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Law
1:25 pm
Tue November 13, 2012

Tribe asks federal court to dismiss "meritless" state lawsuit to block Lansing casino

Tribe asks federal court to dismiss "meritless" state lawsuit to block Lansing casino

Credit Steve Carmody/Michigan Radio
Artist's conception of the proposed Kewadin Lansing casino

The Upper Peninsula Native American Tribe says a lawsuit trying to prevent it from building a casino in Lansing is “utterly without merit”.

Michigan’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit in September challenging the right of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians to build a casino in downtown Lansing.

Attorney General Bill Schuette says the casino project would violate federal law, as well as a gaming compact with the state.

But in its response to the state’s lawsuit this week, the tribe describes the state’s case as “meritless”.

11:01 am
Tue November 13, 2012

Woman accused of stealing from the Detroit pension fund surrenders

Lead in text: 
Faberge eggs, Rodin sculptures, and a mountainside resort in Costa Rica. And now bribe money from a heroin dealer. The plot behind the theft of Detroit pension fund money thickens. And now that Kastenes has surrendered, more answers are likely to come.
Detroit - A fugitive businesswoman accused of stealing $5 million from a Detroit pension fund - and blowing the cash on exotic art and jewelry - turned herself in Tuesday, ending an eight-month manhunt stretching from Detroit to the Caribbean. Teresa Kastanes was escorted off the plane by agents from the Office of Homeland Security at 5:43 a.m.
Law
1:22 pm
Mon November 12, 2012

Michigan mom asks for death benefits for in-vitro twins conceived after father's death

Michigan mom asks for death benefits for in-vitro twins conceived after father's death

Credit user mperloe / YouTube
Cells multiplying after in-vitro fertilization.

A Michigan mother whose twins were conceived using  in-vitro technology after their father died is asking the state Supreme Court to allow the children to get death benefits and inheritance rights.

Pam and Jeff Mattison had a daughter using in-vitro fertilization, and wanted more children.

But Jeff Mattison was ill, and died just before the procedure was performed again.

Pam Mattison had a twin boy and girl nine months after her husband died. She applied for Social Security benefits for the twins, but was denied.

Victor Bland is Mattison's attorney.

Crime
1:00 pm
Mon November 12, 2012

Man who opened fire in police station was a veteran

Man who opened fire in police station was a veteran

Yesterday, on Veterans Day, Southfield police say a man entered a police station in the Detroit suburb and opened fire.

Yesterday's first AP report said the man and an officer were wounded in the shootout:

Southfield police say a man entered a police station in the Detroit suburb and opened fire, then was wounded in an exchange of shots with an officer who also was hit.

Police tell WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV that the shooting happened Sunday afternoon in the Detroit suburb. They say the wounded officer and the suspect are in stable condition.

Now we learn that the man who entered the station was a veteran and he was killed in the shootout.

The 64-year old man was identified as Harold J. Collins of Southfield.

More from MLive

Collins was shot several times and killed.

Investigators identified Collins as a military veteran. He was in poor health and had "serious internal issues," Southfield Police Chief Eric Lawson said Monday.

Lawson was unsure in what branch of the military Collins served. He  would "not speculate" on whether that played a role in the shooting or timing.

The Detroit Free Press has more details on how the shooting occurred.

At 2:20 p.m. on Sunday, police said Collins left his white Dodge Caliber and walked into the department lobby in plain clothes. Hawkins said he approached the information desk, which is behind protective glass, and gave no answer when the officer behind the glass greeted him.

“There was nothing to alert any of our staff that anything unusual was about to happen,” said Hawkins.

The Free Press reports officers are still trying to reach Collins' family members.

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