Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
LANSING – The Michigan Supreme Court has upheld the right of Boards of Education to ban firearms from school grounds. The 4-3 ruling issued Friday approved policies enacted by the Ann Arbor and Clio school districts, which had been challenged by gun rights proponents. State law does allow licensed firearms to be carried on school campuses, but the court decision means that local school boards have the power to supercede that law.
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BENTON HARBOR – The investigation continues into a fire that killed a woman and five children early Saturday morning near Benton Harbor. All were members of one family, although the specific relationships aren’t clear. The blaze forced the evacuation of all 27 occupied rooms at the Cosmo Extended Living Hotel.
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LANSING – Lansing police continue to look into the case in which five children were allegedly locked in a basement room without food or access to a bathroom by their parents. Yenier and Sarah Conde are also accused of beating their kids, threatening them with a gun, and withholding treatment for one who has cancer. They were charged Friday. The children were removed to foster care late last year. Records show that Child Protective Services visited the home at least a dozen times, beginning in 2009. Republican gubernatorial candidate and medical doctor Jim Hines has called for an investigation into why the children weren’t rescued earlier.
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TRAVERSE CITY – Two planes collided at the airstrip on North Fox Island in Northern Lake Michigan yesterday. Reports say one plane was taking off, while the other was landing. Five people were aboard – three suffered minor injuries. They were brought off the island by a Coast Guard helicopter.
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PARCHMENT – Residents of the Kalamazoo suburb of Parchment have been told to drink bottled water, after high levels of contamination were found in the city’s municipal water. Levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate are as much as 20 times higher than federal standards. No one knows where they came from, or how long the water has been contaminated. The State of Michigan has issued an emergency declaration. Plans are being put in place to hook the Parchment water system to the Kalamazoo City water supply.
