Jazz Alliance of Mid-Michigan, JAMM Scholarship Band
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FREE a newspaper for the rest of us www.lansingcitypulse.com August 3-9, 2016 City Pulse's Summer of Art: "Temptress," by Jena McShane. See page 8 for story. 2 www.lansingcitypulse.com City Pulse • August 3, 2016 City Pulse • August 3, 2016 www.lansingcitypulse.com 3 4 www.lansingcitypulse.com City Pulse • August 3, 2016 sex (engaging in prostitution) hundreds of times in three counties (Ingham, Clinton VOL. 15 Fix and Ionia) with multiple women, between ISSUE 51 Behind Dunnings’ plea: 2010 and 2015. “Furthermore, evidence showed that Dunnings also allegedly (517) 371-5600 • Fax: (517) 999-6061 • 1905 E. Michigan Ave. • Lansing, MI 48912 • www.lansingcitypulse.com induced a woman to become a prostitute politics and rigged justice ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: (517) 999-6704 who had not previously been one.” Headline or email [email protected] Subhead Bernie Sanders is talking about income It was all detailed in a packet of crimi- PAGE inequality when he growls that “the system nal complaints by Ingham County Detec- EDITOR AND PUBLISHER • Berl Schwartz is rigged,” but his complaint is just as valid tive/Sergeant Amber Kenny-Hinojosa, 6 [email protected] • (517) 999-5061 for the “justice” system. who flanked Schuette and Wriggelsworth ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER • Mickey Hirten [email protected] Tuesday's court hearing allowing during the press conference, and vali- Looking back: Discontent turns ugly on Lansing’s west side former Ingham County Prosecutor ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR • Ty Forquer dated by Matthew Schneider and William [email protected] • (517) 999-5068 Stuart Dunnings III to plead to a single Rollstin (a one-time candidate for Oakland PRODUCTION MANAGER • Allison Hammerly prostitution-related misdemeanor and County circuit judge) of the Attorney Gen- PAGE [email protected] • (517) 999-5066 a common law charge of misconduct in eral’s Criminal Division. STAFF WRITERS • Lawrence Cosentino office highlights a criminal justice system With the fanfare and hype accompa- 7 [email protected] riddled with politics nying the Dunnings charges, one would Todd Heywood and favors. [email protected] expect that Schuette and Wriggelsworth JazzFest swings through Old Town this weekend The explosive would have a solid case. Apparently not. ADVERTISING • Shelly Olson, Liza Sayre, prostitution charges For Schuette, taking down Dunnings Suzi Smith, Mandy Thiele against Dunnings, or- PAGE [email protected] provided another PR opportunity, an- [email protected] chestrated by Attorney other chance to burnish his law and order [email protected] General Bill Schuette credentials in anticipation of a run for 9 [email protected] and Ingham County governor in 2018. Contributors: Andy Balaskovitz, Justin Bilicki, Sheriff Gene Wriggels- He larded the charging documents with Broad Art Museum's 'Sloth Pieta' meets a live sloth Daniel E. Bollman, Capital News Service, Bill worth, and announced campaign literature like praise of his hu- Castanier, Mary C. Cusack, Tom Helma, Gabrielle MICKEY HIRTEN in March with Donald Lawrence Johnson, Terry Link, Andy McGlashen, man trafficking enforcement prosecution Kyle Melinn, Mark Nixon, Shawn Parker, Stefanie Trump-like fanfare, unit. “Human trafficking is a crime that PAGE Pohl, Dennis Preston, Allan I. Ross, Rich Tupica, largely disappeared as the plea bargain puts people, in this case young women, Ute Von Der Heyden, Paul Wozniak process unfolded. The original pander- into situations where they are endangered 22 Delivery drivers: Frank Estrada, Dave Fisher, Paul Shore, ing charge, based on Dunnings' luring and where they are manipulated and bru- Dick Radway, Richard Simpson, Thomas Scott Jr. Interns: Kayleigh Garrison, Eve Kucharski, Callie Opper a woman into prostitution, was a felony talized,” Schuette said, adding that he has Picking the right wine for your picnic basket that carried a possible 20-year prison “made fighting this crime a priority.” term. The plea transformed this crime Rings sort of hollow, considering that THIS WEEK Editor & Publisher into the common-law misconduct crime, Schuette cited hundreds of Dunnings’ com- THIS WEEK with Berl SchwartzBerl with a maximum of just five years’ incar- mercial sex encounters in three counties onSchwartz ceration. and investigators detailed 10 very specific on The episode raises two disturbing incidents. At plea time, all of it distilled • Etienne Charles, possibilities. One is that Schuette and into engaging the services of a prostitute Wriggelsworth vastly overstated Dun- and the common law misconduct. MSU jazz professor nings’ extracurricular sexual activities for For the Ingham County Sheriff's Saturday at 10:30 a.m. a “Gotcha” event that they never really had Department, the charges allowed it to the goods to prosecute. The other is that get ahead of what has been a particularly from the very beginning the fix was in and embarrassing episode. that larger political