An Arabic woman maintained that a Black woman used ethnic slurs against her and threw a pillow at her in a Macomb County store, although her allegations were weakened slightly by some differences from her prior statements.

Ela Musaid, 19, took the stand Tuesday at the start of the jury trial for Tenia Fleming, an off-duty Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy who is charged with ethnic intimidation and assault and battery for an incident last December at the Marshalls store at 12 Mile and Gratiot Avenue in Roseville.

Musaid, who was shopping with her two sisters, testified in Macomb County Circuit Court that she felt “terrified” and her life was in danger after Fleming allegedly called her a “f—— filthy Arab,” cussed at her further and threw a pillow at her as Musaid walked away.

Musaid, who is Muslim and was wearing a hijab at the time of the incident, called Fleming’s remarks “violent and racist” and she felt “afraid for my life.”

She said she didn’t think the comments were necessarily directed at her but that she and her sisters were the only people in the store donned in hijabs.

Musaid, who spoke softly through a face mask, at times was difficult to understand.

Musaid said she did not see Fleming when she made the initial remarks as they were in separate aisles. Musaid said she and Fleming began walking in the same direction after the alleged slurs were spoken, and they both ended up in the main aisle. Video of the incident shows Fleming was about 10 feet behind Musaid when she threw the pillow. Musaid said was shouting at her but she does not recall what she said.

She said she did not say anything to prompt the initial remarks, was not on the phone with one of her sisters in the moments prior to the incident and did not recall whether she said anything further to Fleming following the remarks.

Video shows that Fleming’s husband, Kenneth, also a Wayne County Sheriff’s deputy, restrained Tenia from rushing toward Musaid after throwing the pillow.

Ela’s sister, Lamees Musaid, 23, testified she heard the initial slurs and then in a second set of comments heard Fleming say “names.”

“I do not recall the exact names,” she said. “It was a long time ago and I do not remember.”

Lamees Musaid called 911 and told a dispatcher, “A Black lady comes across and calls me names and then a pillow is thrown at us. I’m in danger,” according to a recording played in court while Lamees testified.

Police arrived, and after talking to officers, the sisters asked to be escorted to their vehicle because they were scared, Ela Musaid testified.

Meanwhile, Fleming and her husband left immediatley following the incident. Mr. Fleming was later identified from security video at the store, leading to the charges against Mrs. Fleming.

During cross examination of Ela Musaid by Fleming’s attorney, Lillian Diallo, Musaid said she did not recall some aspects of the incident or her prior statements because, “It was so long ago.”

Diallo pointed out Musaid told police Fleming made the initial remarks “under her breath,” but Tuesday said, “I don’t remember.”

Diallo also noted that twice in police reports officers did not include that Fleming included “filthy” in her remarks, although under redirect questioning from Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Coletta, Musaid noted  it is included in at least one other report.

Musaid said she also did not remember testifying that she said, “This is crazy,” as she walked away around the time the pillow struck her.

Diallo pointed out at the start of her cross examination Musaid was wearing a hijab, face mask and eyeglasses while testifying Tuesday but at the district court hearing wore only the hijab while on the stand.

“It’s clear we cannot see your facial expressions right now, correct?” Diallo said. “At the preliminary examination we were able to see your facial expressions, correct? We didn’t have a jury at the preliminary examination, correct?”

Musaid replied, “correct,” to the trio of questions.

Musaid testified under Coletta’s questioning that she felt “afraid” to be testifying in the same room as Fleming, who was sitting at the attorneys-parties table.

Ethnic intimidation is a low-level felony punishable by up to two year in prison and assault and battery is a misdemeanor.

Fleming was suspended without pay following the incident.

The trial in front of Judge Joseph Toia was expected to conclude this week.

Just one week into the school year police have dealt with what appeared to be a threat directed a Wayne County school and executed a probe that tracked down the source.

The school was placed on a lockdown Friday after an air-dropped message was received by some students at Romulus High School on their cell phones.

According to police, the message stated someone was “trying to come shoot up the school.”

Police said the school resource officer was already on the grounds and additional officers arrived to ensure everyone’s safety while an investigation into the anonymous threat was conducted.

Although the origin of the message was determined, police offered no information on the teen.

The threat was believed to have no credibility and police said students were not in danger.

As the lockdown remained in place, classes continued – preventing a setback in the educational process.

A police presence remained for the rest of the school day.

‘Imma shoot up the school tomorrow:’ South Lyon students charged for allegedly making threats

Officers thanked school officials for their “swift, no-nonsense reaction” to the threat and their partnership with the RPD to ensure the safety of all students.

Romulus police were commended by many on its social media page for addressing the issue publicly.

One person posting on the page commenting said hopefully the person responsible for the message will be “kicked out for the remainder of the school year.”

She said that person should be used as an example for others who think they can get away with such a disruption.

The incident hit home for Teri Dodd.

“My nephew’s school just got shot up in Georgia,” Dodd posted on social media. “Thankfully he wasn’t hurt. My granddaughter goes to Romulus high. She’s scared to even go to school. It’s time to punish parents for even a threat to harm another human being. Parents, be parents. Know what your child is doing.”

Police responded to the post saying, “In the interest of fairness, we do not think this was a deliberate attempt at a three-day weekend.”

Another person responding to the police department’s post said she trusts the Romulus Police Department, school staff and School Supt. Benjamin Edmondson.

Police Chief Robert Pfannes is encouraging any student or parent who receives any information that questions the safety of children in the district to contact school administrators, the district’s resource officer or police so the information can be vetted as soon as possible.

It’s routine for ITC.

However, residents in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties may not know that ITC will be conducting aerial patrols of high-voltage transmission structures and lines in areas across Michigan throughout the fall.

According to ITC, the helicopter patrols are conducted to provide an overall status of the overhead transmission system that is operated by ITC’s Michigan operating entities including ITCTransmission and Michigan Electric Transmission Company, LLC (METC).

The aerial inspections will cover most of the Lower Peninsula and its surrounding counties including Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne and Livingston counties Oct. 1-4, weather permitting.

Other patrols will be held:

• Sept. 9-12: Antrim, Arenac, Bay, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Clare, Crawford, Emmet, Gladwin, Grand Traverse, Iosco, Kalkaska, Lake, Leelanau, Manistee, Mason, Midland, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Otsego, Presque Isle, Roscommon and Wexford.  Alcona, Alpena,

• Sept. 13-17: Allegan, Clinton, Gratiot, Ionia, Isabella, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Midland, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana and Ottawa.

• Sept. 18-20: Allegan, Barry,  Branch, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Lenawee, Monroe, Ottawa, Shiawassee, St. Joseph, Van Buren and Washtenaw.

• Sept. 23-30: Bay, Genesee,  Gratiot, Huron, Ingham, Isabella, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Midland, Montcalm, Oakland, Saginaw, Sanilac, Shiawassee, St. Clair and Tuscola.

These patrols are required by North American Electrical Reliability Corporation (NERC) for ITC’s vegetation management program, support proactive maintenance objectives, and are in line with the company’s model for operational excellence, according to ITC. They include inspections of all transmission structures and equipment including, but not limited to, monopoles, steel towers, wood poles, conductors (wires), insulators and other equipment.

During the flights crews check for damaged or worn equipment and vegetation hazards. The inspection flights are often conducted at low altitudes to allow accurate visual inspection of equipment  for lightning damage, wear or other potential problems.

ITC said it’s normal procedure, so there is no cause for alarm if a low-flying helicopter is sighted near transmission lines.

