Pontiac, Oakland County | featured news

Michigan's newest state troopers have graduated from the Michigan State Police (MSP) 134th Trooper Recruit School. Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the MSP, administered the Oath of Office and Governor Rick Snyder gave the keynote address during the ceremony at the Lansing Center, according to a press release from the MSP.

A Pontiac man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of his 14-year-old cousin, Yaharre Stennis, who was shot in the chest in the early morning hours of July 9 at a home in the 100 block of Willard Street.

New improvements are coming to two of Pontiac's most utilized parks. The Friends of the Pontiac Parks Association recently received four Neighborhood Empowerment Grants from the city to make over $70,000 in improvements in the parks. Since they formed in 2013, the group has made changes in every Pontiac park as of this year.

Jeff Lev has joined Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit as chief financial officer. Lev previously worked at Guardian Industries as the senior manager of corporate finance and assistant treasurer. Prior to that, he served as a senior associate at Amherst Partners' Investment Banking Practice.

Patty Corkery has been named executive vice president/COO and general counsel for the Michigan Credit Union League, (MCUL). She replaces Ken Ross, who left the trade association in May, to lead lobbying efforts for financial services firm, John Hancock, according to a press release from MCUL.

The Gretchen Whitmer for Governor campaign released a new television ad this week titled "Grit." In the ad, Whitmer highlights her priorities for making higher education and skills training more affordable to build a talented workforce and raise wages for Michigan families."Michiganders work hard, we have grit, but there's a lot of families in Michigan who haven't seen a raise in 10 years," says Whitmer in the new ad.

The Haley Stevens for Congress campaign released its first television ad this week titled "Deliver." In the ad, Stevens, the former chief of staff to President Obama's Auto Rescue, discusses her experience during the economic downturn in 2009 when she served on the Auto Task Force in the U.

The John James for Senate campaign released a new television ad this week titled "Conservative Warrior." In the ad, James talks about how he's standing with President Trump to "secure the border and protect Michigan jobs" while at the same time highlighting his eight years of military service "hunting terrorists.

The MoGo bike rental system in Detroit is getting ready to expand its service into Royal Oak, Ferndale and three other nearby cities early next year.MoGo rolled out in May 2017 in Detroit with 430 red bicycles at 43 stations in the city and far exceeded it goals with more than 130,000 user rides in its first year.

It's pretty hot outside - and dry. And, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), all that heat is drying out the grass, greatly increasing the risk of fire.This means, the DNR says, we should take extra precautions to prevent accidentally starting fires, like not waiting to burn debris or using all-terain vehincles, lawn mowers or other outdoor machinery.