State Roundup

Clinton Township Man to face trail in assault of girl, 13 months CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- A 31-year-old former hospital worker accused of sexually assaulting and critically injuring his girlfriend's 13-month-old daughter has been ordered to stand trial. Clinton Township District Judge Sebastian Lucido called David Montaldi of Mount Clemens one of the "greatest risks to the community" he's ever encountered during a preliminary examination on Tuesday. Montaldi faces first-degree criminal sexual conduct and child abuse charges. Montaldi originally said his 200-pound English mastiff sat on the child. His attorney, Michael Steinberg, said Tuesday that Montaldi now says his dog knocked the child from his arms while he was standing near stairs. The girl suffered multiple skull fractures and other injuries. Montaldi remains jailed without bond pending a March 28 court appearance. Detroit Sisters charged with health fraud caught overseas DETROIT (AP) -- The hunt for two sisters wanted for health care fraud in the Detroit area ended when they were arrested as they tried to board a plane in Colombia, authorities said Tuesday. Caridad Guilarte, 54, and Clara Guilarte, 56, were on a most-wanted list on the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which runs Medicare. The sisters are charged with collecting more than $4 million from Medicare for drug therapies that were unnecessary or not performed at a clinic in Dearborn over an 18-month period. The Guilartes were taken to Miami on Monday, a day after they were arrested while trying to board a plane in Colombia, FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said. They eventually will be transported to federal court in Detroit. Defense attorneys haven't been assigned yet. The Guilartes are natives of Cuba; Clara is a U.S. citizen while Caridad is a permanent U.S. resident. Coincidentally, news of their capture emerged while Attorney General Eric Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were in Detroit for a regional meeting on health care fraud. More than 100 people have been indicted in the Detroit area since 2009. About $1.5 million in the Guilarte case was seized from bank accounts in 2007. The sisters were indicted in 2009 along with four other people. The alleged accomplices have pleaded guilty or plan to, according to court filings. One of them, Noel Freytes, recently was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, a significant break. Prosecutors were seeking at least 2 1/2 years in custody for a money-laundering conspiracy. Ann Arbor Gov.'s planned U. of Mich. speech draws opposition ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- The selection of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to deliver the spring commencement address at the University of Michigan is drawing opposition in part because of his proposed cuts to education funding. A student started an online petition asking the school to reconsider. The school announced Monday that the Republican governor would speak April 30 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The university said it's customary for the school to invite a newly elected governor to speak at commencement and confer an honorary degree. Snyder already is a University of Michigan alumnus. Student Rick Durance, who created the online petition, told AnnArbor.com that he was turned off by Snyder's budget proposal. By Tuesday afternoon it had more than 3,600 names listed. "People really would like to see someone more inspirational," Durance said. "They don't find our governor inspirational, which I think is telling." The university's Committee on Honorary Degrees has recommended that Snyder receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, and the Board of Regents is expected to decide Thursday at its meeting in Detroit whether to approve the degree. The school is standing behind the selection, saying that since 1967, every sitting governor has given a commencement address there while in office. Lansing Snyder to lay out government re forms next week LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Gov. Rick Snyder says he plans to deliver his proposals for government reform next week. The governor told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he hasn't set a specific date and is still working out many of the details. He promised during his State of the State address in January to give a special message to the Legislature in March on government reform and another in April on education. Snyder said Tuesday he wants state and local governments to offer better government accountability and transparency, spend less on employee compensation and share or consolidate more services. He has proposed cutting revenue sharing for local governments by $100 million. Local officials say the lost funds will force them to lay off police officers and firefighters and drastically cut services. Lansing Michigan Senate votes to end item pricing mandate LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan's unique law requiring individual price tags on most retail items appears headed for extinction after a key Senate vote on Tuesday. The Republican-led state Senate voted 24-13 mostly along party lines to approve bill that would repeal the item pricing requirement. The House already has approved the bill, so it could soon be headed to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who called for repealing the item pricing law during his State of the State address in January. The Senate fell one vote short of being able to give the bill immediate effect, so the legislation remains in that chamber for now. Retail trade groups support the change, saying the current law results in higher prices because of the labor and price guns needed to tag individual items. The revised regulations would require retailers to post an item's price where it can be clearly seen but would not require price tags on individual items. Supporters of a revised law say technological improvements make individual item pricing unnecessary. Massachusetts is the only other state with a similar law to Michigan's, and it applies only to food retailers. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union says grocery store jobs would be lost if item pricing is repealed. Some retail groups say jobs wouldn't be lost, and workers would be given other tasks related to customer service. Some Democrats say repealing the law is a bad move because it would harm consumers who are accustomed to having price tags on most individual items. Published: Thu, Mar 17, 2011