A 16-year-old Walled Lake resident was convicted in Oakland County Circuit Court on Monday, Dec. 12 in the stabbing death of another teenager. Leonard White was found guilty by a jury of involuntary manslaughter in the June 4 death of 17-year-old Walled Lake resident Jonathan Rickman. However, White was found not guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. The suspect was originally charged with open murder and assault with a dangerous weapon on June 6. [...]

The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget at a special budget meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7 and at the board’s regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 12, but the approval process was not without controversy. At the Dec. 7 budget meeting, the general fund budget was approved by a 5-2 vote, with Clerk Cathy Shaughnessy and Trustee Larry Brown voting against the spending plan, objecting to the elimination of [...]

The Orchard Lake City Council will be mulling over a significant overhaul of its animal control ordinance at its Monday, Dec. 19 meeting. “Right now we address just dog control — not cats or exotic animals, for example,” said Director of City Services Gerry McCallum. “So now it’s being expanded under an animal ordinance to be more detailed and comprehensive.” If passed, the ordinance that mimics much of Waterford Township’s exotic animal rules would address [...]

There are currently no plans for the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office to authorize charges in the alleged hazing of a Walled Lake Western football player because of a lack of sufficient evidence, but the Wixom Police Department is continuing with an investigation. According to Paul Walton, chief assistant in the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, this isn’t an indication that the case is closed. According to a Wixom police report filed by the alleged victim’s mother, [...]

White Lake Township Treasurer Forrest J. Brendel has put in a request to state Sen. Mike Kowall (R-Commerce, Highland, Milford, Walled Lake, Wixom, Wolverine Lake, White Lake, Orchard Lake, West Bloomfield) to seek a legal opinion from the office of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on whether Brendel is able to simultaneously hold the township treasurer and cemetery sexton positions. It’s been argued that Brendel’s holding of the two positions at the same time may [...]

The Walled Lake Consolidated School District Board of Education will be holding a special redistricting meeting tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Educational Services Board Room. With the closing of Maple and Twin Beach elementaries looming at the end of the current school year, the time has come for the district to put together the pieces a redistricting plan. “It’s like a puzzle,” said Walled Lake Schools Director of Community Relations Judy [...]

County Republicans are taking their case to the state Supreme Court against a ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals last month upholding the constitutionality of county Democrats’ adopted district lines for the Board of Commissioners. County Republican Party Chairman Jim Thienel said he expects legal counsel in the lawsuit — filed on behalf of Oakland County Commissioner David Potts (R-Birmingham); Janice Daniels, who was elected as Troy’s mayor in November; and Mary Decuir — [...]

A Republican state lawmaker from Oxford Township has successfully pushed legislation through the state House of Representatives that would effectively bring Oakland County back to the drawing board when it comes to the redistricting process for new Board of Commissioners districts, as well as reduce the county’s governing body from 25 commissioners to no more than 21. With House Bill (HB) 5187, sponsored by state Rep. Bradford Jacobsen (R-Oxford), a former county commissioner, Democrats in [...]

Lisa Brown has reason to smile since an Oakland County Circuit Court judge has granted a motion for summary disposition of recall petition language that was previously approved by the Oakland County Elections Commission, effectively meaning that Democratic lawmaker representing West Bloomfield, Commerce and Wolverine Lake can breathe easy for the time being about the security of her job. On Wednesday, Dec. 7, Circuit Court Judge Martha Anderson ruled in favor of a motion by [...]

The former chairman of the Oakland County Democratic Party was sentenced to 12 months of probation on six charges on Wednesday, Dec. 7, by Circuit Court Judge James Alexander, according to staff in the judge’s office. Michael McGuinness pleaded no contest in October to three counts of uttering and publishing and three counts of falsely swearing on a legal document to register people to vote, all of which stemmed from the so-called “Tea Party” scandal, [...]