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.
While attention in Calhoun county has been focused on the massive oil spill in Marshall, on the same day as the leak, July 25, a 45-year-old Battle Creek man was brutally stabbed in Leila Arboretum.
Now Battle Creek police say the attack was likely a hate crime, reports the Battle Creek Enquirer. Investigators have informed the FBI of the case.
Here’s what is known now. The victim met the man — how is still unknown — and says he was forced to drive the man to Leila Arboretum, a park in Battle Creek. Once in the park, the victim was stabbed multiple times in the head and neck.
The victim’s screams drew the attention of a witness who was in the park. The witness went to the site of the attack, and the attacker told the witness the situation was a “domestic dispute,” reports the Enquirer. Shortly after this, the attacker fled in the victim’s car. The car has not been recovered, but the victim’s wallet and checkbook have allegedly turned up in Charlotte, a small town 22 miles north of Battle Creek in Eaton County.
Police believe the attack might be a hate crime because on July 26, the day after the stabbing, an anonymous post appeared on Craigslist. The post, titled “I warned you, you dumb queer,” included the following statement, “I e-mailed and said I have something … but you did not think it was a knife did you. Now you are in the hospital and your car is in the river. I warned you.”
Once that information appeared in the Enquirer, a second anonymous post appeared on Craigslist. This time the poster denied responsibility in the assault.
The post was filled with anti-gay slurs and references to AIDS. The writer claims that the previous post was “to keep the fags out of the parks, and I am the one that did it. It is not safe to take children to parks or for a walk in the woods without running into a dick sucking party.”
The post has since been removed from the site.
Police continue to investigate the attack. While Michigan has no hate crimes law, a federal law signed by President Barack Obama could be used to prosecute a suspect if investigators and the FBI believe the evidence shows the assault was a hate crime.
Equality Michigan has issued a series of safety guidelines in response to the attack. Here are those guidelines:
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