Archive - Nov 19, 2009

There was a pretty amazing story that came through theHerald this week about how Monica Andrews, a dispatcher in the Tecumseh PoliceDepartment, followed up on some 911 “hangup” calls that the Lenawee CountySheriff Department had reported. The calls originated from an address on UnionStreet. When the Sheriff Department answered, they could hear someone screamingin another language. Miracle one may have been their taking it another step bycontacting the TPD. After officers were dispatched a couple things happened.They learned that the home’s current resident was at work. They also learnedfrom a neighbor that a woman, who was thought to be Chinese, lived there acouple of years ago. (Miracle two? That someone remembered that and shared itwith police?) Back at the dispatch center, Monica put two and two together –the cries from the calls seeming to come from someone speaking a foreignlanguage and the fact that someone who might have spoken a foreign languageonce lived at the address that registered with the cell phone. She obviouslyalso knew a little about how cell phone 911 calls can be dispatched from thearea where the phone’s service originates rather than where you are, somethingthat surprised me and may be news to others as well.

The Tecumseh Youth Theater production of Les Miserables opens Friday at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m., with a second show Saturday night, also at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Actors Matt Maki and Marlene Hilderley (above) play Thenardier and Madame Thenardier. Scot Hanna-Weir and Kat Walsh are directing, and producers are Kathy Field and Donna Andre. For more information, call the TCA at 423-6617.

Former Tecumseh Area Chamber of Commerce Director Vivian Yarger waived her right to a trial and entered a guilty plea on one count of embezzlement for $20,000 or more in Judge Timothy Pickard’s Lenawee County Circuit Courtroom in Adrian on Wednesday morning. Judge Pickard accepted the plea and scheduled a sentencing date for Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010, at 8:15 a.m.

The charge is a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or $15,000 in fines or three times the amount embezzled and stems from improprieties involving Chamber funds from approximately January 2004 through March 30, 2007.

Assistant Prosecutor Karen Tate represented the Lenawee County Prosecutor’s Office, and Yarger was represented by her attorney, Asad Farah of Monroe. A second embezzlement charge and a forgery charge were dismissed. Judge Pickard said that full restitution would be expected on the various charges.

Yarger was expected to report to the Lenawee County Probation Department following her appearance before Judge Pickard, who said that she also would be asked to submit to a DNA test with the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department. Pickard reiterated that Yarger was to appear for sentencing on January 7, and reminded her that failure to appear in and of itself constitutes a felony.

Officer Tim Ryan of the Tecumseh Police Department investigated the case and spent several months going over bank records, statements and files. He said this was the largest embezzlement case he had worked on in the Tecumseh area.

The quick thinking of a Tecumseh Police Department dispatcher may have helped save the life of a woman who once lived in the city and had been stabbed in another state. On Monday, Dispatcher Monica Andrews received a call from the Lenawee County Sheriff Department regarding two 911 hang-up calls on Union Street. She sent two cars and they found that no one was home. Soon, police determined that a woman who currently lives there was at work.
Andrews said the calls came from a woman who was screaming and could not speak English so no one could understand her. When a neighbor reported that an Asian woman used to live at the Union Street address a few years ago, Andrews decided to check further on the situation. She said the further research, using Google and a law enforcement network, identified that the former resident was living at an address in Connecticut. She realized that the cell phone’s 911 system may have still been connected to the Lenawee County area, where the woman originally purchased her phone.

“Then I Googled the police department for that area and gave them the address and phone number, and when they went to that address, they found the woman and she had been stabbed,” Andrews said. “She was in a pool of blood at the top of the stairs but she was still alive.”

A news article in the New Haven Register reported that Jeffrey Asbill, 48, has been charged with attempted murder in Ledyard, Connecticut. The Connecticut State Police found him over the woman that the article said was his wife, and also charged him with first-degree assault. He was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail pending arraignment in New London Superior Court in that state.

By MICKEY ALVARADO

Eight of Tecumseh’s varsity girls swimmers have qualified to advance to state competition after finishing the regular season at the Southern Michigan Independent Swim League Championships at Milan on Saturday, Nov. 14.

The Indians sent two divers to the regional competition on Tuesday and hope to send them to the state meet as well.

Tecumseh (515) placed third at the championships while Bedford (681) won the title. Milan (517) finished second and Adrian (343) was fourth.

“We knew it was going to be close,” said Tecumseh coach Sarah Eubanks. “We did a few different things: mix up our relays a little bit just to give some kids some different things to swim. That was the choice we made and that’s how it ended up.”

Allie Merritt was second for Tecumseh in the 100-backstroke (1:6.9) and third in the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.9). She was also a member of Tecumseh’s third place 200-medley relay team with teammates Kaitlyn VanDeCar, Gretchen Seidel and Chelsea Shartle (2:01.04).

Freshman Rachel Waite was second in the 200-yard IM (2:17.87) and third in the 100-yard freestyle (56.58). Tecumseh finished 3-4-5 in the 100-yard freestyle with Danielle Sloan (57.06) and Diana Brown (57.44) following right behind Waite.

Seidel also placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:14.33).

Marissa Martin was also a top three finisher for the Indians with a second place showing in the diving event on Friday. She scored 285 points while teammate Alisha Payne scored 256.30 for fourth. The two were to represent Tecumseh at Eastern Michigan University in the Regional meet.

The Indians finished second at the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 7 in Dexter.

By MICKEY ALVARADO

It didn’t matter to Taylor Medrea that she was living in the small town of Britton, Michigan with aspiring dreams of becoming a great gymnast despite some big odds against her. Her high school doesn’t even have a gymnastics team but that didn’t stop her. She was willing to do whatever it took to get to the level she had set her sights on. With the help of teachers, friends and family, Medrea fulfilled that dream on Thursday, Nov. 12, by signing a National Letter of Intent to attend a prominent division 1 school, the University of Missouri, on a full scholarship.

“It was really the administrators that did everything,” said Taylor. “Without them I would not have been where I am today. My friends were just so supportive even though, like I said, I can’t even go to all the school functions and I can’t do anything like that. But, they’ve always tried to stay with me and be friends.”

“It just goes to show that anything is possible if you set your mind to it,” said Britton’s Athletic Director, Randy Salisbury. He added that everyone at the school has been very supportive of Taylor’s gymnastics career with some teachers even volunteering to come in early to help out. Britton-Macon even worked it out so she could leave a little earlier than school lets out to get on the road to get to practice.