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News in brief

Township special meeting Friday

The Alpena Township Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting at 1 p.m. Friday at township office, 4385 U.S.-23 N.

During the meeting, the board will consider the purchase of an ambulance and also consider adding another board meeting to its schedule each month.

Friday’s meeting is open to the public and comment is welcome.

Chamber warns of scam

The Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce is warning of a fundraising scam targeting Alpena businesses.

A company calling itself Sports Media is falsely soliciting funds falsely on behalf of school athletic programs, the chamber said in its regular newsletter.

“When Alpena High School Athletic Office legitimately have fundraising requests, they will never ask for credit card numbers/bank accounts/etc.,” the chamber said. “All legitimate requests will come directly from Tim Storch’s office with a letter attached from him stating its purpose.”

Questions about fundraising can be directed to the athletic office at Alpena High School at 989-358-5313 or 989-358-5351.

County claims burden from new indigent defense rules

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan county officials say new state rules designed to provide indigent criminal defendants with more effective legal representation impose an undue financial burden.

The Detroit News reports that Oakland County is seeking a court order permitting the county to not comply with the regulations until the state provides a grant to cover costs.

The rules implement procedures for selecting court-appointed attorneys and require counties to provide attorneys with continuing education and private spaces for client discussions.

Oakland County officials are requesting about $3 million more a year to meet the new standards. Officials say the county needs to hire additional assistant prosecutors to handle more than 2,800 arraignments a year.

The state has rejected the county’s requests, saying officials are asking for money that no other county is receiving.

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