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A jury convicted a former Clinton Township man Thursday of manslaughter in the fiery death of a 7-month-old girl. Advertisement Jurors took less than three hours in deliberation before convicting Paul Renwick, 57, on the lesser 15-year felony charge instead of second-degree murder. The Nov. 25 fire at Arbors Apartments killed Kimora Hatcher. The jury also acquitted Renwick on a second count of arson of a dwelling. "We're satisfied with the outcome. It's a conviction, and he's being held accountable for a death," said Steven Kaplan, the Macomb County assistant prosecutor handling the case. "There were reasons we had foreseen...

Governor Granholm and her attack crew are using blatant lies and distortion on Dick's record as a Michigan jobs maker. Every product made in China, stays in China. In order to sell Michigan made products in China, Dick was required to open a plant in China by Chinese law. Dick got into the Chinese market in early 1995; layoffs did not occur until 1998. There is NO connection between China and the layoffs. In fact, 400 jobs are here in Michigan to support the Alticor sales effort in China. By Selling Michigan-made Products around the World, Dick Saved the Company...

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MONTROSE, Colo. - Marcus Klintmalm's two victims lay sprawled on the ground, their weapons released by hands gone limp. Spent cartridge casings, his and theirs, were everywhere -- testimony to two gunfights. The shooting had stopped. It was time to debrief. ''Where did you hit him?'' an instructor asked Klintmalm, referring to one of the assailants. The man was standing now, with a mark of orange wax from Klintmalm's ''bullet'' on his pants. ''In the hip,'' Klintmalm said. If the fight had been real, that might not have been good enough, the instructor said. ''He may not be dead.'' Such...

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Hundreds of abortion rights supporters were expected this afternoon at a Capitol rally. Gov. Jennifer Granholm was to address the group as part of the Michigan March for Choice Day of Action. "Her message is that extreme legislative measures that seek to overturn Roe v. Wade will not happen on her watch," spokeswoman Liz Boyd said. The rally begins at 3:30 p.m. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, also was scheduled to speak. The event comes the day before Right to Life of Michigan holds its annual legislative day in Lansing. A large majority of state lawmakers oppose abortion....

Act No. 105 Public Acts of 2006 Approved by the Governor April 7, 2006 Filed with the Secretary of State April 7, 2006 EFFECTIVE DATE: April 7, 2006 STATE OF MICHIGAN 93RD LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION OF 2006 Introduced by Reps. Pastor and Gosselin ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4161 AN ACT to amend 1996 PA 305, entitled "An act to prescribe procedures for and the contents of acknowledgments of parentage; to state the effects of those acknowledgments; to provide procedures and criteria for revoking acknowledgments; and to prescribe powers and duties of certain state officers and employees," by amending sections 6...

Travis Holmes is a teenage hunter, a rarity in Michigan and many other states these days. Holmes, 15, says he gets a mixed reaction when he tells his DeWitt High School classmates how he enjoys hunting deer and small game such as squirrels. "Sometimes I get the stare of evil," Holmes said. "Sometimes I get a look of awe or amazement. And there are times I get no reaction at all." The ever-growing list of academic pursuits, sports, video games and other hobbies available to teens today has left Holmes with relatively few hunting buddies his own age. But Michigan's...

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, collected more than $1 million for her re-election campaign during the first three months of 2006, padding her fundraising lead over three Republicans hoping to defeat her later this year. Stabenow had nearly $6.3 million at her disposal through the end of March. She raised $1.02 million during the period ended March 31 and spent $408,655. "We're very happy with the way her fundraising has gone," said Stabenow campaign manager Tom Russell. "She's on pace to have the funds that she needs in the campaign." Three Republicans are seeking the nomination in the Aug. 8 primary:...

EATON RAPIDS TOWNSHIP - Law enforcement officials in two counties are investigating whether a human skull found in the Grand River is that of Leon Ward Lockwood or Phuong Thanh Tran. The remains of Lockwood, the stepson of Jim Cash, a well-known East Lansing screenwriter and Michigan State University professor, were found last June in the Red Cedar River near Webberville in Ingham County - about 30 miles from where the skull was found. Tran’s decapitated body was found in a sport utility vehicle parked in the driveway of his parents’ Delhi Township home in Ingham County in December. Two...

The leader of the Clergy Forum of Greater Lansing - a group of 24 local black pastors - asked this morning for an extensive investigation into Eaton County sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Lutz and all his cases involving African Americans. Melvin Jones, president of the group, was surrounded by about six pastors in front of West Town Plaza in Delta Township - where Lutz allegedly shot himself in the arm March 20, according to authorities. He blamed the incident on a fictitious black man. "We believe that the delicate balance of community trust has been broken by this incident and that...

SUPERIOR TWP. - First there were piles of skinned animals, mostly foxes and coyotes, which turned up on the edges of dirt roads in this semi-rural community outside Ann Arbor. Though gruesome, they looked like little more than the work of a sloppy trapper too lazy to properly dispose of the carcasses. Things took a shocking turn on March 16, when what appeared to be someone's pet was found along with some skinned coyotes. The female rottweiler had been decapitated and its feet were bound with duct tape. Since then, eight more dead dogs, including three without heads, have been...

LANSING - Labor union leaders were poised to claim victory when Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation to boost the minimum wage for the first time in nine years. Granholm was scheduled to sign the bill in her ceremonial office in the state Capitol on Tuesday morning, raising the minimum hourly rate to $6.95 in October. Michigan's minimum wage now stands at $5.15 an hour, identical with the federal minimum wage. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum. The legislation calls for the minimum hourly rate to rise to $7.15 an hour in...

A teenager was shot Monday afternoon after he was arguing over tater tots with another teen, San Antonio Police said. The shooting happened close to 5 p.m. at the Spring Hill Apartments off Raybon on the northeast side. Neighbors told police the uncle of one of the boys told the teens to stop fighting. They were ready to stop, but investigators said a 20-year-old man would not let them. “Another person out here in this apartment complex, I think wanted to see the young boys continue fighting,” Sgt. Rudy Cran with SAPD said. The man then walked into a nearby...

Michigan's Department of Human Services is proposing new administrative rules for an industry that cares for 50,000-plus state residents. But are the proposed rules intended to help patients -- or unionize 5,000 adult foster care and home-for-the-aged facilities? Opposition to the rules' change has been mounting since last summer, when the rules were first proposed. Last week the political fat hit the fire when Senate Republicans introduced legislation to stop the Granholm administration from imposing the rules. That set up a clear test of legislative and executive authority. Ordinarily, the executive branch comes up with the rules to implement laws...

WASHINGTON - Michigan's manufacturers won't get much help from the federal government next year if President Bush's proposed 2007 budget wins approval from Congress, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Monday. Granholm, speaking at the Washington offices of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, blasted Bush's plan to cut funding for federal programs that help manufacturers compete globally. She was joined by another Democratic governor, Bill Richardson of New Mexico. Granholm complained that the president hasn't done enough to stop countries such as China and Japan from manipulating their currencies to make their goods cheaper than those made...