State Roundup

Eastpointe City finalizes new fortune telling ordinance EASTPOINTE, Mich. (AP) -- A new ordinance requires psychics or fortune tellers who want to work in Eastpointe to detail any past criminal convictions in order to get a license. The Macomb Daily of Mount Clemens reports that the Eastpointe City Council recently finalized a fortune telling ordinance. Councilwoman Veronica Klinefelt says new regulations were largely in response to newspaper articles detailing how people were being financially victimized by unscrupulous psychics. Eastpointe council members began studying the issue last year. A license costs $150 through the City Clerk's Office and must be renewed annually. Lansing Cookbook highlights 'Pure Michigan' offerings LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The online Pure Michigan store is offering up a cookbook that features culinary offerings from across the state. The full-color, hardcover titled "Pure Michigan: Eating Fresh and Local in the Great Lakes State" is published by Midwest Living. It includes recipes contributed by chefs at Cygnus 27 in Grand Rapids, Detroit's Rattlesnake Club and Trattoria Stella in Traverse City. Kalamazoo Police re-open investigation into woman's '91 death KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- Kalamazoo police have re-opened their investigation into the strangulation death of a woman who was found bound and gagged in her apartment almost 20 years ago. Police are revisiting Annette Jones' November 1991 killing because new information has come to light in the case. Capt. Julie Parsons says that two years after Jones' death, a note was left on the door of a Kalamazoo County residence. Parsons tells the Kalamazoo Gazette the note contained knowledge about the homicide but "was never connected at the time of the original investigation." At the time, the victim's mother, Freda Jones, told the Gazette she found her 23-year-old daughter "gagged, tied and choked to death with a cord wrapped around her neck a couple times." The more than 150-page book retails for $29.95. Sales help support the Pure Michigan advertising campaign. Earlier this month, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill into law that drops an additional $10 million into the campaign. Pure Michigan promotes the state's beaches, golf courses and other destinations to potential tourists. Ann Arbor U. of Mich., graduate workers reach contract deal ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- A tentative contract agreement has been reached between the University of Michigan and the union representing its graduate student instructors and staff assistants. The Michigan Daily of Ann Arbor reports that the University's Graduate Employees' Organization's bargaining team signed the tentative agreement on Saturday. The about 1,800-member union's three-year contract expired Friday. The tentative agreement sets wage increases for union members over the three years covered by the contract at 2.5 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent, respectively. The new contract includes more accommodations for disabled employees. And members will get increased childcare subsidies. The tentative agreement will be brought to a general membership meeting later this week for a ratification vote. It then goes to the school's Board of Regents for approval. Chelsea Legacy Land Conservancy marks 40th with exhibition CHELSEA, Mich. (AP) -- The Legacy Land Conservancy is celebrating its 40th anniversary with an art exhibition being organized in conjunction with the Chelsea Center for the Arts. Artists are being sought for "Stand in the Place Where you Live," which is scheduled to take place in Chelsea from Nov. 13-Jan. 8. Artists will be chosen to create works about specific local public and private lands preserved through the conservancy. Each artist will be assigned to a particular site. The deadline for applications is March 31. Details are on the organizations' websites. The Ann Arbor-based Legacy Land Conservancy formerly was known as the Washtenaw Land Trust. Published: Tue, Mar 22, 2011