Tagged: Oakland County

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard says releasing more than 200 prisoners from the overcrowded  County Jail could have been avoided,  if judges had used alternative sentencing.

He  tells The Detroit News he sent a letter to judges earlier this month, notifying them of the "jail emergency and asking for cooperation to help avoid it."

Michigan law requires sentence reductions if prisoners don't pose a high risk.

Bouchard says beds are being used by inmates who don't need to be in jail, and could have been punished differently, avoiding the problem.

Some officials from Oakland County are trying to turn up the heat on Lansing to pay for a special election.

That election was called to replace Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, who resigned last month.

Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley called for the September 5th special election to fill out just the few remaining weeks of McCotter’s term. State officials maintain it’s required by law.

But that leaves local governments in suburban Detroit’s 11th district to pick up the tab.

Last Tuesday, the Detroit Institute of Arts got a major vote of confidence from area voters when they approved a millage request to fund the museum. Taxpayer support means the museum will have a stable source of funding for the next ten years.

The next day, the museum was free to the residents in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

Oakland County's chief executive is still recuperating from surgery after suffering serous injuries from an auto accident last Friday afternoon.

Initial reports indicate he and his driver were not wearing seat belts.

From Oakland County's Daily Tribune:

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and his driver, James Cram, were not wearing seat belts at the time of a serious car crash Friday, according to Auburn Hills Police Department’s preliminary findings.

The Tribune reports Patterson suffered from "two broken wrists, broken ribs, a gash to the head and a broken femur." He underwent more surgery yesterday at McLaren Oakland Hospital.

The office of L. Brooks Patterson said in a statement that Patterson was resting comfortably and doctors reported that the surgery went well.

Patterson's leased Chrysler 300 was being driven by a 60-year-old former state police trooper, James Cram, who suffered serious injuries.

The crash is still under investigation.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Oakland County's top elected official is in stable condition after suffering several broken bones and a gash to his scalp in a two-car crash in suburban Detroit.

Officials at McLaren Health Center in Pontiac say 74-year-old L. Brooks Patterson remained hospitalized Saturday, one day after the car he was riding in collided with another vehicle in Auburn Hills.

Patterson underwent surgery Friday night to repair broken bones.

Dr. Tressa Gardner, director of emergency services at McLaren, tells The Detroit News that Patterson is "doing great."

Oakland County health officials say they've received Michigan Department of Community Health confirmation of West Nile virus in a 44-year-old man, the first such case reported in the state this year.

Today, the Oakland County Health Division announced that the man was hospitalized earlier this month after showing symptoms and he is now at home recovering.

On July 3, the MDCH announced it detected the virus in a mosquito pool sample in Saginaw County, and a wild turkey in Washtenaw County.

Oakland County’s economy had a “red hot” year in 2011. That’s according to a report by economists at the University of Michigan.

The county added more than 23,426 jobs last year. The economists who prepared the report say they expect the recovery to continue in the next three years – although at a more modest clip.