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    5
    Jun
    2013
    12:25pm, EDT

    More than 10,000 forgotten Detroit rape kits to be tested

    By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Detroit prosecutors working to get thousands of rape kits tested, some of which may contain evidence for cases two decades old, will get help from the state, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette announced on Wednesday.

    The attorney general’s office pledged $4 million in settlement funds to process the kits. While some of the kits are not in viable condition, 569 have been tested so far, Snyder said at a news conference.

    The push to build cases around the evidence began after thousands of rape kits were discovered gathering dust in police storage in 2009. A total of 11,303 would ultimately be recovered from the former police evidence warehouse.

    Prosecutor Kym Worthy has seen her share of grisly crime, but even she was shocked by a discovery in 2009 at a former police storage warehouse, where stacks of dusty boxes were found containing thousands of untested rape kits, some decades old. Rock Center's Kate Snow reports.

    "It' the right thing to do because there are people who have been victims that are in these kits that deserve justice. It's right for our criminal justice system because there are bad people out there who should be put away," Snyder said. "This will allow us to do that."

    The kits “sat on a shelf,” for years, Schuette said Wednesday. “In essence, this rape kit was stamped with ‘return to sender’ or ‘insufficient postage.’”

    Wayne County, Mich., Prosecutor Kym Worthy has championed an initiative to use the kits containing DNA evidence from victims to bring perpetrators to justice, though the cases were in some instances decades old.

    “What we were potentially looking at, at that time, was over 10,000 rape kits, representing over 10,000 cases where women had reported, whose lives and what happened to them was sitting on a shelf and nobody cared. I was shocked, and I think I was kind of stunned – and not too much stuns me,” Worthy told Rock Center in February.

    The Detroit Crime Commission has supported Worthy’s initiative to get each kit tested, saying on its website that, “Each rape kit has the potential to solve multiple crimes.” Each kit costs between $1,200 and $1,500 to get tested, according to the crime commission’s site.

    “To know that we had all of these potential victims sitting out there, all of them, mostly women, and nothing had been done, was just truly appalling,” Worthy told Rock Center.

    Rob Spada, then an assistant prosecutor in Worthy’s office, was the one who stumbled on the untested rape kits during a tour of the downtown Detroit police storage warehouse.

    “I saw numerous racks with cardboard boxes, and they told me at that point those were rape kits. I immediately asked the representatives were they tested rape kits or untested rape kits. And at that point they said, ‘We don’t know,’” Spada told Rock Center.

    Of the 569 kits that have been tested so far, 136 of those have yielded hits in the Combined DNA Index System maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Worthy said. Thirty-two of those hits have been identified as serial rapists, she said.

    NBC News’ Mario Garcia, Kristen Powers, and Jessica Hopper contributed to this report.

    Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is fighting to reverse a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits after more than 11,000 kits were found in a Detroit warehouse. Some of the kits were decades old.

    Related:

    • Prosecutor leads effort to test long-abandoned rape kits, brings justice to victims
    • Detroit prosecutor vows justice after neglected rape kits found

    67 comments

    W.T.F.??? Never bothered to test? How despicable can these people be? A woman who gets raped, and is brave enough to report it, should get that kit tested right FU--IN NOW!!! Not at some point in the future! How sad is this???

    Show more
    Explore related topics: fbi, police, michigan, prosecution, detroit, rape, wayne-county, serial-rapist, kym-worthy, rick-snyder, bill-schuette
  • 1
    Jun
    2013
    9:41pm, EDT

    12 dead in aftermath of tornadoes, floods

    Flash flooding is a big concern following the storms, and flood warnings are in effect Saturday night for a wide stretch of the country. The Weather Channel's Scott Newell reports.

    By Ian Johnston and M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

    The death toll has jumped to 12 in the aftermath of a swarm of destructive twisters that tore through the Midwest, killing seven adults and two children in Oklahoma and causing three deaths in Missouri blamed on flooding.

    Floodwaters also proved deadly in Oklahoma, where a 4-year-old girl died after she was swept away while taking shelter with her family in a ditch, according to police.

    It is unclear whether the girl is one of the nine people who died as five tornadoes — one a half-mile wide — struck the Oklahoma City area Friday evening, terrorizing communities already battered by deadly storms this spring.

    The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner told NBC News seven adults and two children are confirmed dead, including a mother and her small child. 

    The medical examiner said that five of the nine dead had been positively identified and called on the public's help to identify the others. "If someone is missing a loved one from last night’s tornado, we would encourage them to contact our office at 405-239-7141," said Amy Elliott, of the medical examiner's office.

    Hospitals in Oklahoma City reported 104 injuries, including five critical patients.

    At least five people killed were in vehicles and may have been trying to flee as dark clouds gathered and warning sirens wailed, authorities said. 

    Marcus Jolly, 32, of El Reno told The Oklahoman newspaper the scene along Interstate 40 "was a war zone. There were semis turned over and skeletons of buildings remaining.”

