MichiBlogger

SHERIFF SHUTS OUT NEWSPAPER after it quotes a blogger:

The Shiawassee County sheriff will stop releasing information to a newspaper after it published an article about a political blogger critical of the sheriff, the paper reported.

The Argus-Press of Owosso, located in the county, said in an article Thursday that it was told it would have to file Freedom of Information Act requests to receive information from the sheriff’s department.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything like this before. Via Michael Silence.

WOW: Michigan woman approaching 111th birthday

Nellie Jones was born in 1897.

Jones, who is to celebrate her 111th birthday on Wednesday, is one of Michigan’s oldest residents and is believed to be among the 50 oldest people in the world, The Grand Rapids Press reported Monday.

“What? I’m how old?” Jones, who lives at Heritage Nursing and Rehabilitation Community, asked after being offered birthday greetings. “I’m really getting old.”

People are amazing creatures.

USUALLY ONLY SEEN IN MOVIES: Wanted: Hitman to kill my lover’s wife

According to the AP:

A woman advertised on the popular Internet site Craigslist for an assassin to kill the wife of a man with whom she’d had an affair, authorities said Saturday.

The ad by Ann Marie Linscott, 49, was posted in November as a generic request for somebody to perform a “freelance” job, court document said. Her true intention was only communicated to those who e-mailed her seeking additional information about the job, the Craigslist CEO said.

Linscott offered $5,000 for the hit, had the name and work address of the woman she wanted dead and she described successful candidates as “silent assassins,” according to agents and court documents.

According to WZZM:

After her arrest at her Rockford home, Linscott gave chilling responses to the FBI’s questions outlined in the Federal Criminal Complaint.

When asked what she meant by “eradicating” the victim she said
“Duh. Well to have her killed.”

When asked how she would feel if the victim was in fact murdered, she said she feared law enforcement would “track the murder back to her.”

PICTURES: 2008 Detroit Auto Show.

BUT A MILLION DOLLARS? Lawsuit alleges coach offered beer to student

A Kalamazoo Central High School student is seeking almost $1 million in damages in a lawsuit that alleges her former volleyball coach offered her a beer and that the athletic director told her to keep quiet about it…

The suit claims that in February 2006, [volleyball coach Kilee] Goetz offered Brittany Grayson, then 15, a beer while at a restaurant. The suit does not say whether Brittany Grayson ever received or drank the beer.

I guess I’m not sure what warrants a $999,999 lawsuit here. What I don’t like about this sort of thing is that I end up siding with volleyball coaches who allegedly offered student-athletes alcohol. That, if true, is bad. But suing the school, the board, the principal, the athletic director, and the coach for a million dollars is over the line.

NOT SURPRISING: Toyota passes Ford in U.S. sales in 2007. Ford had been #2 behind General Motors for the previous 75 years.

KALAMAZOO: Four people were shot, one seriously, at a house party shortly after 1 a.m. New Year’s Day. No other details appear available at this time.

Then there’s this: KALAMAZOO COUNTY Homicides spiked in ‘07. 13 are the most since 2000. Last year saw only 5. 11 of the killings were in the city.

POTENTIALLY BAD: Tritium found in groundwater near Palisades

A radioactive substance has been found in the groundwater near the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township.

A spokesperson for the plant told 24 Hour News 8 that tritium - a radioactive form of hydrogen - was found between the facility and Lake Michigan during monitoring.

There is no evidence that other water fields or the water table are affected.

Tritium can be naturally-occurring, but it seems more than a bit suspicious near the nuclear power plant. Hopefully, whatever the origin, it’s not serious.

I’m a strong proponent of nuclear electricity generation, but I obviously only support SAFE power plants.

NICE: Toddler, infant found home alone. In Three Rivers:

Police took the seven and 18-month-old children into protective custody and discovered marijuana, crack cocaine and cash in the home.

GR TO CHICAGO TRAIN: Amtrak train from GR collides with freight train

An Amtrak train plowed into the back of a freight train Friday on the south side of the city, seriously injuring five Amtrak employees in an engine car that hurtled to a stop atop a crushed boxcar. Most of the 187 passengers walked away.