I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Adrian Hill, a sex offender convicted of soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of failure to register with the state. The charge is a misdemeanor.
Hill, police say, failed to register as a sex offender from January 2007 until his early April arrest. He is now properly registered as living in the city of Jackson, officials there say.
Until his arrest in April, Hill had been one of Lansing’s most sought sex offender absconders. Lansing Police had sought a warrant for his arrest in October of 2009, but it was a Michigan Messenger investigation and information gleaned from Hill’s Facebook profile which lead to his April 7 arrest in Jackson.
The case has sent policy makers scrambling to address issues Hill’s case brought to light. State Rep. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) announced he would introduce legislation that would make it a felony for anyone convicted of sex crimes against children or violent sexual crimes to fail to register. Jones has requested language for legislation and is waiting on a draft bill to introduce. The Lansing City Council Public Safety Committee demanded a policy to prevent registered sex offenders from renting city facilities. That policy is currently under review in the city.
Hill had been ordered to register on the list until 2030 following his 2005 conviction of accosting or soliciting a minor for immoral purposes. Ingham County Court records show Hill communicated with a person he believed was 13-year-old Mary Laws. Laws turned out to be a police officer. During the communications with “Laws” Hill sent numerous sexually explicit emails, and after two months arranged to meet the teenager in a local park for oral sex. He was arrested by officers from the City of Lansing and the Michigan State Police.
The 2005 conviction was not Hill’s first brush with the court system. Court records show he was convicted in1990 in Eaton county on one count of attempted embezzlement, in 1995 in Ingham County on one count of armed robbery, as well as misdemeanor disorderly charges in 2000 and domestic violence charges in 2004 in Lansing’s 54-A District Court.
Lansing District Court Judge Louise Alderson accepted Hill’s guilty plea Tuesday morning. She sentenced him to 93 days in jail, with 10 days credit. She suspended the remaining 83 days, pending Hill’s successful completion of a nine month term of probation. Hill was also ordered to pay over $500 in court fees and fines, and is expected to pay $30 a month during his probation.
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