By BRIAN SLODYSKO and DAN MERICA The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Italo Medelius was leading a volunteer drive to put Cornel West on North Carolina’s presidential ballot last spring when he received an unexpected call from a man named Paul who said he wanted to help.

Though Medelius, co-chairman of West’s “Justice for All Party,” welcomed the assistance, the offer would complicate his life, provoking threats and drawing him into a state election board investigation of the motivations, backgrounds and suspect tactics of his new allies.

His is not an isolated case.

Across the country, a network of Republican political operatives, lawyers and their allies is trying to shape November’s election in ways that favor former President Donald Trump. Their goal is to prop up third-party candidates such as West who offer liberal voters an alternative that could siphon away support from Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.

It is not clear who is paying for the effort, but it could be impactful in states that were decided by miniscule margins in the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.

This is money West’s campaign does not have, and he has encouraged the effort. Last month the academic told The Associated Press that “American politics is highly gangster-like activity” and he “just wanted to get on that ballot.”

Trump has offered praise for West, calling him “one of my favorite candidates.” Another is Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Trump favors both for the same reason. “I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them. He takes 100%.”

Democrats are exploring ways to lift Randall Terry, an anti-abortion presidential candidate for the Constitution Party, believing he could draw voters from Trump.

But the GOP effort appears to be more far-reaching. After years of Trump accusing Democrats of “rigging” elections, it is his allies who are now mounting a sprawling and at times deceptive campaign to tilt the vote in his favor.

“The fact that either of the two major parties would attempt financially and otherwise to support a third-party spoiler candidate as part of its effort to win is an unfortunate byproduct” of current election laws “that facilitate spoilers,” said Edward B. Foley, a law professor who leads Ohio State University’s election law program. “This phenomenon is equally problematic whichever of the two major party engages in it.”

One key figure in the push is Paul Hamrick, the man on the other end of the call with Medelius in North Carolina.

Hamrick serves as counsel for the Virginia-based nonprofit People Over Party, which has pushed to get West on the ballot in Arizona, Maine, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as North Carolina, records show.

In an interview, Hamrick declined to say who else besides him was orchestrating the effort and he would not divulge who was funding it. He vigorously disputed any suggestion that he was a Republican, but acknowledged that he was not a Democrat, either.

His history is complex.

Hamrick was chief of staff to former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a one-term Democrat who was booted from office in 2003 and later was convicted and sentenced to prison on federal bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud charges. Hamrick was charged alongside his former boss in two separate cases. One was dismissed and he was acquitted in the other.

Though he insists he is not a Republican, Hamrick voted in Alabama’s Republican primary in 2002, 2006 and 2010, according to state voting records maintained by the political data firm L2. He was tapped briefly in 2011 to work for the Alabama state Senate’s Republican majority. And since 2015, according to federal campaign finance disclosures, he has contributed only to GOP causes, including $2,500 to the Alabama Republican Party and $3,300 to Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican who has trafficked in conspiracy theories.

Hamrick denied that he voted in any Republican primaries, suggesting that the voting data was inaccurate.

For years, he was a consultant for Matrix LLC, an Alabama firm known for its hardball approach.

Matrix LLC was part of an effort in Florida to run “ghost candidates” against elected officials who had raised the ire of executives for Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest utility.

Daniella Levine Cava, the current mayor of Miami-Dade County, was a target. As a county commissioner, Levine Cava had fought with FPL. When she ran for reelection in 2018, Matrix covertly financed a third-party candidate they hoped would siphon enough votes to tip her seat to a Republican challenger, The Miami Herald reported in 2022.

Hamrick was deeply involved. A company he created paid the spoiler candidate a $60,000 salary and rented a $2,300-a-month home for him, according to the newspaper and business filings made in Alabama. Hamrick said the candidate worked for him to help recruit business. Hamrick denied having anything to do with the man’s campaign.

Either way, it did not work. Levine Cava was reelected before winning the mayor’s seat in 2020.

Now Hamrick is playing a prominent role to place West’s name on the ballot in competetive states. Hamrick surfaced in Arizona two weeks ago after a woman told the AP that a document was fraudulently submitted in her name to Arizona’s secretary of state in which she purportedly agreed to serve as an elector for West. She said her signature was forged and she never agreed to be an elector.

After the AP published her account, Hamrick said he spoke to the woman’s husband, trying to rectify the situation and “gave some information.” Hamrick declined to say what information was shared. He also tried to persuade another elector who backed out to recommit to West, according to interviews and voicemails.

The next day, with the deadline to qualify for the Arizona ballot just hours away, Brett Johnson, a prominent Republican lawyer, and Amanda Reeve, a former GOP state lawmaker, made house visits to each as they tried to persuade both to sign new paperwork to serve as West electors.

Johnson and Reeve work for Snell & Wilmer, which has done $257,000 worth of business for the Republican National Committee over the past two years, campaign finance disclosures show.

Hamrick declined to comment on the role of Johnson and Reeve. They did not respond to requests for comment.

West did not qualify for the Arizona ballot.

Other Republican-aligned law firms also have been involved in the national push, opposing Democrat-backed challenges to West’s placement on the ballot:

— In Georgia, Bryan Tyson, a partner at the Election Law Group, represented the state Republican Party as it tried to keep West on the ballot. The firm has collected $60,000 in payments from the RNC since April, campaign finance records show. Tyson did not respond to a request for comment.

On Thursday, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger overruled an administrative law judge and placed West, Stein and Party for Socialism and Liberation nominee Claudia De la Cruz on the ballot. Tyson did not respond to a message seeking comment.

— In North Carolina, Phil Strach, a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association, successfully challenged in court a North Carolina State Board of Elections decision to bar West from the ballot. Strach did not respond to a message left for him.

— In Michigan, John Bursch, a senior lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom, the conservative legal group that helped overturn Roe v. Wade, successfully fended off a challenge to West’s placement on the ballot. Bursch’s firm, Bursch Law PLLC, was paid $25,000 by Trump’s campaign in November 2020 for “RECOUNT: LEGAL CONSULTING,” according to campaign finance disclosures. Bursch did not respond to a request for comment.

— In Pennsylvania, a lawyer with long-standing ties to Republican candidates and causes, unsuccessfully argued in August for West to stay on the ballot. The attorney, Matt Haverstick, declined to say in an interview who hired him or why. People Over Party, the group Hamrick is affiliated with, had tried to get West on the ballot.

None of these actions was funded by West’s campaign, though he and his “Justice for All” party have coordinated at times with Hamrick’s People Over Party, according to legal filings, a news release and social media posts.

In North Carolina, People Over Party, worked with Blitz Canvassing and Campaign & Petition Management — two firms that routinely work for the GOP — to gather signatures for West. Hamrick later responded in writing on behalf of workers for the two companies after the state election board opened its inquiry.

Jefferson Thomas, a longtime Republican operative from Colorado, submitted petition signatures that his firm, The Synapse Group, gathered on behalf of Stein in New Hampshire, records show. He did not respond to requests for comment.

In Wisconsin, Blair Group Consulting oversaw West’s petition signature drive to qualify for the ballot, as previously reported by USA Today. David Blair, the firm’s president, was a the national director of Youth for Trump during the 2016 campaign and was a spokesman in the Trump administration. Blair declined to comment.

Mark Jacoby, whose signature gathering firm Let the Voters Decide often works for Republicans, was involved in the failed Arizona push to get West on the ballot. The California operative has was convicted in 2009 of voter registration fraud, court records show. Jacoby did not respond to a message left at a phone number listed to him.