    The twisters came just 11 days after a monster tornado left 24 dead in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, where power outages were reported Friday.

    Mark Wiley, meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s southern region headquarters in Fort Worth, said early Saturday that there had been five confirmed tornadoes in the Oklahoma City area on Friday and one in the Tulsa area early Saturday.

    A total of 12 tornadoes hit Missouri and Illinois around St. Louis, where “numerous homes” were damaged. Wiley did not have any information about casualties there. Two twisters touched down briefly in North Dakota, but did not do any damage.

    The Oklahoma City area “definitely” experienced the worst of the bad weather, Wiley said, with wind gusts of up to 90 mph, baseball-sized hail and extensive flooding.

    Oklahoma resident Garrett Occhipinti speaks with MSNBC via phone about a photo he took of the storm that showed massive wall clouds stretching for over a mile.

    “We have several reports of water going into homes and dozens of people having to be rescued on the streets, especially along Interstate 40,” Wiley said. “It was not a good night to be in the Oklahoma City area.”

    For Saturday, Wiley said the storm was moving toward Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and East Texas, but did not “look as severe as yesterday.”

    The worry now turns to flash flooding. Wiley said about 6 to 8 inches of rain had fallen in 12 hours between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. CT Saturday. The Weather Channel reported that May 2013 is the wettest May on record in Oklahoma City.

    Friday, the terror came from tornadoes boasting baseball-sized hail and winds so strong they tossed tractor-trailers off the interstate. Meteorologists said the storm's fury didn't match that of the tornado that struck Moore on May 20 but dumped around 8 inches of rain on the area.

    An SUV used by Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Bettes and a crew of storm trackers was thrown 200 yards by one tornado near Oklahoma City suburb El Reno. The vehicle tumbled about eight times and came to rest in a field, Bettes said. Some members of the crew suffered minor injuries, and the vehicle was destroyed.

    "That was the scariest moment of my life," Bettes said. "I saw my life flash before my eyes."

    Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph said the woman and baby were killed when the SUV they were in overturned on Interstate 40 between El Reno and Yukon.

    Many of the injured were hurt in accidents along Interstates 35 and 40 west of the city, where at least three semi-trailer rigs were overturned after the biggest tornado touched down near El Reno, authorities said.

    Bart Kuester, 50, a truck driver from Wisconsin, said he was driving along Interstate 35 past Moore when he realized a dangerous storm was approaching. 

    "I heard the sirens going off and I could see it coming," he told The Associated Press. Kuester said the interstate was flooded and jammed with people trying to outrun the storm. 

    "Everyone was leaving. ... Just because that one that hit Moore was so fresh in their memory," he said.

    Authorities said some of the worst damage on Friday was from flooding around El Reno and Yukon and the danger continued into Saturday.

    The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for parts of Oklahoma early Saturday.

    There were also flash flood warnings in place for parts of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas and  Kansas.

    On Friday, one tornado turned south from Oklahoma City and then toward the suburb of Moore, which was hit by a devastating twister on May 20 that killed 24 people and injured hundreds of others.

    “I think we are still a little shaken by what happened in Moore. We are still burying children and victims, so our emotions are still strong," Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett told Reuters.

    Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency.

    "This has been a very large storm that hit a lot of communities," she told KFOR. She said she had heard from at least 30 fellow governors offering assistance.

    At Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, where winds hit 71 mph, all flights were canceled and about 1,000 travelers were herded underground, where they were told to put their hands on their heads. The airport reopened Saturday morning, but all morning departures were canceled.

    Tornado warnings — meaning a funnel cloud that could become a tornado had been spotted in the area — were in effect much of the day for numerous counties in Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin.

    Forecasters sounded the alarm that much of the Midwest — already pummeled by a week of tornadoes and flooded with drenching rains — was facing another round of violent weather overnight and into the weekend.

    Observers at Tinker Air Force Base reported a tornado on the ground near the base southwest of Oklahoma City. In Norman, home to the University of Oklahoma, a tornado touched down near Norman North High School and Norman Regional Hospital.

    Buildings at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport were damaged by tornadoes with debris strewn across the runway. The airport was closed because of the damage, but re-opened just before midnight, the airport said in a statement.

    Another tornado touched down Friday night 7 miles northeast of Moscow Mills, Mo., about 50 miles northwest of St. Louis. In St. Charles County, 24 houses were severely damaged or destroyed, said Mike O'Connell, communications director for the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

    The National Weather Service evacuated its St. Louis office as tornado warnings were issued for north and northeastern St. Louis and surrounding counties.

    Janet Shamlian and Aaron Marmelstein of NBC News, Mike Bettes of The Weather Channel, and Reuters contributed to this report. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

    Related:

    • More Oklahoma twisters!? Latest outbreak fits Tornado Alley's pattern
    • Midwest tornadoes like a giant game of Battleship

    1311 comments

    Good evening..Hope everyone manages to stay safe and well over there.....with good wishes from Australia..

