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.
A 27-year-old Madison Heights woman is alleging that while staying in an East Tawas hotel Sept. 8, she was subjected to antigay slurs, then choked by a male assailant.
The woman, who has agreed to an interview with the Messenger Monday morning, has reported the incident to the Triangle Foundation, director of victim services Melissa Pope said.
The Triangle Foundation is a statewide LBGT organization that monitors and reports on hate crimes in Michigan.
Continued -Pope said the victim was at the Tawas Bay Beach Resort in East Tawas as part of a large softball tournament. The victim was in the bar with other women, and the bartender called last call. The women invited four men to have a shot with them, Pope said, then they left.
The women went down to the beach, Pope said, and the men followed. They began to shout antigay slurs at them. The women then attempted to go to the hotel to complain, but were allegedly stopped by the alleged assailants.
Pope said the victim asked one of the assailants “what his problem was” at which point, Pope said, the alleged assailant attacked her and began choking her.
Pope said the attack left bruises on the victims throat and the hotel bartender witnessed the attack.
The victim asked the hotel to call the police, Pope said. The hotel, according to the victim, said they had been called. Pope said the victim and her friends waited for an unspecified time, and when no officer responded, they called the police themselves.
Pope said the police have since confirmed the victim’s call was the only call the police had received about the incident.
Police took a report, but did not arrest anyone, as far as Pope knows.
The following morning, the victim said she saw the assailant in the hotel, and complained to management.
Pope said the victim claimed to speak to a woman who identified herself as the owner or the owner’s wife. The victim told Triangle her complaint was greeted with a claim the man was a paying customer just as she was, and if she felt unsafe she should leave.
Calls to both The Tawas Bay Beach Resort and the East Tawas Police Chief Dennis Frank were not immediately returned Sunday night.
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