Medelius, the North Carolina co-chairman of West’s “Justice for All Party,” said the partisan battles over third-party candidates amounted to a “gang war.”

“If they want to use us for cannon fodder, there’s not much I can do about it,” he said.

___

Associated Press writers Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix, Farnoush Amiri in Chicago and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

NOVI (AP) — Two teenagers were shot, one fatally, just outside the Michigan State Fair in what police described late Saturday as an isolated incident.

Police in Novi, where the fair is held, said gunshots were reported just before 10 p.m. Saturday. The shooting took place in the fair’s parking lot and was initially described as an active shooter situation, prompting several law enforcement agencies to respond. Authorities later deemed it an isolated crime.

“There is no threat to the community,” Novi police said late Saturday in a statement on the social media platform X.

Michigan State Police troopers from two locations and their canine units were among the agencies to respond to the reported shooting.

“Troopers, deputies and officers from several local departments assisted Novi police with establishing a perimeter and cleared the convention center without locating the suspect,” the state police tweeted.

Both victims, 14-year-old teenage boys, had arrived at the fair with friends. Investigators said they believed the shooting stemmed from an argument in recent days.

The teens were taken to a local hospital where one 14-year-old was pronounced dead. The other was reported in stable condition, police said.

Police have not identified a suspect.

Novi is about 30 miles northwest of Detroit in southern Oakland County. The state fair ends Monday and it opened Sunday with shortened hours and required parental supervision of minors.

 

Every mother’s worst nightmare became Brandi Morey Pols’ reality last week.

After years of trying desperately to get authorities to believe her when she reported that her son’s father was dangerous, Morey Pols experienced the unthinkable: Rowan Milford Morey’s father, Michael Winchell, killed the boy before turning the gun on himself.

Now, as she readies herself for Rowan’s viewing and funeral, she made a vow to do whatever she can to change the system and stop another mother from experiencing the pain of a child’s murder.

After a weeklong visitation that started Aug. 12, Winchell, who lived in a home on East River Road in Isabella County, didn’t return Rowan to his mother as scheduled a week later.

It’s something he’s done in the past – a way to try to get under her skin and hurt her.

Winchell also shaved Rowan’s head against his will to upset his mother, who had been fighting for sole custody of Rowan in August 2019.

Indeed, the custody file in Isabella County Trial Court is inches thick, with entries for every hearing and other action that amounted to 261 entries in the Michigan Courts electronic filing system.

Not only did Winchell try to upset her, Morey Pols said, he also stalked her, and refused to let Isabella County authorities into his home after she told them Winchell didn’t property feed Rowan, making him subsist on toast.

When he was ordered to let authorities in to perform a wellness check, he had ample time to stock his refrigerator, according to Morey Pols.

When Morey Pols’ attorney filed an emergency motion Aug. 20 to give her sole temporary custody of Rowan in Isabella County Trial Court, Chief Judge Eric Janes denied the motion, instead setting a hearing for Sept. 5.

Speaking Wednesday morning in a raspy voice from crying for nearly a week, Morey Pols said something has to be done to protect children who are pawns in custody battles with parents who wish to harm them.

She isn’t alone.

Morey Pols, after getting through her 6-year-old son’s visitation and funeral this week, plans to meet with Michigan legislators next week who want to discuss with her what went wrong and how it can be fixed so it doesn’t happen to another child.

Morey Pols lives in Caledonia in Kent County, but State Rep. Jerry Neyer (R-Shepherd), whose district includes parts of Isabella and Gratiot counties, was appalled by Rowan’s murder and hopes to help in the fight give police more power to locate children who are not returned to the custodial parent on time.

“This tragedy is incomprehensible,” Neyer said by email Wednesday morning. “My prayers go out to Ms. Morey Pols and her entire family as this unthinkable situation is something in a parent’s worst nightmare.

“I will be looking at the current law to see how this could have been avoided and I will be working with our local agencies to see what steps we could take in the future to help prevent this type of event from affecting another family.”

While Isabella County Sheriff’s officials repeatedly went to Winchell’s home in search of him and Rowan, because custody cases are civil, they did not have the authority to break into the house to search, nor could they issue an Amber Alert – something Morey Pols wants changed to include parents who don’t return their children as scheduled in custody agreements.

At one point in her fight to get sole custody of Rowan, Morey Pols missed a court date because she was in treatment for breast cancer.

Rowan was showing signs of self-harm recently, and Morey Pols put him in Christian counseling through her church to try to help.

But she feels betrayed by a system that’s designed to protect children and allowed what she believes was an unstable man to have visitation with his son.

She also believes Winchell wanted her to go to his property to find Rowan so he could kill her too, and thinks both were still alive Aug. 20 when she went to her attorney’s office to file the emergency motion.

While Morey Pols is grateful for the overwhelming support and prayers offered by friends, family and strangers, she isn’t likely to let go of her anger at what she calls a flawed system that did not take her concerns seriously, instead berating her for her attempts to get authorities to listen to her and stop Winchell from harming her son.

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By Julia Carmel
Special to The Washington Post

Jeff West was looking for a change of pace. After decades of running clubs and restaurants in West Hollywood, he left California in search of peace and quiet. He had been to Laguna Beach and Palm Springs, but a new gay-friendly destination was calling to him — twin vacation towns on Lake Michigan with a population of less than 2,500 people.

“I arrived in the winter, and I was so amazed by it,” said West, 67, who grew up in Texas and spent his life in Southern California. “Seeing snow was just so beautiful. I remember feeling my shoulders relax.”

In the summers, West celebrates with friends on the lake. During winter, he’s part of a gay bowling team called the Gutter Queens. Since relocating in 2021, he’s become a real estate agent, spending his days selling other people on the joys of life here.

Saugatuck and its neighboring town, Douglas, form a rainbow bubble within Michigan’s Bible Belt. The area is off the beaten path compared to the coastal hangs that typically attract huge gay crowds, yet its reputation rivals spots like Provincetown and Fire Island.

Drive through the lush, wooded roads in the warmer months and you’ll find a summer camp atmosphere. Hammocks hang outside a popular coffee shop. Kids spill floats purchased from the Douglas Root Beer Barrel out of their parents’ car windows.

Pride flags fly from many businesses and homes, a stark difference from the conservative towns in Western Michigan. At the Dunes Resort, the pool is packed with Speedo-clad gay men all summer long, and disco balls light up the confetti-filled dance floor every weekend.

“This is a small community where we get to enjoy the finer things in life and be comfortable and free,” West said. “It’s paradise for somebody like me to be able to come to a place and just feel so welcome.”

‘Fire Island of the Midwest’

There’s evidence of queer tourists and residents flocking here since the late 19th century, thanks to a long and colorful cast of eclectic artists, eccentric couples and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.

According to the Chicago Tribune, it really hit its stride in the 1960s as “a loosey-goosey mecca for pleasure-seekers, gay or straight.” During that era, the town was seen as a party destination for motorcyclists, college kids and queer people from near and far.

Gay travel guides like Bob Damron’s Address Book began ramping up around the same time, dubbing Saugatuck “The Fire Island of the Midwest.” Though a state law prohibited bars from hosting groups of gay people, a local jazz venue called The Blue Tempo became known for serving gay patrons.

Eric Gollannek, executive director of the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center, said the second edition of Bob Damron’s Address Book references The Blue Tempo as a mixed crowd bar and also mentions “an interesting beach” nearby — a strip of sand that stretched from the north side of Saugatuck’s popular Oval Beach to the mouth of the Kalamazoo River.