    Show more
    Explore related topics: texas, arkansas, weather, oklahoma, iowa, illinois, michigan, wind, wisconsin, kansas, storms, missouri, floods, tornadoes, hail
  • Updated
    1
    May
    2013
    1:08pm, EDT

    'We're all devastated': Americans killed in 747 crash mourned

    Family members in Michigan mourn the loss of crew members killed in cargo plane crash near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. WDIV's Chauncy Glover reports.

    By Corey Williams, Jeff Karoub and Joan Lowry, The Associated Press

    Jamie Brokaw was an experienced navigator who was no stranger to dangerous flying situations and had the skills to stay cool in the face of danger, according to close friend Chris Connerton.

    "He was a very good person and very smart person," Connerton told The Associated Press by telephone from Rochester, Minn.

    Brokaw, 33, of Monroe, Mich., was among seven Americans killed Monday when their National Air Cargo plane crashed near an Air Force base in Afghanistan. Six of the victims were from Michigan and a seventh was from Kentucky, said Shirley Kaufman, National Air Cargo vice president.

    Connerton said Brokaw was a key reason he was able to make it through flight school in Jacksonville, Fla., where they met.

    Connerton also described a harrowing flight two years ago from Toledo, Ohio, to an international flight expo in Lakeland, Fla. Connerton said ice had built up on the plane to the point that he could no longer get it to climb.

    "If it wasn't for Jamie's navigation and know-how ... we wouldn't have made it," Connerton said.

    Killed along with Brokaw in the Afghanistan crash were Gary Stockdale, 51, of Romulus, Mich.; pilots Brad Hasler, 34, of Trenton, Mich., and Jeremy Lipka, 37, of Brooklyn, Mich.; first officer Rinku Summan, 32, of Canton, Mich.; loadmaster Michael Sheets, 36, of Ypsilanti, Mich.; and maintenance crewman Timothy Garrett, 51, of Louisville, Ky.

    Building model planes and working on real ones comprised Stockdale's passion, filling the family's basement with models in his youth, jumping into aviation as a career at age 16 — and later working at two Detroit-area airports.

    Stockdale also knew the dangers of flying, his older brother said Tuesday.

    "He always said it was dangerous," said Glenn Stockdale, 55. "He would always say, 'You either will die in a car crash or a ball of flame in a plane.'"

    AP / Courtesy Stockdale Family

    Gary Stockdale, 51, of Romulus, Mich., was killed in a cargo plane crash on Monday.

    Lipka had flown in Iraq as well as Afghanistan and had close calls before, said his stepfather, Dave Buttman.

    "There was risk there all the time. He knew the risks. He volunteered to take the trips," Buttman told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. "Basically, you're taking your chances flying in there and he was just happy to be one of the pilots to do it."

    The Dubai-bound Boeing 747-400 — operated by National Air Cargo — crashed just after takeoff Monday from Bagram Air Base around 11:20 a.m. local time, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement Tuesday.

    The accident site is within the perimeter of Bagram Air Base.

    The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for downing the plane, but NATO said the claims were false and there was no sign of insurgent activity in the area at the time of the crash.

    The Afghanistan Ministry of Transportation and Commercial Aviation is leading the investigation. The NTSB is investigating the crash alongside the ministry. The team will be composed of three NTSB investigators, as well as representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing, the NTSB said.

    Kaufman said the plane — owned by National Airlines, an Orlando, Fla.-based subsidiary of National Air Cargo — was carrying vehicles and other cargo.

    Elena Garrett, of Jeffersonville, Ind., just across the Ohio River from Louisville, said ex-husband Timothy Garrett would have turned 52 on Saturday. They have two daughters together, ages 11 and 12.

    "We're all devastated," Elena Garrett said about his death. "We were still best friends. He's the best father I've ever seen (and) ready to help anybody. He would give the shirt off his back for anybody."

    Bill Hasler said his family learned Monday morning that his brother, Brad, was one of the crash victims.

    "Brad was a wonderful father to two young children, a beloved husband to a wife who is expecting another child, a loving son, and the most loyal and supportive brother I could have ever asked for," Bill Hasler said in a statement. "His influence in the lives of all of us who loved him is immeasurable, and our grief is indescribable."

    National Airlines was based until recently at Michigan's Willow Run Airport, west of Detroit. It carries cargo both commercially and for the military, Kaufman said. She said the company employs about 225 people.

    Summan had worked 2½ years for National Air Cargo, said his wife, Rajnit Summan.

    Rajnit Summan said she last spoke to her husband Sunday.

    "I told him to be safe," she said.

    This story was originally published on Wed May 1, 2013 4:31 AM EDT

    357 comments

    My condolences to the families. It appears to stall caused maybe by load shift but I am not the expert and will wait to see.

