Houghton County authorities are reporting the seizure of a meth lab in Chassell Township this weekend. Deputies with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department discovered evidence of a meth lab and a small production operation at a vacant trailer yesterday afternoon. A search warrant was executed at the property and one man was taken into custody. No name has been released pending formal arraignment of the suspect and as the investigation continuing.
The Marquette Area Public Schools Board of Education is holding a public hearing tonight on it’s budget and proposed cuts for the upcoming fiscal year. The district is faced with making 2-point-4 million dollars in cuts to eliminate a deficit for the 2012-2013 school year. School officials say declining enrollment and increasing cuts in state funding have resulted in the large deficit. Tonight’s meeting is set for 5:30pm in room 210 of the Graveraet School.
The Marquette City Commission is holding a pair of public hearings tonight on two proposals to re-purpose and develop some downtown properties. The first hearing will focus on a proposal by the Verida Group for a mixed-use development at 857 W. Washington Street, the site of the Former Sara Lee Bakery. The 31-million dollar development will include removal of the former bakery and the constructing three buildings in four phases including underground parking. The buildings will include approximately 66,000 square feet of commercial space, 24,000 square feet of retail space. and 36,000 square Feet of residential space. The second hearing will discuss plans by the Marquette Food Co-op to develop the former Coney Joint restaurant and the adjacent retail building at 500 West Washington street into a new store location and test kitchen. Tonight’s meeting begins at 7 o’clock at Commission Chambers at City Hall in Marquette.
Northern Michigan University officials say the demolition of Carey Hall has begun today on campus with initial site preparation and will last about six weeks. Working hours for the project will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, with the exception of the July 4th holiday and the Board of Trustees meetings scheduled for July 11-th and 12-th. The former building site will be restored to a grassy area. All work is currently scheduled to be done by Friday, August 3rd.
Governor Rick Snyder has ordered U.S. Flags throughout the state to be lowered to half-staff tomorrow in honor of a Flint soldier killed in Afghanistan. Army Sergeant Joseph Lilly died June 14th of wounds suffered two days earlier when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in Kandahar Province. The 25-year old Lilly was a combat engineer assigned to the 18th engineer company, 1st battalion, 37th field artillery regiment, 3rd stryker brigade combat team, 2nd infantry division, joint base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Flags should be returned to full-staff on Wednesday.