“They collected $5 to use their beach for the day,” said John Rossi, facilities manager for Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency, a program that’s affiliated with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “You could sunbathe nude, as long as you were not visible to the public.”

Rossi visited Denison’s Beach, owned by a local Marine businessman named Frank Denison, for the first time in the 1970s. “It was mostly gay, but there was a mix, I could tell,” Rossi said. “Sometimes there were lesbians that frequented it, and occasionally you might see a straight couple.”

Rossi, 68, grew up about 40 miles away in Grand Rapids. He said word-of-mouth recommendations initially brought him to the area.

“There was this network — people told you, you knew what was safe and what wasn’t,” Rossi said. “I mean, there were three bars in Grand Rapids. There were two bars in Lansing you could go to. There were a lot of bars in Detroit we used to go to.”

One of the people who began frequenting The Blue Tempo was Carl Jennings, who was living near Grand Rapids with his wife and children. Though he was closeted at the time, he would spend his weekends tending bar in Saugatuck.

“Back then, you had to live and lead two lives. You had to be a straight person or at least appear to be that way,” Jennings told Michigan Public Radio in 2016. “And then, if you’re fortunate enough to find something like Saugatuck, it just felt warming and accepting.”

Eartha Kitt and ‘tea dances’

The Blue Tempo burned down in 1976, and the loss of that de facto gay space was felt immediately. By the early 1980s, Jennings had come out to his family and found his life partner, Larry Gammons. The couple decided to go into business together.

“We thought, ‘You know what, we should open a gay resort,’” said Gammons, who is now 77.

They originally set their sights on a hotel in Saugatuck, but the Saugatuck town council didn’t want to issue a liquor license to a gay business. After they were turned down for a third time, they found a shuttered roadside motel in Douglas and quickly made an offer on the property. At the first Douglas council meeting, they were able to secure their liquor license.

The Douglas Dunes finally opened in 1981, becoming one of the largest LGBTQ+ resorts in the country.

“May 1 was our grand opening, and we laughed about the fact that the city didn’t know what hit ’em because cars were lined up and down the highway,” Gammons said. “All these people. They just showed up.”

“As you well know, all you’ve got to do is tell a gay person and they spread the news. It spreads like crazy,” he added. “And everybody was so excited about a new big place opening up.”

Gammons and Jennings wanted the resort to be as safe as possible, so they hired their own security to make sure that homophobes wouldn’t get inside to harass patrons. They also made it clear to local police that they’d expect help with external issues. Over the years, the Dunes was targeted by gay bashers, received a bomb threat and even got a threatening call from the Ku Klux Klan.

Nonetheless, the resort was popular and quickly earned a reputation for throwing huge parties with fantastic entertainment.

“The music was so much better at The Dunes than in Grand Rapids,” Rossi said. “I used to talk to the DJs and I’d just tip them a couple bucks, and I’d say, ‘What was that you just played?’”

They booked performers such as Eartha Kitt, Linda Clifford and The Weather Girls (though the latter had to cancel at the last minute) and hosted tea dances every Sunday.

“We turned down Madonna,” Gammons said. “Her brother lived in the Detroit area, and he was gay, and Carl was DJing. She was just a punk rocker, and she went up to (Carl) when he took a little break and said, ‘I’m better than that girl. You know, you ought to put me onstage.’”

“We turned her down, and it was about six, eight months after that, she went to New York and got discovered,” he added.

The parties raged on for decades, with Gammons telling The Chicago Tribune in 1995 that gay tourism was bringing “an estimated $6 million annually to the area.” Gammons and Jennings sold The Douglas Dunes in 1998 to Danny Esterline, Greg Trzybinski and Mike Jones, who renamed it The Dunes Resort.

Though there is a widely cited statistic about Saugatuck-Douglas being home to more than 140 gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses, Jones said in an email that number was “made up” for press releases and websites to “promote the area as gay-friendly.”

Jones, 58, still remembers visiting the Dunes — which he calls a “little Midwestern gay Mecca” — for the first time in 1990.

“It really stood out as like, ‘this isn’t normal.’ Even in Chicago in the late 90s, guys weren’t holding hands walking downtown,” he said. “And you’re really right in the middle of God’s Christian reform, Southwest Michigan. So it’s almost like there’s a bubble over us. You have to remember that the whole world isn’t like this.”

Though Jones had visited many of the popular gay hot spots and swore he’d never live in a small town, he felt differently at the Dunes.

“I’ve been to P-town, and we’ve been to Fire Island, and we’ve been to Key West, and Rehoboth, but they’re just a different attitude,” Jones said. “And I never thought when I was in Fire Island or P-town or Rehoboth, ‘This place is great. I want to live here.’”

Nude bathers in the 1890s

With a bit of close reading, the queer history in Saugatuck and Douglas dates back more than 120 years. Gollannek, the director of the local history center, said there are examples of same-sex relationships from the late 1800s through the 1920s.

Some gay tourism can be attributed to the rise of steamboat travel, which made it easier for visitors to make their way over from Chicago. But the most obvious influence on the area’s emerging queerness was a woman named Elizabeth Bandle.

“She and her family had land in Saugatuck on a farm,” said Shanley Poole, 27, engagement liaison and storyteller for Ox-Bow. “She invited a few students and professors up to do plein-air painting because the lighting there was just gorgeous, and it kind of became a tradition year after year.”

Among the people who visited Bandle Farm in the early 1900s were Frederick Fursman and Walter Marshall Clute, artists from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who went on to found Ox-Bow in 1910. Since artists and city-dwellers were typically more accepting of queer people at the time, it created an environment that fostered gay tourism.

“In 1910, we have these groups of artists and free-thinking individuals — bohemian folk — coming to a secluded area,” Gollannek said. “Avant-garde artists coming here, painting plein-air, working with nude models, and this becomes a place where there’s some openness.”

The Saugatuck-Douglas History Center has records of LGBTQ+ people living in the area starting in 1917, with interior designer Florence “Dannie” Ely Hunn purchasing a cottage near Saugatuck-Douglas with Mabel “Jims” Warren, her partner of more than 50 years.

Many locals can also recall LGBTQ+ people and couples who they met during their first trips to Saugatuck.

“We have had members within GLBTQ community that go back to probably the ’30s, ’40s, like Mary Kay Bettles,’” Rossi said. “She met her lover at a place over by where the chain ferry is now. It used to be a gas station and an ice cream shop.”

Bettles and her partner, Jean Palmer, were not the kind of couple that flew under the radar.

“Jean would wear ball gowns and fur coats and sit on her really rustic cabin porch during the summertime, and Mary Kay Bettles was like, wearing jean shirts and trousers and loved her dogs,” Poole said. “And (Bettles) would wear a Sheriff’s Badge and kind of dubbed herself the Sheriff of Ox-Bow and would chase people off campus if they didn’t have a reason to be there.”

Some visitors and residents were closeted in their hometowns, but felt safe to live with their partners and express affection in Saugatuck-Douglas. Burr Tillstrom, the Chicago-based puppeteer, kept his private life quiet, but purchased a barn in Saugatuck during the 1960s, which allowed him to loosen up as he spent his summers teaching at Ox-Bow.

Rossi, who’s now 68, also grew up during an era that lacked the language and freedoms that many LGBTQ+ people have today.

“Among artists, there was more of a tolerance for ‘less traditional lifestyles,’ as they would call it,” he said. “The definition of gay didn’t really come until maybe the ’50s or ’60s.”

