Traverse City Record-Eagle

Michigan

July 6, 2012

Michigan in Brief: 07/06/2012

FROM WIRE REPORTS ----

Prisoners can't get food stamps in Mich.

LANSING — Michigan has a new law making it illegal for prison inmates to participate in the state's food stamp program.

The state says Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed a bill Thursday making it illegal for prisoners to get Bridge Cards, a type of debit card that Michigan uses to provide food assistance.

The law also requires the ending of Bridge Card access to imprisoned people who've previously been issued one.

The law requires the state Department of Human Services to perform a monthly incarceration match to help determine Bridge Card eligibility. Calley says that codifies policies already in place within the department.

The state says Calley also signed a law eliminating the current maximum number of axles on trailers more than 50 feet long.

More than 200K in Mich. without power

DETROIT — A series of thunderstorms that raged across parts of Michigan's Lower Peninsula temporarily dampened record-setting high temperatures that have gripped the state for more than a week.

About 325,000 DTE Energy Co. residential and business customers lost electricity starting with storms Tuesday, and 195,000 remained without power Thursday after a new round of rough weather toppled trees and overhead power lines.

At the height of the storms, about 97,000 Consumers Energy customers lost power. That number was down to 80,000 early Thursday afternoon, Consumers Energy spokesman Dan Bishop said.

Both utilities are throwing crews into restoration efforts. Consumers Energy had 160 crews on the job and expected some workers from Indiana to arrive Thursday evening in Michigan. DTE Energy crews were working 16-hour shifts, a spokesman said. Several dozen contractors and linemen sent to help in restoration efforts after earlier storms ravaged the East Coast were recalled.

Many communities were removing tree limbs and wires from across streets, roadways and sidewalks. Rain water flooded low-lying portions of highways, including Interstate 475 in the Flint area.

Stray bullet kills woman in Lansing

LANSING — Authorities in Lansing say a woman has died after an apparently stray bullet hit her in the head before the Michigan capital's Fourth of July fireworks show.

The Lansing State Journal reports Mayor Virg Bernero issued a statement Thursday calling the Wednesday night shooting of the 34-year-old Lansing woman at a park a "senseless act of violence." WLNS-TV says the woman was apparently having a seizure, and medical personnel discovered the bullet wound. WILX-TV says she died Thursday.

Bernero says investigators don't believe the shot was fired from within Adado Riverfront Park, where about 100 police officers were on duty.

Police are seeking tips from the public in the case.

Man dead in Lake St. Clair's Anchor Bay

ANCHOR BAY — Authorities say they've found the body of a 57-year-old man floating near shore in Lake St. Clair's Anchor Bay.

The St. Clair County sheriff's department says authorities got a 911 call about 12:30 p.m. Thursday saying that a body was in the water behind the Lakeview Motel. The site is in Ira Township, about 25 miles northeast of Detroit.

The sheriff's department says it's trying to locate the man's relatives.

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