ANTRIM
Teen faces felony charges
ELK RAPIDS -- A Rapid City teen faces felony charges for home invasion, as well as possession of alcohol and stolen property.
Justin Michael Bielski, 18, faces up to 15 years in prison, if convicted.
Bielski and another male juvenile allegedly stole about $600 worth of liquor and beer from a house in Elk Rapids on April 19 last year. Authorities suspected the juvenile because he'd done yard work in the neighborhood that week, but a vehicle crash in Kalkaska County led authorities to Bielski, said Antrim County Prosecutor Charles Koop.
The day after the break-in, Bielski drove south on M-66, lost control, left the road, rolled and struck several trees, injuring himself and three other teen passengers. Investigators believe the car was traveling more than 100 mph at the time.
Police found alcohol in the vehicle and suspected it came from the Elk Rapids burglary, Koop said.
The delay in Bielski's prosecution is because authorities handled the juvenile case first, Koop said.
BENZIE
Workplace smoking ban is proposed
BENZONIA -- The Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department is calling for workplace smoking bans in both counties as a way to eliminate employees' -- and customers' -- exposure to harmful secondhand smoke.
A public hearing is scheduled for March 26, and the proposal would need to be approved by both the Board of Health and both counties' Board of Commissioners.
The bans would exclude restaurants and bars because they are licensed by the state, and could exclude home businesses, especially if run by one person.
Most local businesses already ban smoking while on the clock.
GRAND TRAVERSE
Study: GT Bay's E. coli levels OK
TRAVERSE CITY -- A study of E. coli levels in Grand Traverse Bay shows it's not overwhelmed with algae growth and accompanying bacteria.
Area residents should try to keep it that way, experts said.
Last year, scientists from Grand Valley State University sampled six beaches in Grand Traverse Bay and two in Little Traverse Bay. They collected water samples and some cladophora algae samples to test E. coli levels.
"Grand Traverse Bay is certainly in really good shape. There are some amounts of algae that wash up on shore. There's always some E. coli and we did find some E. coli in the algae," said Richard Rediske, water resources professor.
Researchers sampled for eight weeks and only once found algae at Clinch Park, although West End Beach had algae about half the time during the study, he said.
"In general, the beach with the most algae accumulation was Bryant Park. Parks near stormwater discharges had higher levels of E. coli," Rediske said.
Traverse City State Park beach also had some algae growth and higher levels of E. coli were found near Mitchell Creek's outlet, he said.
Group focuses on emergency services
TRAVERSE CITY -- Taxpayers in Traverse City contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for Grand Traverse County sheriff road patrol.
Only one issue -- sheriff's deputies don't patrol streets in the city limits.
That tidbit raised a red flag for members of Traverse City's Citizens Operational and Financial Analysis Committee, or COFAC.
City taxpayers, through their county taxes, fund more than $677,000 a year toward sheriff road patrols, according to county numbers.
The city commission questioned COFAC members along with fire and police officials Monday in front of a large audience. Commissioners in 2007 formed the group to offer suggestions on finances and services.
The group recommended everything from merging police and fire operations into one public safety office, to combining with neighboring departments.
Alleged hit-and-run leads to charges
TRAVERSE CITY -- An East Bay Township man was arrested after authorities said he struck a man with his car, drove off and allegedly left a victim lying in a snow-covered road.
Traverse City Police said the suspect, 43, was driving east on Eighth Street just east of Boardman Avenue when he struck a pedestrian around 2:25 a.m. last Sunday.
The victim, 24, suffered a head injury and was transported to Munson Medical Center.
A passenger in the suspect's car contacted police about an hour after the accident and identified the driver and his location. City police arrested the man for leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and for drunken driving.
Warrant issued for teen's arrest
TRAVERSE CITY -- Authorities issued an arrest warrant for a Kingsley teenager who allegedly had inappropriate sexual contact with a 6-year-old girl while he baby-sat the child.
The girl said the 17-year-old baby sitter asked her to engage in inappropriate touching at her Long Lake Township home on Jan. 31, court records show. The teen was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony.
Cherry Capital is among pricey airports
TRAVERSE CITY -- Cherry Capital Airport ranked second in the U.S. in a listing of "America's Rip-off Airports" published last week by Forbes.com.
The online magazine used data from the federal Department of Transportation's Origin and Destination Survey, which includes price and routing information for a 10 percent sample of all domestic commercial airline tickets in the U.S. It computed an average price per route-mile for each airport in the survey, based on records collected during the third quarter of 2008.
Those figures show Cherry Capital Airport's average fare per mile of 41 cents trailed only the airport in Cincinnati, which averaged 48 cents per mile.
At the low end of the spectrum were airports near Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (16 cents) and Long Beach, Calif. at an average of 15 cents per mile.
Stephen Cassens, Cherry Capital Airport's executive director, chafed at Forbes' term "rip-off airports." Fares, he said, are set by the airlines and not the airports.
BATA is seeing new executive director
TRAVERSE CITY -- Candidates for the Bay Area Transportation Authority's executive director position boast diverse backgrounds ranging from local government to manufacturing.
But all of the applicants selected for interviews have management experience -- a top priority for the public bus authority's board of directors.
Board members on Wednesday agreed to interview five candidates for the position of executive director. They hope to schedule interviews for mid-March.
Candidates include local residents Tom Menzel, Scott Sodini and Henry Huber, along with two from outside the region.
Woman arrested in purse-snatching
TRAVERSE CITY -- Traverse City Police arrested a local woman for allegedly snatching another woman's purse and assaulting her son.
Two female acquaintances walked into Huntington Bank on East Front Street around 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, one carrying a purse containing a payroll check given to her by the other woman, police said. The suspect grabbed the purse from the other woman and ran into the parking lot, said Capt. Steve Morgan.