“Saugatuck was sort of used to the fact that there was an eclectic crowd that came here. They painted, they partied, they spent money,” Rossi said. “And you know, when people spend money, and money’s to be made, money does not have sexual orientation.”

These days, Saugatuck-Douglas is a bit different.

It’s more expensive than it once was, with many hotels charging upward of $500 per night, and the frisky nude beach became a thing of the past when the Land Conservancy of West Michigan purchased Denison’s old land around 2009.

“Now the city owns it,” Gammons said, “so no nudity, no hanky-panky, no liquor, no nothing.”

The grandmother of a girl seriously burned in a fire that claimed the life of her mother earlier this year in mid-Michigan has filed for legal custody of the child.

The girl’s father, Aaron Michael Painter, 36, has been charged with three felonies in the case, including involuntary manslaughter, the delivery or manufacturing of a controlled substance (marijuana) and third-degree child abuse.

He’s now free on bond awaiting trial in 29th Circuit Court in Gratiot County.

The grandmother, Karen Smith of St. Louis, is the mother of Ali Marie Smith, who died in the March 8 blaze at 170 E. Chestnut St., in Breckenridge, where she resided with Painter and their daughter, who was 7 at the time.

The custody case is being heard by Gratiot County Probate Judge Kristin Bakker, according to court records.

A pre-trial hearing has been set for Tuesday with a jury trial scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 9.

Ali Smith perished in the fire while her daughter was rescued from the burning structure and resuscitated by emergency responders at the scene.

The blaze was reported about 3:30 a.m. after witnesses reported hearing an explosion.Painter was found outside the home by rescue personnel and was taken to a local hospital then airlifted to Hurley Medical Center in Flint for treatment of burns he also suffered.

The Michigan State Police Fire Investigation Division was called in to help determine the cause and origin of the fire and Painter was later arrested and charged with the three felonies he currently faces.

Breckenridge man faces manslaughter charge in fatal fire

Court hearing delayed for fatal fire suspect

Memorial service set for Breckenridge fire victim

The Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center — which Wayne State University President Kimberly Andrews Espy called “not just a building (but) a symbol of the musical soul of our city” — formally opened its tours on Thursday night, Aug. 29, with, appropriately, a night filled with music.

Endowed by the late Carharrt heiress and longtime patron of the Detroit Jazz Festival, the building that once housed the Hilberry Theatre on the Wayne State University campus has been retooled into a state-of-the art music center with two performance spaces — the 325-seat Detroit Jazz Hall and the 110-capacity Dee Dee Bridgewater’s club in the basement. An upstairs donor’s lounge was named in honor of Chris Collins, Wayne State’s Gretchen C. Valade Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies and the President and Artistic Director of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation.

“Make no mistake — we’re inside Gretchen’s imagination come true,” Collins told Thursday’s invitation-only gathering that included Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and several City Council members.

Valade’s granddaughter Gretchen R. Valade, added that, “Jazz was beyond a passion for Gretchen. Jazz was her life and it was what motivated her.” Noting that her grandmother was a musician herself, she added that, “she knew the importance of celebrating that talent and skill, giving it all the respect that it deserves…She was always searching for opportunities to promote jazz, any way she could find.

“She put her heart and her soul into making sure that the music was accessible to all.”

Thursday’s program was tailored to that passion. Dr. Valade’s Brass Band, which traditionally opens the Detroit Jazz Festival, played outside the building and took the party inside with a New Orleans-style Second Line procession onto the Detroit Jazz Center stage. Collins, on saxophone, and pianist Cliff Monear paid tribute with a rendition of “Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” which Collins said was one of Valade’s favorites.

Pianist Alvin Waddles led a trio and also performed another Valade favorite, the Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields standard “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby,” while the Wayne State Jazz Vocal Quartet delivered an a capella rendition of another standard, “A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square. Bridgewater was on hand to front the Wayne State University Jazz Legacy Orchestra — comprised of faculty, students and alumni — through one of Valade’s own compositions, “The Lights of Detroit,” in an arrangement by jazz musician John Clayton.

Brandee Younger — who will perform as part of the “Translinear Light: The Music of Alice Coltrane” on Friday night, Aug. 30, at the jazz festival closed the main program with her trio, playing Coltrane’s restored harp and paying tribute to both her and to Dorothy Ashby, another harpist and fellow Detroit native. The Dee Dee Bridgewater’s club hosted a jam session afterwards.

Conceived more than a decade ago, the Valade Center broke ground in 2018 and is part of Wayne State’s $70 million Hilberry Gateway project. The building itself was built in 1917 as the First Church of Christ Scientist and was purchased by Wayne State in 1961. The Detroit Jazz Hall is acoustically tuned specifically for jazz but will host other genres of music, and it’s equipped with up-to-date technology for streaming and recording. Its grand piano, a Steinway Model D nine-foot Concert Grand, was selected by a panel of players that considered four options.

The center had previously hosted performances in April, during an announcement of this year’s jazz festival lineup, as well as a panel discussion about Alice Coltrane on Wednesday, Aug. 28, that included her son Ravi Coltrane, who curated the “Translinear” concert, daughter Michelle Coltrane and John Coltrane Quartet bassist Reggie Workman.

Jeffrey Sposato, the new chair of Wayne State’s music department, said that the center “stands as a new symbol of both this musical legacy and the bright future that lays ahead.”

The center will host after-hours programs during this year’s jazz festival, starting with four ensembles in Bridgewater’s at 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, and continuing with the Kurt Rosenwinkel Trio at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 and pianist Jon Cowherd on Sunday, Sept. 1, both at 10:30 p.m. in the Detroit Jazz Hall. For additional information visit detroitjazzfest.org.

Hot, sticky, miserable?

Avoiding going outside where it’s too wet to breathe?

Blame it on the corn.

Sweltering temperatures in Mid-Michigan have been soaring, partly because of a new phenomenon that’s been circulating recently, sometimes called “corn sweat.” The scientific word for it is evapotranspiration, but more simply defined, corn sweat occurs when corn, soybeans and other crops release moisture as the atmospheric temperature rises. The process coined the term “sweat” because it’s similar to how we, as humans, perspire in the heat. One acre of corn can release about 4,000 gallons of moisture into the air. An acre is about the size of a football field. That, in tandem with the high heat, led to an extreme heat index.

The Great Lakes state was no stranger to the dangerous heat wave that swept through the Midwest on Tuesday, and Mid-Michigan is definitely feeling the wet sweat.

Tuesday’s storms came amid highs in the mid-90s with humidity of 80-some percent and a dew point of 71, which meteorologists describe as “oppressive and miserable.”

And despite highs 20 degrees cooler, Wednesday brought humidity again of 85 percent and a dew point that jumped to 72. The higher the moisture, the higher the dew point.

That’s a lot of wet in the air.

Corn sweat may more commonly be known as simple transpiration, but the truth remains: it’s groundwater that corn uses for nutrients, which is then released back into the atmosphere–and it’s making heat waves feel worse. Michigan farmers harvest 297 million bushels of corn from 2.3 million acres of farmland, according to the Michigan Agriculture Council.

While corn sweat and high moisture-levels don’t necessarily affect temperatures, they most certainly affect humidity and how it feels. By Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service deemed the “feels like” temperature as 100 degrees.

Jacob Dickey, meteorologist and weather expert, commented on the need for precaution when it comes to navigating high heat levels.

“All that added humidity stresses our bodies, preventing us from sweating and cooling off as efficiently in dry air. If you must work or be outside this week, take frequent breaks and try to avoid the peak heating of the day in the afternoon. Check on your neighbors who might be more susceptible to the heat as well.”

