March 2007
Four deputies in four years
Brandon Twp.-In less than four years, Treasurer Linda Owen has fired two deputies and had two others quit. Owen says the problem lies not in her hiring choices or in her office specifically, but with the atmosphere of the township offices as a whole.
Teens charged in shooting
Atlas Twp. – Two teens accused of planning a murderous crime spree on March 2 and 3 in Atlas Township were formally charged in Genesee County’s 67th District Court.
Genesee County Sheriff’s Department Captain Chris Swanson told The Citizen the teens had apparently intended to commit an assortment of crimes ‘including robbery and murder? and allegedly shot at a deputy when things began to go awry. Swanson said the trouble began when Deputy Matt McKay encountered the teens near Hegel Road and M-15 at 1:30 a.m. on March 2. Allegedly they had devised a plan that one of them would stand in the middle of the road and flag down the next vehicle to come by. After the vehicle had stopped, the other teen would shoot the driver of the vehicle in the head, using a .22 caliber and a 9 mm. gun stolen from the grandfather of one of the teens. Then, said Swanson, the teens intended to steal the vehicle and go to Detroit. However, that plan was disrupted when the next car down the road happened to be a sheriff’s patrol car, and the teens fled on foot, said Swanson. Swanson said the teens then revised their plan to go shoot at the Quick Sav, 10318 Hegel Road in Goodrich, and when the clerk came out to investigate, shoot the clerk, rob the store and steal a car before heading to Detroit. After that plan was also foiled, the teens shot at the deputy, and, thinking they had struck him in the head, fled the scene. The teens allegedly had similar plans for the Last Chance Party Store, 5545 S.State Road in Goodrich, said Swanson.
April 07
School land purchase
Brandon Twp.-The Brandon School board OK’d the puchase of a 75-acre parcel north of Oakwood Road and east of Hadley Road, for the construction of a new elementary school. The puchase price of $850,000 also included two and one-half acre parcels along Oakwood Road for access to the school.
Five acre petitions
Atlas Twp.-Approximately 124 petitions bearing about 1,109 signatures of residents requesting the hotly debated five acre minimum be put to a vote were turned in at 3:30 p.m. on April 2 at the township hall. The signatures were received by the township prior to the March 5 deadline to bring the issue to a vote in the Aug. 7 election.
The five acre minimum was adopted for portions of Atlas Township in February, following months of heated discussion among residents and officials. The issue continued to be a topic of debate in the township.