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    Explore related topics: afghanistan, michigan, kentucky, featured, bagram-air-base, updated, national-air-cargo
  • Updated
    26
    Apr
    2013
    8:11pm, EDT

    Rain-soaked Midwest braces for more flooding

    Residents of Fargo, North Dakota, aren't taking any chances when it comes to Mother Nature after a waterlogged week in the Midwest. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.

    By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News

    Flood-weary residents in parts of the Midwest were still trying to stem the tide of murky river water Friday, as late snow-melt combined with days of spring rain sent rivers toward high-water records.

    Floodwaters had begun an inch-by-inch retreat in inundated Peoria, Ill., after the Illinois River crested Tuesday at 29.35 feet, eclipsing a 70-year record. In central Indiana, more heavy rain through Wednesday morning prompted a request for voluntary evacuation along the Tippecanoe River near Lafayette.

    The Grand River at Grand Rapids, Mich., which reached record levels, began to fall below flood stage Thursday and some of the hundreds of people evacuated were starting to return home.

    Along the Mississippi, the biggest concern was that the flood is expected to linger into May, potentially straining longstanding earthen levees and hastily-built sandbag walls. No towns were in imminent danger.

    Rain-soaked Chicago had its wettest April on record, the National Weather Service said, according to NBCChicago.com.

    In tiny Dutchtown, Missouri, flooding from the Mississippi has become such a fact of life that residents expressed hope that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would buy them out of their homes.

    Reuters

    Local residents work with soldiers of the 1140th Engineer Battalion to build a sandbag wall near Dutchtown, Missouri, on Wednesday.

    Thousands of sandbags were at the ready in anticipation of a crest Thursday.

    Doyle Parmer, who doubles as town clerk and emergency management chief, told The Associated Press that residents had been "jumping through hoops" for three years seeking a buyout from FEMA as part of a federal program that sees flood-prone areas set aside for green space or a park. The AP said:

    In order for that money to arrive, towns must prove that flooding is frequent and devastating enough for a buyout to be cost-effective, and Dutchtown hasn't filed a suitable one yet, said Melissa Janssen, mitigation branch chief for the FEMA region that includes Missouri.

    Parmer said he and other residents were ready to get out.

    "Sell the house, cut the grass and get the hell out of Dodge," he said.

    For 40 years, Shirley Moss has lived in the same home in the town, but as the sandbags piled up yet again, she didn't hesitate when asked if she would take a government buyout.

    "In a New York minute," Moss said from her double-wide mobile home. "I'm 75 years old — I can't fight this."

    Meanwhile, in North Dakota residents got their first touch of good news on Wednesday when officials said the swollen Red River would crest at lower than anticipated levels next week, the AP reported.

    Residents in Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota, have been filling sandbags ahead of the expected fourth major Red River flood in the past five years after unseasonably cold weather delayed the annual thaw.

    But the river was still expected to peak at possibly its second-highest level on record, and flood preparations in the north-central United States follow major flooding on rivers in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Michigan caused by heavy rain, the AP said.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Related:

    • Full coverage from weather.com

    This story was originally published on Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:39 AM EDT

    26 comments

    I don't know, either, but if it's about the road signs it's spelled "Burma Shave"....

    Show more
    Explore related topics: weather, chicago, river, snow, michigan, flood, rain, missouri, midwest, spring, featured, updated
  • Updated
    22
    Apr
    2013
    10:19am, EDT

    Surging rivers near crest, but many Midwestern towns already inundated

    Americans throughout the Midwest are working furiously to fight off Mother Nature as the spring flooding season arrives. NBC's John Yang reports.

    By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Heavy river flooding in six Midwestern states that forced evacuations, shut down bridges, swamped homes and caused at least three deaths was at or near crest in some areas Sunday evening.

    Rivers surged from the Quad Cities to St. Louis on Sunday. Hours earlier, National Guardsmen, volunteers, homeowners and jail inmates pitched in with sandbagging to hold back floodwaters that closed roads in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. 

    Forecasters warned that "more rain was expected in the affected areas Tuesday into Wednesday," according to weather.com.

    KSDK's Grant Bissell details the situation surrounding floods in the Midwest along the Mississippi River.

    Record flooding swelled in Grand Rapids, Mich., with a crest of over 22 feet expected late Sunday into Monday. The water is expected to peak sometime Monday. 

    The basements of some homes in the town of Comstock Park, Mich., were already full of water even before the surge Sunday morning, and the new swell forced some residents to leave their houses by boat.

    “I’m surrounded by water all the way around my house,” resident Gary Smith told Grand Rapids NBC station WOOD-TV. “When I step out, I have a porch and then I have one step that’s still visible, and then I step down into at least three feet of water, four feet of water.”

    Significant flooding is possible in places like Ste. Genevieve, Mo., Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Cairo, Ill., later this week, The Associated Press reported. 

    The Chicago area, which was hit by widespread flooding over the weekend, was dry for much of the period. But more rain may be on the way on Tuesday and Wednesday as a developing cold front could bring as much as an inch of precipitation to the region, forecasters said.

    Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared a state of emergency as record flooding occurred at a dozen river gauges across the state over the weekend.

    All hands pitched in as the hard-hit town of Clarksville, Mo., worked to keep back the waters of the Mississippi River from the historic downtown area.

    The river was at 34.7 feet on Sunday afternoon, over 10 feet above the 25-foot flood stage – and was expected to rise another foot before cresting Monday, according to the AP.

    Jeff Roberson / AP

    Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, right, walks away from floodwaters after meeting with members of the Missouri National Guard as they make flood preparations Saturday in Clarksville, Mo.

    “This is frustrating for people,” Trish Connelly, 57, told the Associated Press. “This isn’t as bad as 2008, but thank God it stopped raining.”

    Hundreds were evacuated from towns in Indiana as the Wabash River rose by 14 feet on Saturday. Authorities in the town of Montezuma, Ind. called in volunteer firefighters to help fill sandbags as waters looked to crest at twice the normal flood stage.

    “Right now we are just trying to help people,” town council President Allen Cobb told WTWO. “We’re just trying to keep people calm at this point, let them know the facts as we know them and put down some of the rumors they’re hearing.”

    Indiana resident Robert Morgan, 64, of Arcadia, died Friday night after his car was caught by floodwaters and swept 100 yards downstream in Hamilton County, according to a statement from the local sheriff’s office.

    The body of another driver and Arcadia resident, 42-year-old David A. Baker, was recovered on Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office. Police responded after receiving a distress call from Baker’s cell phone in the early hours of Saturday, and later recovered his vehicle and dog. Baker’s body was recovered on Sunday morning.

    A third confirmed flood-related death occurred in Missouri, according to weather.com.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Related:

    • Full coverage from weather.com

    This story was originally published on Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:47 AM EDT

    156 comments

    They will send the bill to the taxpayers and then complain about socialism

    Show more
    Explore related topics: weather, flooding, michigan, indiana, missouri, updated, midwest-featured
  • 18
    Apr
    2013
    8:12pm, EDT

    Michigan woman, 75, gets at least 22 years in prison for killing grandson

    Max Ortiz / AP

    Sandra Layne, 75, looks over at her husband, Fred Layne, moments after she is sentenced in Oakland County, Mich., Circuit Court on Thursday, April 18.

    By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

    A 75-year-old Detroit-area woman was sentenced to 22 to 40 years in prison Thursday for shooting her 17-year-old grandson to death last year.

    Sandra Layne, of West Bloomfield Township, Mich., was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the death of Jonathan Hoffman, who was shot six times, including twice in the back.

    Jurors rejected her claim of self-defense.


    Sentencing guidelines called for Layne to be sentenced to 12 to 20 years, but Oakland County Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris used her discretion to increase the term, pointedly asking Layne several times Thursday, "Why did you keep shooting him?"

    In a long sentencing statement, Layne apologized for Jonathan's death but said his parents should have been responsible for him after he began using drugs and became violent.


    Follow @NBCNewsUS

    "I don't want to die in jail or prison," she said, sobbing loudly.

    But even Jonathan's mother, Jennifer Hoffman — Layne's own daughter — asked for the maximum possible sentence, telling the court her mother was "pure evil."

    She smiled broadly and gave a thumbs-up sign as her mother was sentenced. Afterward, she told reporters that her mother was "a complete narcissist and a liar."

    "I wish I had seen signs of how evil she was before I left her with my son," Hoffman said.

    Layne's attorney, Jerome Sabbota, said after the hearing that he planned to appeal.

    "Look, this is a death sentence for her," he said, according to the Detroit Free Press. "She doesn't deserve to die in prison."

    Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

    268 comments

    She smiled broadly and gave a thumbs-up sign as her mother was sentenced. Afterward, she told reporters that her mother was "a complete narcissist and a liar." kind disturbing, too

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    Explore related topics: michigan, crime, sandra-layne, west-broomfield
  • Updated
    10
    Apr
    2013
    4:43am, EDT

    Two dead after shooting, blaze at Detroit medical facility

    Max Ortiz / The Detroit News via AP

    Bystanders react after shots were fired inside the at the Park Medical Centers building in Detroit and the structure was set ablaze on Tuesday.

    By Corey Williams, The Associated Press

    DETROIT -- A man identified by employees as a former maintenance worker opened fire Tuesday inside a Detroit medical facility, sending workers and visitors screaming and rushing for the doors just moments before the building erupted in flames.

    Crews digging through the gutted Park Medical Centers building hours after the fire recovered the remains of a man and a woman, Detroit police said Tuesday night in a release.

    Authorities did not release the identities of the dead, pending autopsies, but police had been searching for 35-year-old medical assistant Sharita Williams and the fired maintenance worker, who relatives said was her ex-boyfriend.

    Williams' mother, Antha Williams-Hill, told The Associated Press that one of her daughter's co-workers told her that the man threatened her daughter inside.