A now 5-year-old girl who was kidnapped by her mother and stepfather more than a year ago could be in the Harrison area, and authorities in Missouri and Clare County continue to search for the three.

Elizabeth Faith Askew and Devon Askew were named in an arrest warrant for child abduction Oct. 25, 2023 in Macon County after allegedly kidnapping Priscilla Lozuaway, who was 4 at the time.

Police in Macon County believe the Askews relocated to Michigan, possibly the Harrison area in the central part of the state, according to reports in the Moberly Monitor Index in Moberly, Mo.

Clare County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Dave Aldrich said Wednesday that searches of multiple homes for the three have been unsuccessful.

Aldrich confirmed that the Macon County Sheriff’s Office reached out for assistance, and that officers have investigated calls for possible sightings but could not confirm any.

In a probable cause statement and warrant request in Macon County Circuit Court, police said Priscilla’s father, Christopher Lozuaway, had not seen his daughter since June 1, 2023, and Macon County Sheriff’s deputies were unable to locate the three during a child wellness check at the Askew’s home in Atlanta, Mo., according to court records.

Police questioned Elizabeth Askew’s mother, who reportedly gave vague answers and told officers the three left the state on vacation, according to court documents.

Police questioned others, who said the Askews left the state with Priscilla, and left their phones behind, and nobody could tell them where they went, according to court documents.

Faith Askew failed to show up for a hearing Oct. 2, 2023, but her attorney was there and asked to be removed from the case without giving a reason, according to the probable cause statement.

A judge issued a show cause order but authorities could not located the Askews, who also failed to appear at another hearing Oct. 17 because police could not locate them, according to court records.

Authorities also said in court documents that there had been an ongoing custody battle between Lozuaway and Elizabeth Askew.

Macon County Prosecutor Joshua Meisner filed child abduction charges against Elizabeth Askew Oct. 25, 2023.

Elizabeth Askew failed to appear in court multiple times after Priscilla disappeared, and her mother, Constant Faith Christophel, pleaded the Fifth Amendment in court, refusing to answer questions about the child’s welfare, according to the Moberly Monitor Index.

That resulted in a judge giving Christopher Lozuaway sole custody of Priscilla, according to the Moberly Monitor Index, which reported that Elizabeth Askew’s parents sold their family farm in Missouri and moved to Harrison.

Christopher Lozuaway is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to Priscilla being located.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Macon County Sheriff’s Office at (660) 385‐2062, or the Clare County Sheriff’s Office at (989) 539-7166.

(Megan Pullyard of the Moberly Monitor Index contributed to this report).

 

 

The state’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency is doing away with its semi-annual scheduled inspections at licensed marijuana stores and related facilities, and instead will have its regulation officers conduct surprise visits.

The CRA said the change is expected to “allow more flexibility for scheduling,” and will be more efficient. It will also result in increased knowledge about rules and regulations among the businesses’ employees, according to the CRA.

The new plan for unannounced inspections takes effect on Oct. 1. Prelicensure inspections will still be scheduled.

During an education session held Aug. 22 via Zoom on the transition, Mandi Cooley and Kevin Cook of Michigan’s CRA enforcement division mentioned “flexibility” several times regarding its implementation.

“It will be a flexible process, open to corrective action plans,” Cooley said, adding that business owners will “have some autonomy on how to address” noncompliance issues.

Cook said the CRA doesn’t anticipate a “flawless” transition, and that “accommodations” will be made. He also said a main goal is to have licensees “compliant at all times.”

CRA spokesperson David Harns has a similar take on the new plan.

“This will help increase efficiency and flexibility with scheduling. This transition will instill a need for businesses to further educate employees at all levels – not just their job functions as they do now, but also in compliance and understanding of the business requirements,” he said. “The goal of unannounced inspections is that licensees are compliant at all times and employees have a solid understanding of the regulations surrounding their place of work.”

Inspection costs are covered by licensing fees.

Getting ready

To get ready for the change, the CRA suggests owners of licensed cannabis-related businesses prepare on-site managers and other employees to handle inspections by knowing how to access required items such as employee backgrounds, standard operating procedures, logs, surveillance systems, certifications and METRC information — the state’s seed-to-sale monitoring system — and more. It’s also recommended that owners provide employees with checklists on inspections, available at the CRA website www.michigan.gov/cra.

The CRA is preparing for the new procedure by updating and streamlining inspection checklists, and creating documents to be sent out to businesses after an inspection, Cook said. Also, regulation officers will be reaching out to businesses that are low-staffed and/or open part-time to get a better understanding of when a surprise inspection should happen rather than arriving to find the place closed.

Cooley said the CRA “is working on the process” for what to do if a business isn’t open when an inspector shows up.

 

Further, business owners are urged to ask regulation officers for their CRA-issued photo IDs, and to contact the Regulation Office’s verification hotline with questions. An email blast will be distributing the hotline number only to licensees.

So far, Harns said, scheduled semi-annual inspections have shown a regulation compliance rate of approximately 93 percent, “not accounting for minor deficiencies found during the inspection which were remedied quickly.”

“All business types have their common issues,” he said. “Generally speaking, METRC tracking and identification – along with surveillance equipment issues – tend to be fairly common across the board.”

Non-compliance of “minor issues” such as standard operating procedures and labeling are typically resolved through re-inspection, Harns noted, and unlikely to be subjected to further investigation.

But for “more egregious noncompliance” such as deficiencies in METRC tracking/identification or not keeping 30 calendar days of surveillance footage, for example, an investigation can be expected. Fines or license revocation are possible based on what the investigation reveals, he said.

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By TOM KRISHER The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — A high-profile spat between the United Auto Workers and Stellantis over reopening an Illinois factory complex has made its way into the race for U.S. president and could elicit a strike against the automaker.

In a speech at the Democratic National Convention Monday night, union President Shawn Fain accused the company of reneging on promises to restart a now-closed assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, just over an hour northwest of Chicago.

The union won the reopening in contract talks last fall after a six-week strike at multiple factories run by Jeep and Ram maker Stellantis, as well as General Motors, and Ford.

“Let me be clear. Stellantis must keep the promises they made to America in our union contract,” Fain told the crowd at the Chicago convention. “The UAW will take whatever action necessary at Stellantis or any other corporation to stand up and hold corporate America accountable,” he said, clearly referring to the possibility of a strike.

In a statement Tuesday, Stellantis confirmed that it notified the UAW of plans to delay reopening of Belvidere but said it stands by the commitment and “strongly objects” to union allegations that it’s violating terms of the UAW contract.

“The UAW agreed to language that expressly allows the company to modify product investments and employment levels,” spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in the prepared statement. “Therefore the union cannot legally strike over a violation of this letter at this time.”

Stellantis said that it is critical that a business case be made for all investments to match market conditions “to ensure the company’s future competitiveness and sustainability, which are necessary to preserve U.S. manufacturing jobs.”

In a grievance filed with the company, the UAW said Stellantis has said it won’t open a parts distribution hub in Belvidere this year, it won’t restart metal stamping operations there in 2025, and it doesn’t plan to begin producing a midsize truck at the Belvidere plant in 2027.

The delays violate the 2023 contract, the union said, and could last into 2028, after the current agreement expires. In a statement Tuesday, Fain said Stellantis is dragging out the process so it never has to reopen the plant.

“They really want to kick the can past our contract expiration so they can suddenly cite ‘market conditions’ again and never reopen the plant,” Fain said. “If they go back on this, what else can they go back on?”

