Pontiac, Oakland County | featured news

It was only fitting that the Royal Oak Rotary Club's annual scholarship luncheon fell on Tuesday, May 8, National Teacher's Day this year. The eleven graduating seniors receiving scholarships gave credit to their teachers, counselors and parents as they accepted checks of $1,500 toward their higher education.

Gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer's "Get it Done: Better Skills, Better Jobs for Michigan" plan outlines how she would improve the state's economy, create better jobs, and increase household incomes.The plan, released Tuesday, establishes the Michigan Reconnect Program to increase skill and job training, creates a scholarship program making the first two years of college debt-free, links veterans to apprenticeship programs, adopts a buy American and buy Michigan agenda, and helps small businesses to attract and retain talent.

Michigan gubernatorial candidate Shri Thanedar announced his "One Michigan" agenda Tuesday to help women re-enter the workforce. According to Thanedar, more than 300,000 Michigan women have left the workforce in the last 15 years. This four-point plan will help women find work through the enactment of universal childcare and pre-kindergarten, paid family leave, and a $15 minimum wage to be paid for with revenue generated by increasing the corporate and personal income tax rate on the highest earners.

So said David John Garnett, Jr., in Oakland County Circuit Court Tuesday at his sentencing for setting his wife on fire during an argument at their Holly home this past winter.Led by Oakland County Sheriff's deputies into Judge Rae Lee Chabot's courtroom handcuffed to a walker, the 55-year-old Garnett soon learned his fate: 135 months to 50 years in prison for one count of assault with intent to murder and one content of arson in the incident, which left his wife, Rebecca Garnett, severely burned.

The Milford Memorial Day Parade was held on Monday, May 28, as crowds gathered to watch and honor veterans from all parts of the U.S. military. The parade, organized by the American Legion, Post 216, started at the American Legion Hall on Commerce Road and ended in Central Park on Main Street.

The boy was found at about 7:15 p.m. Monday, May 28, in the Baymont Inn pool at 27500 Northwestern Highway, police said.Officers performed CPR on the child. He remains in a local hospital.Police and firefighters are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call 248-796-5500.

A 22-year-old Holly Township man died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Pontiac, about 20 minutes after it's believed he fled from Birmingham police in the early morning hours of May 27, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.A Pontiac resident called police at 3:07 a.m. after hearing a single gunshot and then seeing someone lying in the ground in front of a house in the 100 block of Prospect Street.

A 16-year-old Orion Township boy could face charges for threatening a "slaughter" at Lake Orion High School.The incident reportedly happened after a teacher asked the teen to complete a task, which he refused to do and walked out of the classroom saying "I will slaughter you all." The Oakland County Sheriff's Office communications center received an anonymous tip about the statement shortly after midnight on May 25.

Harvey Wedell served his country and his city. The Vietnam War veteran and longtime South Lyon City Council member died Saturday night at the age of 72. Wedell died comfortably at home while in hospice care. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer, which recently spread to his liver and lymph nodes.

A 36-year-old Walled Lake man was arrested May 26 after he allegedly tried to break into a marijuana grow operation in Commerce Township.Deputies from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office were called to the 1000 block of Benstein Road at around 6 a.m. after the owner of a neighboring business was reviewing surveillance video and saw someone trying to pry open the other building's door.