    "He said, 'You think I'm playing with you?'" Williams-Hill said. "He told the other girl, 'I think you better get out of here.' The girl left and said she then heard two shots."

    Last week, Sharita Williams was granted a personal protection order against the man, according to Wayne County Court records.

    Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum, a podiatrist who operated his private practice from the building for about 30 years, said he heard a security guard yell that the gunman "had taken Sharita and is shooting at other people in the building."

    Destroyed in the blaze, Kirschenbaum said, was his collection of boxing gloves, personal letters and photos of boxing great Joe Louis. He estimated the memorabilia were worth about $100,000.

    Dwane Blackmon, Detroit police homicide inspector, declined to identify the maintenance man as the suspect but said everyone else inside except the woman and male suspect appeared to have escaped the blaze.

    Investigators were unable to quickly go deep into the one-story building, described by tenants as also having a basement, due to fears of the structure's integrity.

    Williams-Hill said she was asked to go to the coroner's office to identify whether the deceased woman was her daughter "because of the condition of the body."

    She said her daughter had been dating the married maintenance man for more than a year, but their relationship was rocky and Sharita eventually began seeing someone else and even moved out of the city and into a Detroit suburb to get away. However, he refused to leave her alone, Williams-Hill said.

    This story was originally published on Wed Apr 10, 2013 3:54 AM EDT

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    197 comments

    Just more proof that personal protection orders are useless. It certainly didn't do this woman any good, when a person is set on doing harm, they will. My conoldences.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: shooting, michigan, detroit, featured, updated, crime-and-courts
  • 15
    Mar
    2013
    3:16pm, EDT

    American Indian tribe OKs same-sex marriage, lets gay couple wed

    John Flesher / AP

    Tim LaCroix, left, and Gene Barfield recite their nuptial vows in the governmental building of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Friday, March 15, 2013, in Harbor Springs, Mich. Tribal Chairman Dexter McNamara, center, officiated during the wedding after signing a measure approved by the tribal council that allows same-sex marriages on the reservation.

    By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The head of an American Indian tribe in Michigan signed a law approving same-sex marriage on Friday, joining at least two other tribes nationwide in doing so, then immediately wed a gay couple who had been together for 30 years but never thought they would see this day come.

    Dexter McNamara, chairman of the 4,600-member Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in northern Michigan, and a member of the tribe wed Tim LaCroix, 53, and Gene Barfield, 60, of Boyne City. McNamara read the couple's vows and led the ceremony in English, and the tribe member conducted a traditional tribal ceremony in their language before dozens of wellwishers.

    Follow @mimileitsinger

    “I’m proud of my tribe for doing this and I love my husband,” LaCroix said. Barfield, who is not a tribe member, chimed in:"How could the world be better? … I'm just ... full of joy and happiness and I love my husband."


    A maple sapling, bent into a hoop with cedar, sage, tobacco and sweetgrass tied to it, was used in the tribal ceremony. The sweetgrass was lit, and the hoop was waved up and down over the couple to ward off evil spirits and bring in good spirits.

    “To have Tim’s tribal community, which are an ancient people, welcome me into their midst and …that we are welcome as a married couple in a community, I’m just flabbergasted at how good this makes me feel,” Barfield said, chuckling as he later added, “This goes to prove that the great American author Mark Twain was right: all things come to him who waits and doesn’t die in the meantime."

    It was not certain the tribe would recognize same-sex marriage: In 2012, the tribal council voted down a resolution, 5-4, to allow gays and lesbians to wed, but on March 3, the balance shifted and it was approved, 5-4. The resolution, which requires one member of the marrying couples to be a tribe member, then went to the desk of McNamara, who figured that if he vetoed it, the legislation would be unlikely to get the seven votes needed for an override.

    While he was mulling his decision, McNamara said LaCroix called and asked him what he was going to do. They and Barfield had once worked together for the tribe.

    “I started thinking about it, and that’s when I decided that, you know, we all deserve to be happy," he said, "and everybody is happy in different ways, they show their love in different ways, and I decided to sign it.”

    The newlyweds said that after McNamara signed the legislation, he received a standing ovation.

    "I’ve always felt that there’s two ways to do things and look at things … you believe in equal rights or you want to discriminate," McNamara said Thursday, noting he'd received mainly positive feedback in response to the decision.

    Courtesy of Annette VanDeCar, Li

    Tim LaCroix holds a feather while hugging Gene Barfield after their marriage ceremony on Friday. Both are part of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.

    Two other tribes -- the Coquille in Oregon and the Suquamish in Washington state -- have in recent years approved same-sex marriage. Other tribes -- perhaps from five to 10, though there could be more -- have open ordinances that don't define marriage as between a man and a woman, said Matthew Fletcher, a law professor at Michigan State University College of Law and director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center.

