AP-US-OBIT-YOUNG
Wanda Young, member of Motown’s The Marvelettes, dies at 78
DETROIT (AP) — Wanda Young, a member of Motown’s chart-topping The Marvelettes, has died in suburban Detroit. She was 78. Meta Ventress tells The New York Times for a story Saturday that her mother died Dec. 15 in Garden City, Michigan, of complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Young and other members of The Marvelettes were teenagers when they recorded “Please Mr. Postman” for Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Records in 1961. The song became Motown’s first No. 1 pop hit. The group later would record such hits as “Don’t Mess With Bill” and “My Baby Must Be A Magician.” Young sang lead on “Don’t Mess With Bill.”
LICENSE PLATE CAMERAS-CRIME
City to install cameras that record license plate numbers
WYOMING, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan city plans to install a dozen cameras that will record license plate numbers. MLive.com reports that the effort in Wyoming is aimed at solving and reducing violent crime. The 12 automatic license plate recognition cameras will be installed within the next two months at six intersections. They’ll capture video as well as every license plate and the make, model and colors of vehicles that pass by them. The locations of the cameras can be changed. License plate numbers or descriptions about vehicles involved in crimes can be entered into a system which will notify officers if and when vehicles matching the plates or descriptions are detected passing through intersections equipped with the cameras.
PARAKEETS-ANIMAL SHELTER
Several hundred parakeets dropped off at animal shelter
ROMEO, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area animal shelter has been inundated with parakeets. The Detroit News reports that The Detroit Animal Welfare Group in Romeo said in a Facebook post that someone dropped off 400 of the small, colorful birds Thursday night. The shelter said in the post that it “could not turn them away as they were all crammed in seven cages and smothering each other and needed immediate help.” Shelter officials said they reached out to bird rescue organizations for help. Temporary housing for the parakeets was found and food was donated for the birds. The birds have to quarantine for 30 days. The newspaper reports that adoptions were expected to begin Jan. 23.
NEW FOOTBALL FIELD
Donor replacing school football field, creating scholarships
ITHACA, Mich. (AP) — A family is giving more than $1 million for a new football field at a central Michigan high school and to create a college scholarship fund for students. Artificial turf would replace grass at the field used by Ithaca High School. The stadium would also be available for other schools in Gratiot County and would likely host state sports events. Ithaca Superintendent Steve Netzley says it will be “top of the line.” The donor family, who wants to be anonymous, also is also starting a Veterans Memorial Scholarship Fund for students in the Alma, Ashley, Breckenridge, Ithaca, Fulton and St. Louis districts.
SCHOOL SHOOTING-MICHIGAN
Prosecutors: Big bond needed for parents in school shooting
DETROIT (AP) — Prosecutors in Michigan are striking back against the parents of a boy charged with a school shooting that killed four students. James and Jennifer Crumbley are charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case. They want a judge to lower their $500,000 bond so they can get out of jail. But prosecutors claim the Crumbleys will flee if they’re released. The parents are charged under a theory that they made a gun available to their son and had opportunities to prevent the bloodshed. On the day of the shooting, the parents were summoned to discuss Ethan’s disturbing drawings. The Crumbleys say they had no idea that he would commit violence. Their next court hearing is Jan. 7.
MICHIGAN FEDERAL JUDGE
New federal judge for Michigan sworn into office
DETROIT (AP) — Michigan’s newest federal judge has been sworn into office just days after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Shalina Kumar, took the judicial oath during a Thursday ceremony at the federal courthouse in Detroit. Kumar is a former Oakland County Circuit Court chief judge. Her father is from India and she is the first person of South Asian descent to be nominated for a federal judgeship in Michigan. Kumar said in a statement that she was deeply humbled by the faith and trust President Joe Biden and senators had given her. Kumar will be based at the U.S. Courthouse in Flint.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MICHIGAN UNIVERSITIES
Wayne State latest Michigan university to respond to omicron
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Wayne State University in Detroit says it will start the next semester off remotely. Several other public universities have announced their plans for the new year as the omicron variant of the coronavirus looms over the state. Wayne State said Thursday it will conduct classes online until Jan. 31 and then look at the situation to determine its next move. Last week both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University announced that all students, faculty and staff will be required to receive the COVID-19 booster at the beginning of the next semester. Wayne State also will require boosters.
FATAL STABBING-CONVICTION
Michigan convicted in fatal stabbing, dumping body in park
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan man has been convicted in the fatal 2019 stabbing of a man whose body was found dumped in an Ottawa County park. A jury deliberated for less than an hour before convicting 30-year-old Jordan Scott Loomis of Grand Rapids of murder. The Grand Rapids Press reports prosecutors said Loomis stabbed 51-year-old James Earl Robertson in a vehicle in November 2019 and dumped his body at a Tallmadge Township park. Kent County prosecutors say Loomis hoped to get Robertson to give him some crack cocaine on the promise of a later payback, and planned to rob him if he refused.
MISSING TEEN-FATHER
Man pleads guilty to 1989 killing of adopted daughter
ALLEGAN, Mich. (AP) — A former western Michigan man has pleaded no contest in the 1989 killing of his 14-year-old adopted daughter, whose body was found buried in his backyard. Seventy-two-year-old Dennis Bowman pleaded no contest Wednesday in an Allegan County courtroom to second-degree murder in Aundria Bowman’s death. The Holland Sentinel reports that Bowman’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 7. Aundria Bowman was last seen in March 1989. Her body was discovered in early 2020 in the backyard of Bowman’s Hamilton home after he confessed to her killing. Bowman told police he pushed the teen down stairs, killing her, in March 1989 after she threatened to report that he had molested her.
AP-US-SCHOOL-SHOOTING-MICHIGAN
Parents charged in Oxford school shooting seek lower bail
DETROIT (AP) — The parents of a teenager charged with killing four students at a Michigan high school are asking for a lower bond so they can get out of jail. An attorney for James and Jennifer Crumbley says they didn’t anticipate that their son Ethan would commit violence and are “devastated” like others in the Oxford community. The parents are charged with involuntary manslaughter. They’re accused of making a gun accessible to their son. The Crumbleys want their bond lowered to $100,000 from $500,000. Ethan is charged with murder and other crimes.
The Associated Press
