Sexual harassment, misused resources detailed in report about Macomb Co. Prosecutor
Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido is believed to have made sexual, inappropriate comments and/or innuendos to women, as well as misused county resources for personal and campaign-type reasons, as documented in an independent investigation into his workplace conduct. News of the report, produced by the law firm Butzel Long, was first reported by the Detroit Free Press.
mlive.comMichigan teacher arrested for allegedly making threats against her own school
ST CLAIR SHORES, MI -- A teacher who works at Jefferson Middle School has been arrested and charged with one count of false report or threat of terrorism. According to the Associated Press, Johnna Rhone -- a 59-year-old creative arts teacher -- is accused of making at least three threats against the school in the last week. At least three handwritten notes were discovered in the school, each involving threatening language. Macomb County prosecutor Pete Lucido said one of the notes read: “Start break early. Just don’t be in the hall after lunch.
mlive.comTeacher charged with making false threats at her school says, “not true” in court
59-year-old Johnna Rhone was an art teacher at Jefferson Middle School in St. Clair Shores for 21 years. Rhone is charged with making a false threat of terrorism, a 20-year felony. Somebody who's maybe desperate. Boom, get it?”Defense Attorney Andrew Leone told the judge, Rhone has no criminal record and is pleading not guilty. If she gets out on bond, she is not to have any contact with anyone from Jefferson Middle School.
wxyz.comDoug Wozniak wins Republican primary in open Macomb County state Senate seat
State Rep. Doug Wozniak, R-Shelby Township, came out the victor Tuesday in the Republican primary for a special election in the state Senate’s 8th District. Wozniak defeated fellow state Rep. Pamela Hornberger, R-Chesterfield Township, and Terence Mekoski in the primary election, taking 35.7% of the vote with 100% of precincts reporting, per unofficial results. The district, which covers northern and coastal Macomb County, leans Republican, making Wozniak the favorite when he runs against Democrat Martin Genter in the November general election. The seat was previously held by former Sen. Pete Lucido, who left the Senate after he was elected Macomb County Prosecutor last fall. The 28th district trends Republican and was vacated by former Sen. Peter MacGregor, who left the seat to become Kent County Treasurer.
mlive.comFew have faith in the Michigan Legislature’s sexual harassment and discrimination policies. Can that be fixed?
The “workplace” might be the Capitol, a lawmaker’s Lansing or district office, a conference, an extracurricular event, a downtown bar. And the top bosses — lawmakers — can’t be fired outright even if they’re found in violation of policy. Lucido, who left the Senate in December 2020 after winning election for Macomb County Prosecutor, continues to deny that he harassed anyone. Following the Lucido investigation, Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, launched a bipartisan workgroup aimed at improving the Senate’s policy. The investigation into her complaint found no laws had been broken, she said, and she no longer works in Michigan.
mlive.comMichigan prosecutors could get $1.25M to investigate Whitmer’s nursing home policies under Senate-passed bill
Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies in nursing homes, according to a Michigan Senate bill passed Thursday. The appropriation is another step for Senate Republicans to try to link Whitmer to deaths in nursing homes or some sort of data cover-up. Read more: Republicans look for smoking gun on Whitmer’s handling of coronavirus in nursing homes. One county prosecutor has already expressed the desire to investigate nursing home policies. The proposed spending allows for individual grants up to $250,000 for local prosecutors to look into nursing homes, and it would require them to provide quarterly reports to the Legislature.
mlive.comMacomb County prosecutor calls for committee to review nursing home deaths
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Macomb County prosecutor and former Michigan House Rep. Pete Lucido said his office is flooded with calls from families who said their perfectly-health loved-ones died in nursing homes. READ: Michigan AG looks into requests to investigate state nursing home policyHe said they’ve told him they are unable to get any answers from nursing homes or from the state about what has happened. Some believe their deaths may have been connected to a nursing home policy put in place by Gov. Initially, patients who tested positive for COVID were placed in the same facility with patients who did not have COVID. The report, released by the Center for Health and Research Transformation (CHRT), evaluated the state’s regional nursing home hub strategy, comparing the approach to outcomes in other states.
Local 4 News at 5 -- March 11, 2021
Here’s what you missed on Local 4 News at 5:Macomb County prosecutor calls for committee to review nursing home deathsMacomb County prosecutor and former Michigan House Rep. Pete Lucido said his office is flooded with calls from families who said their perfectly-health loved-ones died in nursing homes.
Macomb prosecutor outlines nursing home wrongful death complaint procedures amid threat to charge Whitmer
Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido is calling on family members of nursing home residents to come forward if they’ve lost a loved one during the pandemic. MACOMB — Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido is calling on family members of nursing home residents to come forward if they’ve lost a loved one during the pandemic. Lucido walked people through how to submit a wrongful death complaint to local police in an effort to build a possible criminal case against Governor Whitmer. As prosecutor, he’s trying to build a criminal case for possible charges of willful neglect of duty or reckless endangerment. “The administration’s policies carefully tracked CDC guidance on nursing homes, and we prioritized testing of nursing home residents and staff to save lives,” the statement said.
arabamericannews.comDetroit Will Breathe calls on Macomb County prosecutor to drop charges against protestors
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – Detroit Will Breathe is calling on the Macomb County prosecutor to drop felony charges against five people arrested during a protest in October. “We are prepared to keep showing up and demanding accountability,” said Detroit Will Breathe organizer Sammie Lewis. Shelby Township police said they made arrests after marchers disobeyed orders to remain on the sidewalk and started blocking traffic. “At the end of the day, those who break the law should pay for their crimes, and those that don’t break the law will never get charged,” said Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido. Detroit Will Breathe said it was protesting in Shelby Township after Police Chief Robert Shelide posted inflammatory comments against Black Lives Matter protestors.