    "It's pretty remarkable," Fletcher, a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, said of the tribe's action. "I mean Indian Country is mostly rural and insular and pretty conservative, so it's unusual for a rural community like this to sort of stick their necks out like this, but it gives you a sense of where I think we are as a nation in terms of being much more open toward same-sex marriage in a fairly short period of time."

    However, large tribes, such as the Cherokee Nation and Navajo Nation, ban same-sex marriage. The Cherokee Nation took action when a lesbian couple sought the right to marry in tribal court. The pair was ultimately successful in 2006 though the ban was imposed, scholars said.

    In smaller tribes, such as the Coquille and Suquamish, people know one another and so legally excluding same-sex couples has a more significant impact socially and politically rather than with a large tribe like the Cherokee, who have a big bureaucracy and are aiming to behave more like a nation-state, said Brian Joseph Gilley, a professor of anthropology and head of the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center at Indiana University, Bloomington.

    The impact of the Little Traverse Bay decision was unclear, though Fletcher said he thought it would carry weight with other tribes. Little Traverse Bay was an influential, average-sized tribe that has been, along with some other Michigan tribes, "very much in the forefront of some good progressive tribal governance measures in the last couple decades."


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    "I do think it’s going to be influential," he said of the decision, "and it’s sort of a groundswell building in Indian Country that’s a little bit slower than the rest of the country, but it’s definitely building."

    McNamara, who said it was an "historic" day for the tribe, agreed, saying he thought other tribes in the state might take their lead.

    “We’ve been a role model, I think, for the federally recognized tribes of Michigan and it seems like we’re out in front -- and not taking anything away from the other federally recognized tribes -- but, you know, it seems like we kind of opened the door for other tribes and I think other tribes will follow," he said.

    Nine states plus the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage, while more than 30 ban it, including Michigan -- where that law will apply outside the reservation. The Supreme Court in less than two weeks will hear cases challenging California's same-sex marriage ban, known as Proposition 8, and the federal law (Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA) barring recognition of same-sex couples.

    The federal law applies to tribes, too, said Melissa Tatum, director of the Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program at the University of Arizona. It is up to each tribe -- there are nearly 570 -- to decide where they fall on this issue, she said.

    "Some tribes have a culture and a history of accepting same-sex relationships and they don’t view it as anything unusual or different and some tribes have, like many states … they don’t have a culture of accepting it," she said. "Just like within the state populations you’re going to get the whole spectrum of attitudes in favor and against it in tribal governments."

    Whether a tribal government accepted such marriages was "not just based on changing social opinions but based on tribal culture," she added. "Tribes who take control of their own laws, who make culturally appropriate decisions about what their government policies are going to be, have far and away more successful, more stable tribal government."

    Related:

    GOP sea change on gay rights?

    Clint Eastwood to Supreme Court: Drop California's ban on same-sex marriage

    US asks Supreme Court to strike down law denying benefits to same-sex couples

     

    521 comments

    congratulations to the newly wedded couple :)

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  • 13
    Mar
    2013
    1:34pm, EDT

    Police: Michigan girl, 12, brings $20,000 to school, starts giving it away

    Police were called to a Michigan grade school after $20,000 in cash was found in a 12-year-old's backpack. The student was passing it out to friends. WDIV's Lauren Podell reports.

    By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A Michigan middle school student showed up to class Monday with a backpack stuffed with $20,000 and handed out wads of cash to her friends, officials said.


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    The unidentified girl, 12, received the money from another child who lives across the street from her parents' house in Taylor, a suburb near Detroit, Police Chief Mary Sclabassi told The Detroit News. 

    Administrators at The Sixth Grade Academy became suspicious Monday morning when the girl was spotted doling out stacks of $100 bills to her classmates. Some of her peers were given as much as $500, Sclabassi told NBC affiliate WDIV in Detroit.


    As soon as the school principal learned of the student's generosity, she called the police. All of the money was recovered, the chief said.

    "Had word gotten out to maybe someone other than some other 12-year-olds, it could have put [the student] in a dangerous position," Sclabassi told WDIV.

    The girl's unidentified neighbors have claimed their money, but police are still investigating Monday's strange incident, Sclabassi confirmed to The Detroit News.

    Teresa D. Winnie, the assistant superintendent for the Taylor School District, said in a statement Tuesday that local officials "do not have a specific protocol for this type of situation."

    "There was no threat to the student body in the building and the matter is currently in the hands of the Taylor Police Department," Winnie said.

    The Sixth Grade Academy is a public middle school with roughly 700 students.

    258 comments

    If anyone has seen my $20000 please email me idiotdrugdealer@generalmotors.com

    Show more
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  • 4
    Mar
    2013
    11:44am, EST

    4-year-old son of Michigan sheriff's deputy accidentally shoots and kills himself

    The 4-year-old son of a Michigan sheriff's deputy accidentally shot and killed himself at the family's home. The deputy had just left for work when it happened. WILX's Anthony Sabella reports.