Police withheld the name of the 19-year-old suspect, pending her arraignment in 86th District Court in Traverse City. The victim is 34 and from Kingsley.
The victim chased the suspect into the parking lot and called her 16-year-old son to help. He caught the suspect and held her until police arrived, despite repeatedly being kicked by her, Morgan said.
Police arrested the suspect, who's from Traverse City, for assault and purse snatching and she was held at the Grand Traverse County Jail, Morgan said.
Man charged with drunken driving
ACME -- Michigan State Police arrested a Minnesota man for a third drunken driving offense in Michigan.
A trooper stopped Steven Charles Morley Jr., 30, of Farmington, Minn., for speeding Feb. 21 on U.S. 31 North in Acme Township. The trooper smelled alcohol on Morley and gave him a preliminary breath test, resulting in a blood alcohol reading of 0.17 percent, more than twice the state's legal limit, court records show.
Morley is charged with felony third-offense drunken driving, following convictions for similar incidents in November 2002 in Kalkaska and June 2002 in St. Ignace. He faces enhanced sentencing up to five years in prison and a possible $5,000 fine, if convicted.
$5,400 in drugs stolen from shop
TRAVERSE CITY -- Someone made off with thousands of dollars worth of prescription drugs from a local pharmacy.
Authorities are investigating a burglary that occurred at The Prescription Shop in Garfield Township's Copper Ridge complex at about 12:40 a.m. Wednesday. Roughly $5,400 worth of methadone, hydrocodone, oxycodone and other drugs were taken.
Someone working out at neighboring Anytime Fitness heard an alarm at the shop and called police, Grand Traverse Undersheriff Nate Alger said. Deputies found footsteps in the snow and a broken window, Alger said.
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call the Grand Traverse Sheriff's Department at 995-5002.
Grawn man charged with sex crimes
TRAVERSE CITY -- An ongoing investigation into alleged criminal sexual conduct led to charges against a Grawn man.
The Grand Traverse County Prosecutor's office issued an arrest warrant for Christopher Mark Ballard, 26, for allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl in October 2008. Ballard alledgedly photographed the incident, and those pictures showed up on the computer of Mark Aloysius Beard, 51.
Beard was charged with criminal sexual conduct this month for allegedly having sex with the same girl.
Beard faces four counts and Ballard one count of criminal sexual conduct with a person between the ages of 13 and 15, a 15-year felony. Ballard and Beard also each face three counts of child sexually abusive activity for the purpose of producing child pornography, a 20-year felony.
Beard also is charged with producing child pornography, possession of child pornography and use of a computer to commit a crime.
KALKASKA
Man facing six felony charges
KALKASKA -- A domestic argument that escalated into physical violence and threats with a gun resulted in a Kalkaska man facing six felony charges and the possibility of life imprisonment.
Michigan State Police arrested Mark Edwin Schwab, 46, on Feb. 19 after he allegedly held a woman at gunpoint for about 24 hours at his residence.
Detective Sgt. Mark Harris of the Michigan State Police said the incident started in the afternoon on Feb. 17, when Schwab allegedly assaulted and punched a woman while they were in a vehicle. They then arrived at Schwab's residence on Central Avenue in Kalkaska. There, Schwab allegedly pointed a gun at the woman and refused to let her leave.
Harris said Schwab kept the woman imprisoned in his bedroom until the following afternoon when she was allowed to depart. She called police after returning to her home.
Schwab has prior felony convictions and he's being charged as a habitual offender. He faces life in prison, if convicted on new charges of unlawful imprisonment; assault with a dangerous weapon; possession of a weapon by a felon; and three charges of using a weapon to commit a felony.
He was lodged in the Kalkaska County Jail with bond set at $500,000.
Company seeks to amend waste plan
KALKASKA -- It's back to the beginning for a would-be energy recovery plant in Kalkaska County.
American Waste wants county officials to amend their solid waste management plan to allow a gasification plant off U.S. 131 at Seeley Road. The plant would convert trash into energy.
The company initially wanted to import rubbish from and send waste to all 82 Michigan counties, though that strategy changed this month.
American Waste now seeks to import trash from 54 counties, an effort to compromise with residents who didn't like the idea of statewide trash being trucked into their community. The company's shift in plans means the public review process must start over.
Voters renew school operating millage
KALKASKA -- A non-homestead operating millage renewal for Kalkaska Public Schools passed by a margin of 79 percent to 21 percent in a special election.
The three-year, 18-mill request, levied on businesses and second homes within district limits, was approved 538 to 145 on Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Kalkaska County clerk's office.
It will generate about $5.9 million for the district.
"We need it to operate," Superintendent Lee Sandy said. "(Voters) support what we're doing, and that's a good sign."
LEELANAU
Substation closer to reality
GREILICKVILLE -- Wolverine Power Cooperative is a couple steps closer to building its highly contentious electrical transmission substation in Elmwood Township.
Wolverine and its co-op member Cherryland Electric Cooperative await permission from the Michigan Public Service Commission to bypass township ordinances and build the facility near the corner of Bugai Road and M-72.
Cherryland and MPSC staff signed a settlement agreement last month in an effort to speed up the case, and a group of intervenors withdrew their official objections on Feb. 11.
Now it's up to the commission to approve or deny the deal.
The developments culminate more than a year of disputes between Wolverine, Elmwood Township officials and residents, including lawsuits and a zoning ordinance amendment.
Power lines for Cherryland, Traverse City Light & Power, Consumers Energy and Michigan Electric Transmission Company would be connected to the station. Wolverine and Light & Power plan to share construction costs for the multi-million dollar project.
