Clinton Twp.
Roadside tribute vandalized in Macomb County
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A Detroit-area woman doesn’t understand why someone would vandalize a roadside memorial dedicated to her late sister.
“I can’t believe it. I’m sick to my stomach,” Denise Montgomery said.
Relatives noticed the vandalism in recent weeks after they held a balloon launch at the Clinton Township site to mark the one-year anniversary of the crash that killed Montgomery’s 47-year-old sister, Kelly Potasnik, and Thomas Taylor, 58.
Potasnik, of Roseville, and Thomas, her live-in boyfriend of three years, were riding Taylor’s motorcycle in August 2012 when they were struck from behind by a motorist who police said was driving 106 mph. Potasnik and Thomas were thrown into another vehicle.
The memorial set up at the site of the crash included some crosses and a few personal items.
“Most of the things we had there were left broken, but they stole some things that I had my sister’s name on,” Montgomery told The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens. “Seriously, why would you steal something with a dead person’s name on it?”
Montgomery said she contacted Clinton Township police and the Macomb County Department of Roads to see if they had ordered the memorial to be destroyed. Neither was aware of anything wrong at the site.
A spokesman for the Michigan transportation department said the state generally has a hands-off policy unless the memorial becomes too large or distracting.
Jeffery Jones, 46, pleaded no contest in March in Macomb County Circuit Court to two counts of drunken driving causing death and one count of drunken driving causing serious injury in the crash. He was sentenced to serve 8 to 16 years in prison.
Potasnik was buried in Royal Oak, but her family erected the memorial at the site of her death because “this is where it all happened.”
“We can go to the cemetery, but I get peace of mind at the memorial site,” Montgomery said.
Saginaw
Man attempts to steal bathtub from vacant home
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — A man tried to steal a bathtub from a vacant home in Saginaw.
Cedric T. Jones pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor charge of larceny from a vacant building.
The 43-year-old from nearby Buena Vista Township faces up to a year in jail.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors will drop a felony charge of larceny from a building, which carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
Saginaw police Detective Allan Rabideau says officers found Jones in the garage with the tub. He was bleeding, and there was blood on the tub.
Rabideau says Jones admitted stealing the tub and said he planned to sell it at a scrap yard for $20.
MLive.com reports Jones remains jailed on a $7,500 bond.
A sentencing date is pending.
Cannon Twp.
$668,000 US aid yields $1.2 million in work on 6 trails
CANNON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A $668,000 federal grant will help bring about $1.2 million in extensions and improvements to six trails in western Michigan’s Kent and Ottawa counties.
The grants come to the projects are from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s alternative transportation program and come through the Grand Valley Metropolitan Council.
The largest grant, $245,000, will help pay for a 0.6-mile extension of the 4-mile Cannon Township Trail, northeast of Grand Rapids, MLive.com reported. The total cost is estimated to be $458,000.
The Cannon Township Trail extension’s “primary purpose is to serve as a link to the future connection of the Cannon Township and Ada Township trail systems using Honey Creek Avenue,” said township Clerk Bonnie Blackledge. “That is being proposed as a future project, perhaps in 2016.”
Grand Rapids is receiving $183,000 for a quarter-mile walkway on the Grand River’s east side.
Kent County Parks is getting $114,000 for a 1.6-mile sidewalk widening on the Fred Meijer Pioneer Trail.
Jamestown Township and the Ottawa County Road Commission are receiving $72,000 for a 0.5-mile path connecting the Fred Meijer Kenowa Trail to a path that runs along Quincy Street.
“This will connect those neighborhoods (with access to the Quincy trail) to the new South Elementary School” in Hudsonville, said township Supervisor Ken Bergwerff.
The Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming is getting $44,000 for a quarter-mile connector to its Interurban Trail on the west side.
And Rockford is getting $10,000 for a shelter along its Rum Creek Trail.
Mackinaw City
Lake museum adds flag, photo to its collections
MACKINAW CITY, Mich. (AP) — A funeral flag presented to the widow of a captain who once served on the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw is now part of the Icebreaker Mackinaw Maritime Museum’s collections.
The flag was one of two pieces donated to the museum last week. It was given to Shirley Honke on July 6, 2011, which was when the cremains of Capt. Jim Honke were committed to the sea during a ceremony held on the ship, according to the Cheboygan Daily Tribune. She wanted the flag to stay with the ship.
“I would think an appropriate place for this flag will be in the captain’s quarters,” said Lisa Pallagi, museum director. That was where Honke stayed during his time as commanding officer of the original icebreaker from 1980 to 1983. He retired after 37 years with the Coast Guard.
The other contribution was a framed enlargement of a photo of the U.S. Coast Guard Barque “Eagle.” It was donated by Richard Campbell of Mackinaw City.
“The photo hung for many years in the office of a very good friend of mine,” Campbell told the newspaper. “I always admired it and when he passed away I was very happy to learn that he had arranged for me to receive it. I have enjoyed it but it belongs on the Mackinaw.”
The Eagle was built at the Blohm & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany, in 1936, and commissioned as Horst Wessel, Eagle. It was one of three sail-training ships operated by the pre-World War II German navy.
At the end of World War II it was taken over by the United States as a war reparation. The U.S. re-commissioned it as the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Eagle and it then went to its home port in New London, Conn., where it has served ever since.
Newberry
3,810 new acres are added in UP land purchase
NEWBERRY, Mich. (AP) — A $6 million land deal has added 3,810 acres of Upper Peninsula forestland and waterfront for the public.
The property provides public access for hunting, fishing, camping, kayaking and hiking. It’s in northern Luce and Chippewa counties.
The acquisition was funded by a $4.5 million grant through the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program and $1.5 million from a private donor.
The Mining Journal of Marquette reports a public ceremony commemorating completion of the land purchase recently was held at the Crisp Point Lighthouse.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources deputy director Bill Moritz signed a ceremonial deed, which signified the state accepting the land and its protection.
Forest Service officials say the Crisp Point project protects more than two miles of Lake Superior shoreline and environmentally important forest.
