State Roundup

Ann Arbor Rail company cutting speed of trains on line ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- Norfolk Southern Corp. says it's restricting the speed that Amtrak trains can run on tracks the railroad company owns between Dearborn and Kalamazoo even as the line is prepared for high-speed passenger rail. Norfolk Southern spokesman Randy Husband told AnnArbor.com for a story Monday that the company would only pay the maintenance costs necessary for the tracks to handle trains traveling between 25 and 60 mph. He says someone else will have to pay for increased maintenance costs that would come with higher speeds than freight trains run. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says the federal money Michigan is receiving to improve the tracks will correct the problem. Norfolk, Va.-based Norfolk Southern owns Norfolk Southern Railway, which operates about 21,000 miles of track in 22 states and the District of Columbia. Flint City aims to crack down on manhole cover thefts FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- Authorities in Flint are looking to crack down on people stealing manhole covers and sewer grates to sell for scrap. The Flint Journal reports that the problem has escalated in recent months, and city attorneys are in the process of strengthening local laws designed to punish people caught stealing for scrap as well as scrap yards that are caught buying stolen items. The Citizens Nuisance Task Force is working with police to monitor scrap yards and look for thieves. City Council got an update on progress Monday. Utilities Director Mike Brown says city workers have been working to replace missing covers and grates as well as to secure them. Pontiac Novi man sentenced in sister's knife slaying PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) -- A southeastern Michigan man who authorities say fatally stabbed and nearly severed the head of his sister before dumping her body in a park has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Court records show that Marc Rosenthal of Novi was sentenced Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac. The 59-year-old pleaded guilty last month to first-degree murder. The body of Southfield resident Ilene Moore was found Dec. 9 at Kensington Metropark in Milford. Authorities have said Moore may have confronted Rosenthal over his use of money set aside for care of their father. Grand Rapids Albright, Powell: Debt a threat to U.S. security GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- The growing U.S. debt is a threat to national security, according to former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell. Albright said Monday night during the annual dinner of the Economic Club of Grand Rapids that higher taxes are a part of a solution, calling them "the price to pay for living in a civilized country." Powell told the crowd of about 1,200 that no business would be run the way Washington runs the nation, The Grand Rapids Press reported. He said Americans must spend less and save more, and insist lawmakers do the same. "I don't think the American people have yet to feel the pain of the imbalanced budget," he said. "Maybe we need to slide down more, hit a bump or a wall before the American people start to feel pain." Both said the U.S. is safer now than before the Sept. 11 attacks nearly a decade ago. Albright said the country must determine its role in the 21st century, saying people no longer expect it to police the world. "I do believe that the United States is an indispensable nation," she said. "But nothing in the definition of 'indispensable' does it say 'alone.' I believe we need to be sharing the burden in an increasingly competitive world." Albright and Powell answered questions for about an hour. Other high-profile keynote speakers to the club in recent years have included former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Powell served under Bush and Albright served under Clinton. Ann Arbor Mother serving life in officer killings dies at 93 ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) -- A mother serving life in prison for killing three police officers during a 1987 shootout and standoff at a Detroit-area motel has died at the age of 93. Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan tells the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News that Alberta Easter died Sunday. She was being held at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti and was taken an Ann Arbor hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Marlan says preliminary indications were that she died of natural causes. Easter and her sons, George, Roy and William Lemons, were sentenced in 1988 to life in separate prisons for killing the three officers. They were convicted of in the deaths of Inkster Sgt. Ira Parker and Officers Clay Hoover and Daniel Dubiel during the siege. Auburn Hills Man free after being arrested in ex-wife's death AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- A man who fled to Kosovo after his ex-wife disappeared a decade ago and was arrested after a murder warrant was issued in Michigan has been released. The Oakland Press of Pontiac reports that the Kosovo Supreme Court ruled last month that 44-year-old Binak "Kola" Gjergjaj (jehr-JYZ') must be released despite an extradition treaty. Prosecutors still want him returned to Michigan. Gjergjaj was arrested in March in the death of Aferdita "Rita" Gjergjaj. He previously denied to the FBI that he was involved in the disappearance. Gjergjaj previously was charged with assault in the 1998 beating of his then-wife. The couple divorced in 1999. Aferdita Gjergjaj, then 30, was last seen in 2001 at an Auburn Hills theater where she was to meet her ex-husband and see her children. Rome Township Feds take drug case week after big bust in Lenawee ROME TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) -- Federal authorities have filed charges and taken over the case of thousands of marijuana plants discovered in Lenawee County. The government says more than 8,000 plants worth millions were found last week in Rome Township, 65 miles southwest of Detroit. Edwin and Linda Schmieding were charged in federal court Monday with conspiracy and growing more than 1,000 marijuana plants. Agent Lloyd Hopkins says Linda Schmieding told police they were paid $500 a week for marijuana, and some pot was sold as medical marijuana. The Schmiedings likely will appear this week in federal court in Detroit. They've been in the Lenawee County jail since June 6. Detroit Guilty plea by brothers in auto-parts probe DETROIT (AP) -- Two brothers who run a suburban Detroit auto-parts factory have pleaded guilty to fraud. Orman and David Bernhardt are accused of using less expensive materials than required in seat belt assemblies and then covering it up through false reports. Their company is Davalor Mold in Macomb County's Chesterfield Township. The Bernhardts pleaded guilty Monday in Detroit federal court. Davalor Mold does work for Tier I auto suppliers, the major companies that supply parts for automakers. The government says the scheme lasted for two years until spring 2010. A lawyer for the Bernhardt brothers has said safety was not compromised. Detroit Insurer doubts story about wrecked Ferrari DETROIT (AP) -- A Michigan insurance company suing to force the federal government to pay $750,000 for wrecking a rare Ferrari in Kentucky questioned whether it was simply an accident. Motors Insurance said its investigation showed the high-performance car was being driven toward a dead-end in a Lexington, Ky., industrial park in 2009 "with no outlet to other roads." There is "good reason" to believe that an FBI agent and a federal prosecutor "were taking an extremely rare and exceedingly fast Ferrari out for a joyride," the insurer's attorney, Richard Kraus, said in a new court document filed last week. The 1995 Ferrari F50, one of only 50 in the U.S., was stolen in Rosemont, Pa., in 2003 but recovered five years later in Kentucky. Motors Insurance, based in Southfield, says it gave authorities permission to keep it stored there during the criminal case. The U.S. Justice Department has been tight-lipped about the crash and released just one document to the insurer, an email from Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Hamilton Thompson who was a passenger. He said he was invited for a "short ride" before the Ferrari was to be moved from an impound garage. The driver, FBI agent Fred Kingston, 34, lost control and the car hit bushes and a small tree, Thompson said. The government has asked U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn in Detroit to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it has civil immunity when controlling certain goods. Kraus said he's been "stonewalled" in getting any information and asked the judge to allow him to interview people familiar with the crash. Cohn met privately with both sides Monday. Lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department declined to comment. Published: Wed, Jun 15, 2011