After the contracts were approved, Biden visited Belvidere with Fain to celebrate the plant reopening.

Fain has been sharply critical of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares for threatening job cuts as the company’s U.S. sales have faltered this year.

U.S.-European automaker Stellantis reported that its net profits fell by half during the first six months of the year largely because of lower sales and restructuring costs.

The carmaker, which was created in 2021 from the merger of Fiat-Chrysler with PSA Peugeot, reported net profits of 5.6 billion euros ($6 billion) in the period, down 48% compared with 11 billion euros in the same period last year. Revenues in the period dropped 14% to 85 billion euros.

Fain, wearing a red T-shirt that said “Trump is a scab. Vote Harris,” told the convention that the union won strong contracts and the plant reopening with the support of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden.

“Scab” is a derogatory term for workers who cross union picket lines and work during a strike.

In a statement Tuesday, Trump’s campaign called Fain a puppet for the Democratic party who is not serving union laborers who support Trump who know “he will protect their jobs and put them first.”

Trump is running running again to fix the “economic disaster” caused by failed policies of the Biden and Harris administration, the statement said.

McLaren Health Care, which operates 13 hospitals in Michigan, has confirmed a criminal cyberattack that is affecting some patient services.

McLaren hospitals are in Pontiac, Mount Clemens, Mt. Pleasant and other locations around the state. The health care company also operates a facility near Clarkston that has an emergency department, outpatient surgery center and more.

The attack occurred Tuesday, Aug. 6, according to a post on McLaren’s Facebook page on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

“Our information technology team continues to work with external cyber security experts to analyze the nature of the attack and mitigate the impacts of the threat actors. At this time, we have not determined if any patient or employee data was compromised,” the post said.

McLaren said its hospitals and outpatient facilities are largely operational.

But while it has limited access to its systems, some non-emergency appointments, tests and treatments are being rescheduled.

McLaren said it is also working with vendors and insurance companies to make sure the supply chain is not impacted and insurance authorizations are processed.

McLaren said patients with scheduled appointments should plan to attend unless they are contacted.

Patients should bring the following to their appointments:

– A list of current medications or prescription bottles

– Printed physician orders for imaging studies or treatments

– Printed results of recent lab tests available in the patient portals

– A list of allergies.

McLaren said it could not estimate when all systems would be back to normal.

Earlier this year, a similar attack affected patient services at Ascension hospitals around the country. Ascension, which operates numerous hospitals in southeast Michigan, reported the attack in early May. It took about two months before all system issues were resolved.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are set to play up their support for organized labor during an appearance at a Detroit-area union hall as the new Democratic ticket lavishes attention on a crucial base of support.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Walz, who joined the ticket on Tuesday, plan to speak on Thursday to several dozen United Auto Workers members.

After President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign last month and endorsed his vice president, organized labor quickly rallied around Harris. The AFL-CIO endorsed her after having first backed Biden. The UAW formally backed her last week.

Harris and Walz have been highlighting their support for working people during their first joint appearances this week in some of the most closely contested states that will help decide whether she becomes the first female U.S. president or whether Republican Donald Trump returns to the White House and brings along Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice president.

The Democrats visited Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, hoping to shore up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters who were instrumental in helping Biden get elected in 2020.

UAW President Shawn Fain told The Associated Press last week that Harris’ leading the Democratic ticket boosts the party’s chances of winning Michigan and keeping the White House in November. Fain also spoke Wednesday at Harris’ campaign rally at a Detroit-area airport hangar.

Fain said in the interview that Trump is beholden to billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and would send the labor movement into reverse in a second term.

The UAW leader has become a top nemesis of the Republican presidential nominee, who frequently rails against Fain at rallies and in speeches.

Vance made his own stops in Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, intent on showing that Republicans will compete in the “blue wall” of Midwestern states. He called Walz a “crazy radical” and said that Harris’ decision to pick him as a running mate shows that she “bends the knee to the far left of the Democratic Party.”

As Harris spoke to an estimated 15,000-person crowd at the airport, she was interrupted by protesters opposed to Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas. At first, Harris said to those trying to disrupt her, “I am here because I believe in democracy, and everybody’s voice matters.”

But Harris lost patience as the shouting continued, with protesters accusing her of supporting genocide in Gaza. That led her to deliver a sharper rejoinder.

“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,” she said, talking over the protesters. “Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

Union members attending the rally said they supported Harris.

Jeanne Ruff, of Livonia, Michigan, whose husband is a longtime UAW member, said she hoped Harris would visit a union shop in Michigan to show her support.

“I want her to make sure skill trades are back in schools so that the next generation can understand what unions are about. What solidarity is and how strong we can be together, working as one,” Ruff said.

___

Associated Press writers Tom Krisher and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

The winner of the 37th annual Ms. Senior Michigan Pageant tap danced her way into the hearts and minds of the audience and pageant judges.

Sharon Kay Burdt wowed the audience with her dancing prowess. The 81-year-old from Swartz Creek was shocked when her name was announced as the winner.

“It totally caught me by surprise,” she said.

The annual competition took place July 24 at the OPC Social & Activity Center in Rochester Hills.

Shari, as she prefers to be called, has been an educator for more than five decades. She has developed reading programs for low-income students, wrote and directed student theater productions, and worked with Disney. She was awarded the Community Hero Award, Innovation Award and Excellence in Education Award for “putting students first.” She was Woman of the Year three times, is president and founder of the Windmill Women’s Circle, and volunteers with her local veterans organizations. She started dancing at 3, had talent bookings at 8 and danced on Ted Mack’s TV show at age 15.

Christallin Johnson-Smith was selected as the first runner-up. During the talent portion of the pageant, she spoke about goal setting. She is a minister at One Community Church in Farmington Hills. She started her college studies at 33 and earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in pastoral counseling.

Judges selected Heidi Coffman of Huntington Woods as the second runner-up. She loves numbers almost as much as she loves music and performing. She graduated magna cum laude from Walsh College in accounting. After college, she worked for Arthur Anderson & Co. as a CPA, transitioning to self-employment after her first child. She received the Accounting Aid Society Volunteer in Partnership Award, working with numerous nonprofit organizations and serving on many charity boards and committees. Beginning at age 58, she has performed in many theatrical shows and is pursuing a music degree as she loves performing. During the pageant, she sang “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” which was made famous by Barbara Streisand.

The three winners were selected from a total of 10 contestants. The competition drew participants from Detroit, Farmington Hills, Harrison Township, Huntington Woods, Rochester Hills, Southfield and Schwartz Creek. The competition celebrates all women 60 years and older. It is a search for that special, gracious lady who best exemplifies the dignity, maturity and inner beauty of all our Michigan senior women, organizers said.

For more information on becoming a contestant, visit msseniormichigan.org or contact Toni Sanchez-Murphy, Ms. Senior Michigan board president, at 248-420-9857 or tonism24@yahoo.com.

Berkley-based attorney Randy Wallace has been appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, second district.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the appointment Aug. 1 to fill a partial term following the resignation of Judge Deborah Servitto.  Wallace’s term starts Aug. 12 and will end Jan. 1, 2025.

