8/19/08
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An extensive search on West Grand Traverse Bay ended with a man behind bars early yesterday morning. Sometime after 4 am police received calls of a person yelling for help out on the water near Clinch Park Marina. Several emergency crews responded including the dive team, and the Coast Guard. Rescuers found a boat adrift with a backpack that contained a man’s identification AND About an hour later, police arrested that man, intoxicated and wearing wet clothing, walking on Hall Street in Traverse City. Police believe the man was trying to steal the boat moored near the marina. The man has admitted he was the one calling for help. Authorities say the cost of the search may total more than $5 thousand dollars and that it will most likely be paid through the general funds for both the city and county.
Two new arrests have been made in the case of Cody Cross, the three-year-old Kalkaska boy who police say was beaten to death earlier this month. Cody's mother Pamela Buning and her friend Heather Batchelor will face charges for their suspected roles in the boy's death. Prosecutors say the two women made up a story with Sheldon McDonald, the man accused of murdering Cody, to lie to police and cover up what really happened. McDonald was charged with murder earlier this month.
Garfield Township will hire a forensic auditor to investigate “irregularities” in its personal property tax payment records. The probe is being ordered after staff discovered discrepancies while attempting to collect delinquent property taxes. The goal of the audit is to determine whether accounting entries in question are the result of sloppy bookkeeping or an attempt to hide embezzling of township tax monies. Treasurer Dennis Habendank warns the audit may be expensive, but says the discrepancies found so far shouldn’t be ignored.
The D.E.Q. is expected to loan one million dollars to a hotel project at the grand traverse commons. The money would go toward cleaning up asbestos and lead paint at buildings 20, 28 and 40 which are slated to be transformed in to a hotel with 83 rooms in its first phase and future plans to add a health spa and 34 additional rooms. The long-term loan from the D.E.Q. will be repaid through increased tax revenue generated by the project and the developers may also benefit from an estimated two-and-a-half million-dollar tax credit based on private investment in the project and the creation of 190 jobs.
A local help wanted ad has been linked to a nationwide scam. The newspaper ad offered a babysitting job paying $700 a week, But when you call the number on the ad, you're directed to a website, and before you can apply to be a nanny you're asked for your personal information and a credit card payment. According to the better business bureau the company operating the website has received dozens of complaints across 23 states, and Now they are warning consumers to avoid doing business with wonderfulnanny.com.
State officials have confirmed the first case of West Nile virus in Michigan this season. Mosquitoes transmit the virus. Most people bitten by an infected mosquito will show no symptoms but about one in five infected persons will become mildly ill. Severe cases may result in encephalitis, meningitis or death.
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