee County home Aug. 19. Marble used a police radio to monitor law enforcement activity and had a Breathalyzer at the home. He later attempted to convince one of the witnesses to lie to investigators, authorities said.
Marble currently is assigned to administrative duties at 7th district headquarters in Williamsburg, Rod said.
Family files suit against GT sheriff's department
TRAVERSE CITY — A lawsuit alleges the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department violated public disclosure laws by delaying the release of information about a police shooting of a local man.
Traverse City attorney Grant Parsons filed suit on Thursday on behalf of the family of Craig Carlson. A Grand Traverse sheriff's deputy shot Carlson to death in his Karlin home on Nov. 10, following an 11-hour standoff.
The suit alleges the department violated the state's Freedom of Information Act by delaying the release of various documents that describe the incident.
Sheriff's officials recently issued a 10-day extension to Parsons' FOIA request, and cited "unusual circumstances."
Parsons' office submitted a FOIA request to Kalkaska County Prosecutor Brian Donnelly on Jan. 15 and sought documents and evidence associated with the standoff and shooting. Donnelly served as a special prosecutor and was assigned to review a state police probe of the shooting.
Debate continues over public art
Traverse City — Discussions continue on the best spot for a public art sculpture, while discrepancies remain over whether it belongs at the Open Space.
A donation is pending for the Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College to receive "Time Myth," a piece that currently stands at Kmart's former headquarters in Troy.
The Downtown Traverse City Association's public art committee was to examine possible locations Friday.
The DDA board, Planning Commission, bayfront planning committee and Downtown Traverse City Association supported placing the sculpture in the Open Space. The Parks and Recreation Commission requested more site options.
MISSAUKEE
No injuries reported in bus crash
McBAIN — No students were injured in a school bus crash on Old M-55 near LaChonce Road.
A vehicle driven by Jose Martinez, 47, struck a McBain Public Schools bus containing about 34 students Wednesday morning, according to a Michigan State Police release. The bus was stopped at the time, and Martinez' vehicle struck it in the rear after coming over a hill.
Martinez suffered minor injuries. Police cited him for driving too fast for conditions.
