macomb county

FRASER, Mich. (AP) - It likely will take until Thanksgiving to repair damage from a broken sewer line that caused a football field-sized sinkhole on Christmas Eve north of Detroit.

Macomb County Public Works chief Candice Miller said Tuesday that the cost of the work would be determined Monday when a contract is awarded. 

Macomb County will inspect the entire pipe system surrounding a collapsed sewer line that turned into a massive sinkhole Christmas Eve.

The inspection will use cameras and other technologies to examine 17 miles of pipe in the Macomb Interceptor Drainage District.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller says doing a full inspection is the only way to know if there’s additional damage, and what the fixes might look like.

Macomb County officials are sounding the alarm about scheduled budget cuts for its mental health programs.

A changed state formula for distributing Medicaid funds has hit the county disproportionately hard. Medicaid “rebasing” has cut money for mental health services there by about $30 million in the past year.

John Kinch, director of Macomb County Community Mental Health, said those cuts to Macomb’s budget are staggered, with the final one kicking in April 1.

“And then starting April 1, it will be another $12.4 million,” Kinch said. “I can’t absorb $12.4 million.”

Macomb County officials say sediment has cut the flow of sewage through a collapsed sewer line that caused a massive sinkhole north of Detroit.

Approximately 500,000 Macomb County residents in 11 communities along the 15 Mile Road sewer line are being asked to reduce the amount of water going down their drains to help prevent the release of sewage into the Clinton River.

The federal investigation into corruption in Macomb county continues as a New Haven village trustee and a former village trustee are charged with bribery.

The Detroit Free Press reports that Trustee Christopher Craigmiles and former Trustee Brett Harris are accused of accepting $16,000 in bribes.

There are now a total of five county officials facing corruption charges in the federal probe.

Governor Snyder has declared a state of emergency for Macomb County, following a sewer collapse and sinkhole in Fraser on Christmas Eve.

The declaration should open up more state funding for fixing the sinkhole, which will likely run into the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Macomb County has declared a state of emergency following a sewer line collapse that caused a football field-sized sinkhole.

County Executive Mark Hackel made the declaration Thursday to Gov. Rick Snyder. The action was needed before the county can seek state and federal funding to cover some costs associated with the sinkhole. 

The sinkhole was discovered Dec. 24 north of Detroit in Fraser after a family awoke to find their home sinking. Their house and two others have been condemned. Officials also evacuated 19 other homes.

A massive sinkhole in central Macomb County is “an incredibly large challenge” with a “potentially incredibly expensive fix,” Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said Wednesday.

FBI agents have made another arrest in an ongoing investigation into widespread corruption in Macomb County.

Chesterfield Township Supervisor Michael Lovelock was arrested Thursday morning. Lovelock is accused of accepting more than $30,000 in cash bribes over the course of several years in exchange for helping a company secure a services contract with the township.

The mayor of Warren is defending a social media post that caused some panic and confusion among residents this week.

In a Facebook post late Wednesday, Jim Fouts referenced a “major environmental scandal brewing in Macomb County” that “could be a mini version of what happened in Flint.”

Following the post, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel says his office was flooded with calls about the safety of the area's drinking water.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Hackel scolded Fouts for stirring up panic.

After 24 years, Macomb County has a new public works commissioner: retiring Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller.

The race for that typically low-profile, decidedly un-glamorous job got nasty--and expensive—this year.

Democrat Anthony Marrocco has been Macomb’s public works commissioner for 24 years.

The job description is all about managing sewers and storm drains. But the commissioner also controls important construction permits, and some very large county contracts.

An FBI probe into Macomb County municipal corruption has netted another local elected official, and forced a major garbage company founder to resign.

Macomb Township trustee Clifford Freitas is the second local government official charged with bribery this month.

Frietas allegedly demanded more than $40,000 in bribes to help a waste hauler, Rizzo Environmental Services, get a favorable contract.

That happened despite the fact that Freitas worked for Rizzo, and was supposed to remove himself from any government business involving the company.

Next month, voters in four southeastern counties will decide if they want to pay a new tax to fund a regional public transportation plan.

The 20-year transit millage will generate about $3 billion to pay for expanded bus service and light-rail train connections. The 1.2 mill tax rate would cost the average taxpayer about $120 annually.

Ned Staebler is with ‘Citizens for Connecting our Communities”. He says the campaign is stepping up its efforts in the final weeks before the election.

An elected official from suburban Detroit faces a federal bribery charge, in what is apparently the first prosecution to emerge from a “long-running” investigation into alleged corruption in Macomb County.

Dean Reynolds is a Clinton Township Trustee. He’s accused of taking between $50,000-70,000 in bribes from a businessman who had a contract with the township.

“The evidence does not support a federal criminal civil rights prosecution.”

That’s what the government has told Macomb County officials after investigating the death of David Stojcevski.

Stojcevski died in 2014, after a 16-day stint in the Macomb County jail, where he had been serving 30 days on a reckless driving charge.

The cause of death: “acute withdrawal” from prescription drugs.

Harrowing video recorded in the run-up to his death showed Stojcevski behaving erratically and growing visibly emaciated during that time.

A pass through a full-body scanner similar to those at airport security checkpoints will soon be protocol for inmates entering the Macomb County jail.

The $202,000 scanner is part of a push to crack down on contraband in the facility.

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham says in recent months there's been an increase in drugs, weapons and other illegal items getting into the jail.

He says the scanner will let employees conduct more thorough searches of inmates.

The presidential candidates campaigning in Michigan Wednesday included Republican Marco Rubio, who made a stop at a Macomb County banquet hall.

The Florida Senator accused Republican front-runner Donald Trump of pulling an “elaborate con job” on voters.

He says this is no time to elect someone who “thinks the nuclear triad is a rock band from the eighties.”

“The world is a dangerous place. This is no time for irresponsibility or recklessness,” said Rubio, promising a “Reagan-style re-building of our military” if he’s elected.

Macomb County just had to give an armored military surplus vehicle back to the federal government.

But it’s about to get another, very similar one — from the federal government. And it may get a second one, too.

President Obama ordered local law enforcement agencies to return armored personnel carriers and other surplus military equipment received through defense department programs.

It was an effort to quell growing fears about militarized policing nationwide. But it sparked a fierce backlash from many local officials, including Macomb County’s.

A federal judge should soon decide if a wrongful death lawsuit against Macomb County officials goes to trial.

32-year-old David Stojcevski died of prescription drug withdrawal during a 16-day stay in the Macomb County jail in June 2014.

His suffering and death – captured on video monitors at the jail and released publicly last month – has drawn widespread attention and condemnation.

Macomb County officials say they’re being unfairly criticized for a jail inmate’s death.

County Executive Mark Hackel vigorously defended Sheriff Anthony Wickersham and jail staff on Thursday.

His comments came after the release last week of a harrowing video that showed David Stojcevski’s slow death in the Macomb County jail.

A horrific video showing a naked man slowly dying in a Macomb County jail cell is sparking local and national outrage.

The death of David Stojcevski brings into sharp focus the overlap between some issues that have drawn intense scrutiny recently: deaths of people in police custody, people being jailed for minor offenses because they can’t afford to pay fines, and the opioid addiction crisis.

Dozens of Macomb County jail inmates will be released soon due to overcrowding.

An overcrowding emergency was declared on June 2. The county's district and circuit judges had 15 days to reduce the number of inmates.

The 15-day period ended on Tuesday, and the judges failed to release enough inmates.