    By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The four-year-old boy of a sheriff’s deputy in northern Michigan accidentally shot and killed himself with a handgun at the family’s home over the weekend, state police said Monday.


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    Authorities believe Michael Easter was playing with the firearm when he shot himself one time on Saturday in Liberty Township, said First Lt. Michael Krumm of the state police. Police have sent evidence to a forensic lab for analysis but don’t think there was any criminal intent at play.

    “At this point there is nothing that’s leading us to believe that this is anything more than a tragic accident,” Krumm said.

    The handgun was believed to be registered to the boy’s father, Mark Easter, Krumm said, adding that he had yet to receive confirmation. But it was not Easter’s service weapon, he said.

    Easter was on his way to work when his wife called and told him what happened, Jackson County Sheriff Steve Rand told mlive.com. The boy was pronounced dead at a local medical center.

    “This just serves as a reminder that we need to be vigilant when it comes to keeping our children safe,” Rand said.

    Cammy Rose, the cousin of Easter’s wife, told NBC affiliate wilx.com: “Mark's a good guy. I know this wasn't intentional."

    "My heart is broken for my cousin," she said. "He was definitely taken from this world too early."

    A week ago, a 4-year-old Houston boy fatally shot himself with his father's stolen handgun while his dad slept. 

    531 comments

    People with guns at home are 11 times more likely to use them on themselves or each other than on intruders.

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  • Updated
    17
    Feb
    2013
    8:40pm, EST

    High winds, snow hit New England

    The second blizzard in as many weeks is hitting the Northeast. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

    By Gil Aegerter and Andrew Mach, NBC News

    A winter storm initially expected to produce blizzard-like conditions in parts of New England brought moderate snow and strong winds to the region on Sunday.

    Forecasters had said up to a foot of snow would be possible in areas of New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, but the storm was moving out of the region Sunday afternoon after less than half that amount had accumulated.

    For southeastern New England, including Boston, the snow totaled 3 to 5 inches, Boston.com reported. The snow and ice in the city caused flights arriving to Logan International Airport to be delayed an average of 52 minutes. 

    Meanwhile, arctic air and heavy winds meant below-freezing temperatures in New England and wind chills in the single digits across the whole eastern U.S. over the weekend, weather.com reported.

    Janet S. Carter / The Free Press via AP

    Snow flurries shroud Washington Street in Kinston, N.C., on Saturday.

    “What will be noteworthy today are the winds which will be especially strong along the coast,” Meteorologist David Epstein said. “At times some coastal areas south of Boston could see wind gusts hit 50 miles per hour.”


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    The Weather Channel’s Dr. Greg Postel warned the strong winds could cause scattered power outages throughout the region.

    The snow that was hitting the New England area came a day after the moving storm brought 2-3 inches of snow to the Carolinas.

    Much of New England just finished digging out after a historic winter storm that dumped 30 inches of snow on parts of Massachusetts and even more in Connecticut.

    NBC News' Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

    This story was originally published on Sat Feb 16, 2013 6:25 PM EST

    120 comments

    Big Deal. Here in Valdez, AK, we call that Thursday.

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  • 31
    Jan
    2013
    7:06am, EST

    Doctor accused of hiding camera in college locker room

    View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

    By Dick Johnson, NBCChicago.com

    A podiatrist accused of secretly recording community college wrestlers in a men's locker room may have dozens of other victims, authorities say.

    Ninos Jando, 34, from Skokie, Illinois, was arraigned Wednesday in Michigan on three counts of capturing or distributing an image of an unclothed person. Court documents list three male victims in the case.

    But authorities say what Jando was doing in that Michigan locker room was not an isolated event. There are reportedly dozens of videos of naked young men that were shot in dozens of locker rooms over nearly a dozen years.

    "These images could be worldwide and affect these innocent victims for the rest of their lives," said prosecutor Timothy Maat.

    So far, none of the victims reviewed by authorities appear to be underage, but they said there is still a lot of material to go through.

    More stories from NBCChicago.com

    Inside the doctor's car following his arrest Tuesday, police said they found six toiletry bags, eight cameras, three cell phones, a computer hard drive, a laptop computer and membership cards under several different names that gave him access to a variety of health clubs.

    Investigators said they hope a GPS unit found inside the car will provide information as to where else Jando has been.

    Jando has been arrested an accused of similar crimes in the Chicago area. At a St. Charles Xsport Fitness Center in 2009, an undercover police officer thought Jando was acting suspiciously in the locker room. A search at that time by St. Charles police uncovered 21 videos spanning six years, officials said.

    No one could be reached for comment at the Jando family home in Skokie Wednesday night. The doctor has a published office address at Mobile Doctors on North Elston Avenue, and records indicate he's on the staff at Norwegian American Hospital on North Francisco. He also has a current Illinois license to practice podiatry.

    Jando was ordered held on $200,000 bond. If he bails out, the judge has forbid him from leaving Michigan's Muskegon County.

     

    258 comments

    Creep!

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