Macomb County prosecutor considering more charges against woman facing misdemeanor in death of granddaughter
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido is considering additional charges against a woman who was charged with a misdemeanor in the death of her granddaughter. Nichole Leas, 40, of Warren was charged with a moving violation causing death in October of last year in the death of her granddaughter. According to Lucido, one or more additional charges are being considered. While this is a heartbreaking situation, Michigan does not have a per se law pertaining to the amount of marijuana in a person’s system, as it does with alcohol. Macomb County Prosecutor Peter LucidoREAD: More Macomb County news
What to know as Michigan prepares to launch online gambling and sports betting
This week, the Michigan Gaming Control Board approved provisional licenses for 15 platform providers that aim to run online gambling and sports betting operations for the state’s commercial and tribal casinos. Online wagering imminent in Michigan as lawmakers prepare to take up licensing rulesA year in the makingMichigan residents can currently play Michigan Lottery games online. Provisional licenses approvedIn a Wednesday statement, Michigan Gaming Control Board Executive Director Richard Kalm announced 15 provisional licenses for online gaming and sports betting platform providers were approved. The official launch date for online gambling and betting in Michigan depends on how quickly platform providers can fulfill the regulatory requirements, Kalm said. Read more on MLive:Online wagering imminent in Michigan as lawmakers prepare to take up licensing rulesWith Michigan casinos operating at limited capacity, state officials look to move up start of online bettingMichigan poised to legalize online gambling, sports bettingSports betting, online gambling legalized in Michigan
mlive.comOnline wagering imminent in Michigan as lawmakers prepare to take up licensing rules
Related: Sports betting, online gambling legalized in MichiganSeveral casino operators in Michigan have already announced deals with their preferred vendors to roll out online gaming options, and the Michigan Gaming Control Board submitted draft administrative rules for approval in October. Before the administration can begin issuing licenses, however, those rules go to the legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, or JCAR. How about if we speed the sand up?”Initially, the gaming control board’s hope was to get the online gaming industry up and running by mid-November. But JCAR didn’t take up the proposed rules before the legislature’s scheduled fall break, meaning online gaming and sportsbooks from Michigan casinos won’t go live until December or early 2021. Read more on MLive:With Michigan casinos operating at limited capacity, state officials look to move up start of online bettingMichigan poised to legalize online gambling, sports bettingSports betting, online gambling legalized in Michigan
mlive.comMitigating COVID-19 surge at center of lame-duck session at Michigan Capitol
For the final month of 2020, there appears to be a single agenda for both Michigan Republicans and Democrats inside the Capitol: Addressing the statewide surge of COVID-19. Sen. Pete Lucido, R-Shelby Township, said he doesn’t expect much lame-duck activity beyond getting additional COVID-19 response legislation through both chambers before the new session begins. Frederick also sees room to approve a longer-term COVID-19 plan that charges local health departments with ensuring their respective counties stay below certain health metrics. Without communication between Republican lawmakers and Whitmer, he cautioned, there’s fear that any surge mitigation bills the legislature puts forward won’t see her signature. Since then, the only collaboration between Whitmer’s office and Republican lawmakers has been some data-sharing, said Rep. Graham Filler, R-DeWitt.
mlive.comMichigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defends veto of nursing home bill
LANSING, Mich. More than 2,000 of the coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in Michigan have occurred in nursing homes. That puts Michigan in, or near, the top 10 in the nation in nursing home fatalities. Gretchen Whitmer about it on Tuesday, she pushed back on the suggestion that Michigan handled the virus badly when it comes to nursing homes. READ: Michigan governor vetoes nursing home bill calling it a political gameI think I would challenge you on the statement you just made, Whitmer said. Hes the one who brought forth the bill Whitmer vetoed.
Michigan lawmakers pass resolutions against Gov. Whitmers nursing home policy
Gretchen Whitmers nursing home policy, which commingles patients who test positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) with healthy residents. READ: Whitmer defends nursing home policyOn Thursday, members of the Michigan House and Senate passed resolutions calling on Whitmer to end her policy. During Thursdays hearing, Dr. Rebecca Cope spoke with the Senate Health Policy Committee about this topic. Officials with the Michigan Health Department said more than one-third of the states nearly 6,000 coronavirus deaths came from nursing homes. Lucidos bill looks to end regional hubs and prevent COVID-19 patients from entering nursing homes.
Michigan’s policy of housing COVID-19 nursing home patients with uninfected patients comes under scrutiny
LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s emergency policy of housing positive coronavirus (COVID-19) nursing home patients in nursing homes with COVID-19 negative patients is coming under scrutiny in Lansing. Whitmer’s nursing home executive orderThe Senate COVID-19 oversight committee had many questions for the Health and Human Services Department about Michigan Gov. Only about half of the state’s nursing homes have been inspected since the policy went into effect last month. HHS Director Robert Gordon originally intended to use the TCF Center instead of the regional hubs -- but then opted out. “I’m appalled of the fact somebody wasn’t at each of these facilities before any COVID-19 patients entered these facilities to possibly infect others," Lucido said.
Michigan’s policy of housing COVID-19 nursing home patients with uninfected patients comes under scrutiny
Michigan’s policy of housing COVID-19 nursing home patients with uninfected patients comes under scrutinyPublished: May 13, 2020, 6:14 pmMichigan’s emergency policy of housing positive coronavirus (COVID-19) nursing home patients in nursing homes with COVID-19 negative patients is coming under scrutiny in Lansing.