A third interchange on Interstate 75 may be on the way to Gaylord, the second-fastest growing community in Michigan. The Northeast Michigan Council of Governments this summer published a transportation study about additional east-west connectors for Gaylord, which is bisected by the north-south interstate and has only two points in the area to cross to the other side. "We've learned that, indeed, we have some traffic problems," said Jeff Ratcliffe, executive director of the Otsego County Economic Alliance. The study identifies the two major problem areas as the two interchanges with I-75.The largest problem is at the interchange with M-32, which also is Main Street. During busy drive times each day, traffic backs up with motorists and tractor-trailers waiting to get on and off the interstate.The other problem area is on the southern side of town, where the I-75 interchange meets with Otsego Avenue, also known as the I-75 Business Loop. Traffic there also tends to clog during rush hours.
Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle on Tuesday authorized negligent homicide charges against Kalkaska's Timothy Schubert, 37, for allegedly causing the South Airport Road accident that killed Adrian Morris and Christan DeWitt, students at Traverse City West Senior High. Morris, 17, and DeWitt, 16, were traveling in Morris' GEO Prizm on Aug. 25 when it was broadsided by Schubert's SUV near Grand Traverse Crossing. Also traveling in the Prizm was Ivy Worm, 14, who sustained minor injuries.
A car full of five 15- and 16-year-olds careened off a remote road near Mesick and struck several trees - killing two of the teenagers and injuring the other three. Sixteen-year-old driver Daniel Dexter Lylo of Mesick and passenger Beth Elayne Hartsock, 15, of Evart, died in the single-car crash in Springville Township just after midnight Saturday, the Cadillac post of the Michigan State Police reported.
The teens were headed north on Hodenpyle Road, south of M-115, in a 1995 Chrysler four-door car in a remote area of Springville Township, said Sgt. Malcolm Irwin. The car ran off the road and struck several trees about 12:45 a.m., police said. Three of the passengers, KD Lee Maxwell, 15, of Reed City; John Travis Baldwin, 15, of Mesick; and Craig Charles Blodgett, 16, of Leland, were taken to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. A Munson nursing supervisor said Maxwell and Baldwin were listed in serious condition Saturday evening. Blodgett was listed in fair condition. Police continue to investigate the accident.
A 31-year-old Detroit woman and a 3-week-old baby boy were killed in a car accident on US-131 near Kalkaska. Tabitha Ann Hendon, 31, of Detroit and infant Oroscio Sotelo, also of Detroit, were pronounced dead at the scene of a two-car crash last Sunday, said the Kalkaska County Sheriff's Office. The accident occurred when William Hardin Winn, 82, who was traveling north on US-131, allegedly pulled into the southbound lane in an attempt to pass another car. Winn's car collided with the driver's side of Hendon's car, which she was driving south on US-131. Winn, of Charlevoix and passenger June Winn, 83, were transported to Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. They were both listed in fair condition Monday, said a Munson nursing supervisor.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff Scott Fewins says the first successful use of spiked vehicle "stop sticks" by his department led to the arrest of a Grawn man police found covered in blood.
Fewins said a sheriff's deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by James Joseph Dunevant, 29, just after 10 p.m. Monday in East Bay Township after he was allegedly spotted driving erratically. Dunevant apparently pulled over on Hammond Road, but after being boxed in by police, he allegedly backed into one of the patrol cars before taking off again, Fewins said. Fewins said during the second chase a lieutenant was able to employ the stop sticks on Arbutus Hill Road. The device punctured the tires of Dunevant's vehicle and brought it to a stop. Sheriff's officials say when Dunevant was taken into custody he and the car were covered in blood. Fewins said Dunevant had a cut on his hand, but police still are investigating whether all the blood in the vehicle was Dunevant's and what caused the injury.
A 44-year-old Redford Township woman was killed last Sunday on southbound I-75 after she was tossed from her vehicle during an accident. Cheboygan Sheriff's Department officials say that Klara Wallace apparently lost control of her vehicle just after 6 p.m. while heading south on the interstate. The vehicle entered the median and rolled over several times, ejecting Wallace from the vehicle at the site, just south of Wolverine. Wallace, who apparently was not wearing her seat belt, died at Otsego Memorial Hospital.
Michelle Dukes, a passenger, suffered unknown injuries and was transported to Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey.
MILTON TOWNSHIP - An early morning car accident left one Antrim County man dead on Sunday. Antrim County Sheriff's Department officials are investigating the fatal crash that occurred on Campbell Road in Milton Township around 2:30 a.m. Upon arrival, deputies determined that the vehicle was traveling eastbound when it ran off the roadway and struck a tree. Police are withholding the name of the man, who was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
A 33-year-old Chesterfield man was killed when his snowmobile struck a tree in Otsego County.
Michigan State Police reported the victim, Kevin Zalenski, struck the tree last Sunday at a curved portion of the snowmobile trail in Hayes Township near the intersection of Northwoods Drive and Heatherwood Street.
Five inches of heavy, wet snow contributed to a three-car accident that left one dead, the Kalkaska County Sheriff's Department reported. The accident occurred on M-72 near Aller Road in Kalkaska Township at 2:19 p.m. last Sunday. The driver of the first car lost control, clipped a second car, then was hit on the passenger side by an oncoming car, sheriff's deputies reported. The passenger of the first car, a 26-year-old woman from South Lyon, was dead at the scene. The driver, her boyfriend, was transported to Munson Medical Center.
Prosecutors are waiting for results of a blood test to determine whether to charge a woman suspected of being under the influence of marijuana and causing an accident that killed one and injured seven. Under a law that took effect Oct. 1, it might not matter whether the woman was high at the time of the accident, only whether the test comes back positive for marijuana use, Grand Traverse Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle said. Angela Grierson, 28, of Mancelona, died in the accident on M-72 last Sunday afternoon. Seven others - including four children and the woman suspected of causing the accident - suffered serious injuries. The driver who police said caused the accident told police she smoked marijuana about four hours before the accident, LaBelle said. Her name is being withheld pending authorization of charges.
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