Contractor fined $4.7M over dirt • Detroit police address violent weekend • Michigan Central concert details
TUESDAY NEWS HIT - The owner of a construction company must pay $4.7 million to the City of Detroit after using contaminated dirt to fill holes - and charging for that free dirt.
Den-Man's owner is also banned from doing business in the city for 20 years.
These punishments are a result of a six-year investigation that found that the company was knocking down vacant homes and then using dirty dirt from I-96 and I-94 reconstruction projects and commercial properties to fill the holes left behind.
Toxic materials were found in that dirt, including arsenic and mercury, said Ellen Ha, Detroit's inspector general.
Den-Man allegedly continued using contaminated dirt to fill roughly 90 residential properties throughout Detroit over a two-year period.
"By then, they had already received millions of dollars in contracts," Ha said.
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Contractor ordered to pay $4.7M for filling holes with dirty dirt in Detroit
The owner of Den-Man Contractors, based out of Warren, has been ordered to pay $4.7 million to the City of Detroit and is banned from doing business in the city for the next 20 years.
Police address violent start to June
After a violent start to June, Detroit police are working to stop gun violence in the city.
Numerous people were shot in the city during the first weekend of June. Police Chief James White discussed what his department is doing to tackle this crime on Monday.
"We're very happy to have the One Detroit initiative with our U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison, who has agreed to take these cases federally. If you've got a Glock switch, you shoot in one of these areas that we've talked about or you've got a Glock switch, she's looking at those cases," White said. "You're facing some serious, heavy time."
That initiative includes collaboration between numerous law enforcement agencies. Its goal is to crack down on violence.
White said that the initiative will be expanded beyond the 8th and 9th Precincts, which are typically the most violent in the city, to make the summer months as safe as possible.
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Weekend shootings, summer gun violence addressed by Detroit police
Detroit police said a total of nine people were injured in two unrelated shootings over the weekend.
Distracted driver arraigned in connection with fatal crash
A driver who police say was on her phone when she caused a fatal crash in Washington Township earlier this year was arraigned this week.
According to the Macomb County Sheriff's Office, Courtney Ellise Niezgoda, 27, was allegedly using her phone when she ran a red light at M-53 and 32 Mile Road on Feb. 12, hitting and killing Tina Yaney.
Niezgoda told authorities she was using her phone's GPS, but Sheriff Anthony Wickersham previously said she was watching a movie.
She is facing a reckless driving causing death charge.
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Woman charged with causing fatal crash while on phone in Washington Township
She allegedly ran a red light while using her phone, killing a 63-year-old woman on M-53 and 32 Mile Road.
Jaylin Brazier sentenced to prison for Zion Foster murder
Jaylin Brazier will spend up to 100 years in prison for the 2022 murder of his cousin Zion Foster.
Judge Donald Knapp sentenced Brazier to 38-90 years for second-degree murder, along with 5-10 years for tampering for evidence. The sentences will be served consecutively, a decision that Knapp explained the reasoning behind.
"He remains largely unable to accept responsibility," he said.
Knapp said that the relationship between Brazier and Foster was a big factor in his decision. He noted that Foster regarded Brazier as her favorite cousin and was "his greatest admirer."
Before Brazier was sentenced, Foster's mother gave a tearful victim impact statement.
"She was my firstborn, my best friend, and he stole from me - my baby," Ciera Milton said. "We don't get to laugh and joke with her. We don't get to sing with her, we don't get to play with her."
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Zion Foster's mom sheds tears at sentencing for daughter's convicted killer
Her first license and her first prom; her high school graduation and starting a career and a family. Those were some of the experiences that Zion Foster's mom told the court Monday morning that her daughter would not have after she disappeared two years ago.
Michigan Central concert lineup
Numerous performers from Detroit and beyond will take the stage Thursday to celebrate the opening of Michigan Central.
Eminem will produce the show featuring Detroit legends Diana Ross, Jack White, and Big Sean. Some other artists who will be there include Kierra Sheard, Theo Parrish, Jelly Roll, Fantasia, and Common.
The free concert, which sold out within minutes, kicks off 10 days of tours of Michigan Central after six years of extensive renovations. The public got its first peek at the former train depot via photos and videos before the doors open.
Though tickets are no longer available, the concert will be streamed, and numerous watch parties are planned in Detroit.
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Michigan Central concert: Watch parties, Detroit road closures, parking, and more
Headed to Detroit for the Michigan Central concert this week? Here's everything to know:
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It will be a warm day as the humidity builds ahead of storms tonight and tomorrow.
What else we're watching
- The UFO Factory, a popular bar in Detroit's Corktown, is closing after 10 years. The last day will be June 15.
- A Florida-based company is accused of leading a "group of storm chasing tree service" businesses that deceived customers in Michigan after being victimized by severe weather and hazardous storms in 2021 and 2022.
- A new Pope Francis Center building in Detroit has opened, dedicated to improving the lives of the homeless. It provides comprehensive transitional services.
- Two of the four suspects behind the kidnapping of twin newborns in Livonia last summer, have been sentenced. Curtis Lee Slay, 18, and Davion Demetrius Sherman Chandler, 20, were both sentenced to three to 15 years in prison in the abduction from Aug. 20, 2023.
- The first infected mosquito report has come into the Michigan health department after some of the bugs collected in a mid-Michigan county tested positive for Jamestown Canyon virus.
Hunter Biden's gun trial starts today
A jury was seated on Monday in the trial of Hunter Biden, who has been charged with three felonies relating to a gun purchase. Opening statements are expected to begin on Tuesday.
He has pleaded not guilty and has argued he's being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department after a plea deal to avoid trial, which was seen as special treatment by Republicans, fell apart.
He has been accused of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application used to screen firearms applicants when he said he was not a drug user, and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
The charges all stem from a dark time in Biden’s personal life where he has admitted he was addicted to crack.
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Hunter Biden's gun trial starts today, here's what to know
From a drug addiction to a plea deal that fell apart, several factors are at play when it comes to Hunter Biden’s gun trial that begins this week. Here’s what to know about his past and how it all connects to the case.