Wallace currently works as an attorney and shareholder at Olsman, MacKenzie, Peacock & Wallace, P.C. in Berkley. Since 2004, he’s been an executive board member for the Michigan Association for Justice and also holds membership on the American Association for Justice, the Michigan Supreme Court’s Committee on Model Jury Instructions and the State Bar of Michigan Civil Procedure and Courts Committee. He also serves as a case evaluator for Oakland County Circuit Court’s alternative dispute resolution office.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Governor Whitmer for giving me the opportunity to serve the people of the great state of Michigan on the Court of Appeals,” Wallace stated in a news release.  “I have spent years watching some of the finest jurists in our state decide cases in a manner that promotes equal access to justice for all, including now retired Michigan Supreme Court justices like Justice Bridget McCormack and Justice Marilyn Kelly, and now retired judges like Judge Elizabeth Gleicher and Judge Douglas Shapiro, just to name a few. One of my first jury trials was presided over by Judge Deborah Servitto, who was then a judge on the Macomb County Circuit Court, and who treated all the participants with the utmost respect. I will do my very best to follow the examples set by those esteemed members of the bench and I will work hard as a humble servant of the people of the State of Michigan.”

Wallace earned his Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School, where he worked as a student attorney at the Free Legal Aid Clinic. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

At a time when Clinton Township-based nonprofit A ReJoyceful Animal Rescue has seen its resources stretched to the limits, its founder said its longstanding partnership with PetSmart Charities has provided crucial funding and support.

A ReJoyceful Animal Rescue was founded in 2007 and has been working with PetSmart Charities for more than a decade, founder Michelle Heyza said. The rescue takes in and rehabilitates stray, abandoned and unwanted dogs and cats — as well as the occasional guinea pig — then helps them find new homes, she said.

In 25 years of animal rescue work, Heyza said, she’s never seen more animals in need than now. To top it off, donations also are down, she said.

“It’s been really, really, really bad, and I don’t know if we’re going to pull out of this,” Heyza said. “I think it’s just going to continue to get worse.”

The simplest thing people can do to help?

Keep your pets, Heyza said. When financially needy pet owners consider surrendering their animals, A ReJoyceful Animal Rescue does what it can to help those pets stay in their homes rather than take up crucial space in a shelter or foster home. Grants from PetSmart Charities, including funds provided for each animal adoption, enable the nonprofit to help owners in need, which in turn helps ease pressure on the entire rescue system, Heyza said. PetSmart Charities also provides spay and neuter grants, which helps reduce in fighting overpopulation, she said.

“We don’t need any more animals in the rescue. We have enough,” Heyza said. “We don’t need someone surrendering their animal because they can’t afford a surgery. Instead, we’ll try to say: ‘Hey, what if we help you out with the surgery? And would you be willing to keep your pet?’ And 95% of the time, the answer is ‘Oh my God, yes.’”

Heyza pleaded for concerned residents to make donations to their local animal rescues. County shelters may be short on resources, but they do receive some government funding, she said. Local rescues subsist solely on donations, adoption fees and grants like those provided by PetSmart Charities, Heyza said. A ReJoyceful Animal Rescue is primarily foster-based, but operates a small shelter that costs about $17,000 a month to run, Heyza said.

“Donate to your local shelters, donate to your small shelters, because we survive on it,” Heyza said. “With us being here, it takes the burden and stress off of the county shelter. I don’t even know how many times we’ve gotten animals brought to us that were supposed to go to the county shelter, but we’ve taken them in instead. … We’re all here to work together as a community.”

While the rescue holds adoption events at a variety of different locations, all of their adoptions are finalized through PetSmart and new owners pick up their pets at the store, Heyza said. A Rejoyceful Animal Rescue runs the “cat condos” at the PetSmart store in Chesterfield, which she said has been a “tremendous” help with exposing cats to adopters and finding them new homes.

“I think (the partnership) has been hugely beneficial for A Rejoyceful Rescue,” Heyza said. “The fact that they give back for every single adoption that’s done through PetSmart is amazing. PetSmart is truly giving back to their community in that respect because the dollars that we get from that go right back into our community efforts.”

Special needs adoptions always stand out to Heyza.

Orion, a cat with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) who was with the rescue for nearly a full year, was recently adopted from the PetSmart cat adoption center, she said. Another cat condo resident, Potato, recently found her forever home after raising a litter of kittens. Potato was considered special needs because she required a home where she would be the only animal, Heyza said.

“We couldn’t even bring her back to our shelter because she didn’t like all the animals in our shelter,” Heyza said. “So that was a really huge success story — the fact that she found a home as an only-cat through PetSmart Charities, and being able to have those condos there.”

For more information, visit rejoycefulrescue.com.

Through its partnership with PetSmart Charities, Lansing-area grassroots nonprofit Saved by Zade has furthered its mission of controlling cat overpopulation and easing related suffering by finding new homes for hundreds of feline friends through in-store adoptions.

When Saved by Zade started, it focused on bottle-feeding stray kittens and moving into TNVR work, which stands for trapping/neutering/vaccinating/returning, according to the organization’s website. Many of the strays at that time were friendly and adoptable, leading the group to create a foster and adoption program in 2018 and partner with PetSmart Charities.

Saved by Zade was incorporated in 2017 and has since grown by “leaps and bounds,” according to Alyssa Draper, a longtime volunteer with the organization. Draper, a veteran volunteer with other organizations since 2012, joined Saved by Zade in 2018 at the onset of its foster and adoption program, she said. Draper also chairs Zade’s Anatomy, a sister organization created to handle high-risk medical issues, with plans to operate a spay-and-neuter clinic in the future.

“Zade” does not refer to a specific person, but the organization likes to say that the “Spirit of Zade” represents the community’s inspiration to help manage cat overpopulation issues, Draper said.

“As soon as we went gung-ho, PetSmart became our first major platform for adoptions,” Draper said.

Today, Saved by Zade handles the cat adoption centers at two PetSmart locations in West Lansing and Okemos and also regularly hosts adoption events there, Draper said. Saved by Zade has adopted a total of 235 cats through PetSmart so far in 2024, and was able to reach 919 adoptions in 2023 and 686 in 2022, she said.

Saved by Zade has seen a drop in adoptions coinciding with rising inflation, but those numbers might just be normalizing from a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, Draper said.

“In addition to publicized events, we ask volunteers to be there as often as they can just for when people are walking by as well, to hopefully make that connection and find the right kitty the right home at the right time,” she said.

The most obvious benefit of Saved by Zade’s partnership with PetSmart is having a physical platform and presence at those stores so shoppers can learn about the organization and know where to go if they want to adopt a cat, Draper said. PetSmart Charities’ adoption incentive program has been “life saving, literally” for Saved by Zade’s cats, as the grants allow the organization to recoup costs spent on vet care, Draper said.

Draper’s favorite Saved by Zade adoption story involves Cher, a cat she previously fostered. After having surgery to remove intestinal blockages, Cher was adopted in January 2019. However, she returned to the rescue after her owner had to enter assisted living and was unable to bring her along, Draper said. Cher reentered foster care and was able to find a new forever home, where she is already bonding with her new sibling, Draper said.

“My favorite thing about being a Saved by Zade cat is you’re a Saved by Zade cat for life. We will move Earth and mountains to make sure that a cat that is affiliated with our program gets what it needs,” Draper said. “It’s just great to know that not only did she have her happy ending the first go-round, we were there to make sure she got it the second go-round too.”

Despite Saved by Zade helping roughly 2,000 cats a year, overpopulation remains a pressing issue and seems to get worse and worse over time, Draper said. The organization has to make careful use of its limited resources and funds to address as many needs as possible, she said.

“We’re full and we’re always going to be full,” Draper said. “I think that’s just the reality of the overpopulation problem, and hopefully if we keep chiseling away, we can see some progress.”

For more information, visit savedbyzade.com.