Multiple murder trials, big elections, recall attempts among biggest stories expected this year
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ALPENA -- A number of 2023 storylines will continue into 2024, including two murder trials, a year jam-packed with elections, and several economic projects.
Here's a look at the stories The News will track this year.
ELECTIONS GALORE
Next year will be a bonanza for those who love politics and elections.
On Feb. 27, Michigan will hold its presidential primary election. In August, voters will cast ballots in the primary for all of the other federal, state, and local government races.
The grand finale will be the presidential election on Nov. 5, which will also have dozens of candidates and ballot initiatives for voters to choose.
In Northeast Michigan, many county commissioners' seats will be up for grabs, as well as city council, mayor, and school board positions. The race for the Alpena area's state representative will be determined, as well as northern Michigan's congressman. Voters will also determine who will replace current U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who is retiring.
That race could have big implications in the U.S. Senate as both Republicans and Democrats jockey for a majority.
Although a lot can happen over the next eight months, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are currently leading polls for their respective primaries and could have a rematch of the 2020 presidential election, when Biden defeated Trump.
This year's elections will also be the first real opportunity to utilize the state's new early voting system.
Different from voting absentee voting, voters approved early voting in 2022. The Michigan Department of State website says early voting will begin the second Saturday prior to Election Day and end the Sunday before an election.
However, communities may decide to provide additional days of early voting. Under state law, communities can offer up to 29 days of early voting.
People can register to vote online, or at any clerk's office through the election in November.
MURDER TRIALS CONTINUE
Thirty-seven-year-old Brad Srebnik is set to go on trial this month for the deaths of Alpena women Brynn Bills and Abby Hill.
The Michigan Attorney General's Office is working alongside Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski to prosecute the case.
Prosecutors allege Srebnik strangled Bills to death and recruited codefendant Joshua Wirgau to help dispose of the body. They also allege Srebnik, with the aid of Wirgau, later shot Hill near the Holcim Alpena plant to keep Hill from going to the police about Bills' murder.
Wirgau has since pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, disinterment and mutilation of a body, and involuntary manslaughter and is expected to testify against Srebnik during the trial.
Jury selection for the trial is set to take place Jan. 10.
Separately, the murder trial against Aaron Trout is expected to resume this week after Judge Laura Frawley on Dec. 18 adjourned the case because numerous issues, including multiple COVID-19 infections, made both jurors and a prosecutor's witness unavailable.
Testimony is expected to resume Thursday in Alcona County.
Trout faces one count of felony murder and one count of child abuse in the first degree for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of Trout's then-girlfriend, Adrienne Pavelka.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES
A handful of projects in the works in Alpena for some time will wrap up or nearly wrap up by the end of 2024.
M-32 West should have a new hotel and grocery store constructed next to one another. A Hamilton Inn and Suites and Aldi are being built just a few blocks down the highway from Home Depot and will provide local shoppers another option and visitors to the area more choices on where to stay while in town.
Farther down the highway, on Airport Road, ground should break this year on the Northeast Michigan Materials Management Authority's new state-of-the-art recycling center, though it likely won't be complete until 2025.
In downtown Alpena, Culligan Plaza is getting a complete remake. Thanks to state grant funding, local grants, and a small investment by city government, the new plaza will feature a performance stage and water and fire features. Work will begin in the spring.
The redesign of the downtown park is only phase one, as a new restroom facility will be built just a short walk from the plaza.
Meanwhile, a new food park will be built at the site of the old county jail on Johnson Street in Alpena.
Other projects, such as the renovation of the former Vaughn department store and State Theater in downtown Alpena, will also inch closer to completion, though those projects are not expected to be completed by the end of the year.
RECALL EFFORTS AFOOT
Leaders of two separate political recall efforts are currently collecting signatures to try to kick elected officials out of office.
Alcona County resident Gary Wnuk, a former Republican Alcona County commissioner and member of the Fairview Area Schools Board of Education, in July filed a recall petition against state Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, in Alcona County.
The reason cited in Wnuk's petition was Cavitt's vote to elect state Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, as state House speaker in January.
The language of the petition was approved Aug. 1, which gave Wnuk 180 days -- until Jan. 28 -- to obtain 1,903 valid signatures.
Wnuk could not be reached for comment and the current status of his signature-collecting efforts is unknown.
Separately, a recall effort against three Onaway Area Schools Board of Education members is uncertain, since all three board members have filed appeals.
School board President James Rieger, Vice President Erin Chaskey, and Trustee John Palmer all appealed to the Presque Isle County Circuit Court the two-to-one vote by the Presque Isle County Election Committee to approve the language in the recall petitions.
Until the appeal is resolved, the signature collection process is halted.
Onaway resident Stacy Porter also filed a recall petition against Onaway school board Trustee Lorrie Kowalski in Cheboygan County. That county's committee also approved the petition language in a two-to-one vote.
Porter told The News she has not received any notice that Kowalski has attempted to appeal.
HEALTH DEPARTMENTS MOVE ON FROM COVID
While COVID-19 remains a concern, it is no longer a priority for public health officials.
In 2024, District Health Departments No. 2 and No. 4 will look to new priorities to improve the health of Northeast Michiganders.
Denise Bryan, administrative health officer for both health departments, said the three key things the department plans to work on are preventional risks in patients, environmental health, and collaborations with smaller businesses and communities.
"The new year comes with resolutions to get healthy, get moving, and to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet," Bryan said. "I think those are great messages we're going to put out on chronic illness."
According to Bryan, environmental health means continuing to survey Northeast Michigan for any health issues in the air, water, and land such as lead poisoning, pollution, and more.
Bryan also said she hopes to see her departments collaborate with smaller businesses to promote better health styles to Northeast Michigan communities.
"I think, ultimately, that's what our goal is, to bring the best quality of life in Northeast Michigan," Bryan said. "I will continue to mentor the leadership team and support all the staff with the resources and training they need. And it's really a privilege to work in public health."