interest is best served It wasn't until the federal government by a compliant — make that, silenced — launched a human trafficking investigation Dunnings. in the Sheriff Department's backyard that Either way, a rigged system, not the way it actively looked into Dunnings’ activities. it works for you or me. No date has yet Wriggelsworth has acknowledged that been set for sentencing. The plea hearing his department had been hearing “chat- was in the Jackson County Court House. ter” about Dunnings for years. The feds' The March 16 Schuette-Wriggelsworth findings made it impossible to ignore the news conference was a full-bore take- “chatter,” and the result was the billboard down of Dunnings and his illicit behav- of charges that could have put Dunnings ior. The charges were one count of prosti- in prison for a decade, but won't. Schuette tution/pandering, a felony (20 years said Tuesday he will push for a sentence in prison/no stated fine); 10 counts of that includes prison. Engaging in the Services of Prostitution, For Dunnings, the plea deal is a relative- misdemeanors (93 days in jail/$500 fine ly soft landing compared with what could per count); and four counts of Willful have been. The agreement effectively elimi- Neglect of Duty, a misdemeanor (1 year, nated potentially embarrassing disclosures $1,000 fine per count). He was charged that could have surfaced during discovery in Ingham, Ionia and Clinton counties. and a trial. After 20 years in office in the The yearlong investigation leading to the sensitive office of state capital prosecutor, charges was conducted by the Attorney Dunnings has heard the sort of chatter that General's Office, the Federal Bureau of Wriggelsworth chose to ignore. Investigation and the Ingham County “The system in Michigan is not rigged,” Sheriff's Department. Schuette commented on the Dunnings Characterizing Dunnings' criminal deal. “We have one system of justice and activities, Schuette stated that the county the rules apply to all.” prosecutor “allegedly paid for commercial Indeed. Just ask Dunnings. City Pulse • August 3, 2016 www.lansingcitypulse.com 5 PULSE NEWS & OPINION has failed to act. As dispensaries proliferated in Lan- Start-up fees: $65,000 sing, the administration finally yielded to calls from the Lansing Regional Chamber City's proposed marijuana law would cripple dispensaries of Commerce and neighborhood voices C from the south side and started on the OF THE WEEK Lansing has an estimated 70 marijua- tion called “Minimum Operational Stan- road toward regulation. Lansing’s new city na-oriented businesses scattered through- dards” are: attorney, James Smiertka, has made the out the city. In just a few months, many of — Dispensaries, unlike drugstores, new ordinance a priority. them could disappear. cannot operate from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Robin Schneider, legislative liaison for An ordinance being considered by the — Marijuana cannot be consumed on the National Patients Rights Association, City Council would alter the Lansing's laws the premises. called the proposed ordinance a “place- regarding the sale of medical marijuana. It — Dispensaries must operate surveil- holder” till the state acts. She said the goal is is still in draft form — its fourth so far — lance cameras and keep video recordings for the state to establish “provisioning cen- but provisions as they stand create an im- offsite for at least 14 days. ters” to serve medical marijuana patients. mense financial burden for people in the — Marijuana leaves are prohibited on Dispensaries are only supposed to medical marijuana business. exterior building signs. serve patients through their caregivers, “I don’t think it’s designed to encom- — Marijuana-related promotion of who are limited to five patients each, pass my business, but if it passed I would any sort within 1,000 feet of a primary or whereas anyone with a state medical cease to exist. It would price my business secondary school or child-care facility is marijuana card could buy pot at a pro- out. There’s no way that I would be able prohibited. visioning center. to come up with $65,000 for The proposed ordinance a business that’s just starting,” also would require businesses Property: 602 Grove St. said Sam Johnson, operator to provide a “patient educa- East Lansing of Lansing’s Capitol City Seed tion plan to detail to patients Bank, which provides patients the benefits or drawbacks” of Owner: Betty Wescott seeds to grow their own plants. certain strains. Though not explicitly a Businesses must also give dispensary, Johnson’s busi- a written description of the The “Grove” from which this home’s street ness would be affected by the “training and education” of takes its name refers to a wooded area within changes because he is a “medi- all employees. And they must the College Grove subdivision that was origi- cal marijuana establishment,” give the city a “proposed busi- nally to be preserved as park. The subdivision a caregiver who provides seeds ness plan” including but not was platted in 1903, on land that was part of to patients.