The Times Herald du lieu suivant : Port Huron, Michigan • Page A7

WWW.THETIMESHERALD.COM 21,2016 PAGE 7A FLINT- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder created a new oard on Friday to eliminate exposure to lead tatewide, saying the state needs to do more than just educe exposure to the harmful chemical in the wake of the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint. The Republican governor, whose administration has been deemed primarily responsible for the public health emergency, formed the board with an executive order and tasked it with recommending a strategy to protect children from all sources of lead poisoning. crisis stems from old pipes contaminating the water after the city switched from water system to improperly treated Flint River water in 2014. But lead poisoning is more frequently linked to paint dust in older housing.

The toxin was banned from paint in 1978. Snyder said the board will on all the keys including how the state can ensure more children are tested for lead. He said priorities include boosting the number of families using follow-up services when a child tests positive for elevated blood-lead levels, along with improving the investigation of individual cases and current remediation and abatement efforts, and ensuring more thorough data collection. The 12-member Child Lead Poisoning Elimination Board will be chaired by Lt. Gov.

Brian Calley and have our state department directors and seven gubernatorial appointees. Recommendations are due by early November. Michigan had a similar commission created under a 2 004 law that expired in 2010. In March, a task force that i nvestigated the Flint disaster recommended re-estab- ishing the panel, partly to review the ability to meet federal requirements that all young children enrolled in Medicaid be screened for lead with a blood test. he task force said statewide screening goals are met in very few instances at the county level or within ater Friday, at a water distribution site set up in the parking lot of a Flint sports arena, Snyder thanked embers of the Michigan National Guard.

The Guard is winding down its monthslong participation in distributing bottled water, filters and testing kits to residents who have been told not to drink unfiltered tap water. uch sites, previously situated in fire stations, now a re established at different spots around Flint. They a re being staffed by paid residents. be planning on this (water distribution) ending any time Snyder said. would expect there even to be a transition after the been in terms of coming out of the faucet, that have some transitional edicaid health plans.

That leaves parents, doctors and public health authorities about the possibility of lead poisoning for thousands of Michigan the group said. One factor that contributed to a delay in detecting contamination was the state Department of Health and Human Services not conducting an analysis 2014 blood lead levels until the summer of 2015, at the request of then-chief of staff, according to the task report. Astate epidemiologist found a concerning pattern in lint, while a state lead poisoning program data man- a ger concluded the opposite under a analysis, the report said. The conflicting conclusions were not elevated to higher-level executives in the department. have all of the Calley said.

issing is a coordinated, strategic plan with real muscle and resources behind Snyder makes board in response to water crisis RACHEL From left, Harvey Hollins, executive office of the Governor, speaks with Gov. Rick Snyder during the Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee meeting on Friday. Task force to find ways to protect children from lead poisoning DAVID EGGERT AND MIKE HOUSEHOLDER ASSOCIATED PRESS DETROIT The Regional Transit A uthority board approved a plan to reate a long-stalled commuter rail ine that would link downtown Ann Arbor and downtown Detroit along lines used by passenger rail service. The 38-mile line has been discussed for more than a decade but lacked funding, The Detroit News reported. The RTA plans to fold the cost of the service into a November property tax request.

The RTA board approved the proposed service Thursday as part of its Michigan Avenue corridor study, hich also includes bus rapid transit. a significant connector between Ann Arbor and said aul Hillegonds, the board hairman. of the criticisms of rail always is much more expen- ive than bus rapid transit, but in this ase, the existing infrastructure is in place. It makes sense from a cost-effective standpoint, and I think will be very attractive to riders, and I think a very significant economic development tool for the Plans call for rail service between the cities eight times a day: three rides during morning and afternoon rush hours, and one in the afternoon and evening. The line would start at the Amtrak Ann Arbor station with tops in Ypsilanti, Wayne, Dearborn and New Center area.

Megan Owens, president of the transit advocacy group Transportation Riders United, said rail is a reliable way to connect these She said it also likely ould attract riders for major events, such as University of Michi- an football games or the Thanksgiv- i ng Parade in Detroit. I the millage passes, RTA offi- ials estimate the route could start a round 2022, with annual operating costs of $11million to $19 million. It ould cost around $130 million in capital costs to get the service running and build a maintenance facili- officials said. he commuter rail line will be form ally presented May 31as part of the a master plan, which also ill include bus rapid transit routes Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan avenues in addition to possible tran- it options that include an airport shuttle service. RTA looks link Detroit, Ann Arbor Plan for commuter rail line has been iscussed in past years ASSOCIATED PRESS KALAMAZOO- A man charged with killing six strangers in between picking riders for Uber will go to trial, a Michigan judge said Friday after listening to a ozen witnesses, including a survivor of he random shootings who said his ace she sees in her sleep each night.

ason Dalton is charged with murder a nd attempted murder. accused of shooting eight people in three locations i the Kalamazoo area on Feb. 20; six died. Tiana Carruthers, one of two survi- ors, was the first witness, but her testi- ony was interrupted by bizarre out- ursts by Dalton, who was dragged out court by deputies and ordered to jail to atch the hearing via video. alton, 45, who has been found competent to understand the charges and ass ist his lawyer, made strange references to people with these old black Judge Christopher Haenicke cut him off and called a recess after he said, time to get to Carruthers sobbed loudly while tunned relatives of other victims watched Dalton being hauled away.

Aft er a break, she again described how she as shot four times outside an apart- ent building in the presence of child ren. Police have credited her with pro- ecting them from possible injury. body look real. Metal in hree different places. Screws and the 25-year-old said.

hurt every single arruthers identified Dalton as the hooter, saying: can never forget his ace. I see his face every time I go to olice have quoted Dalton as saying a devil on app was controlling him on the night of the shootings. eff Crump, a Michigan State Police firearms expert, linked casings at the shooting scenes to guns owned by Dalton. The judge found probable cause to send Dalton to trial. The legal standard a this stage is low; prosecutors have to show all their evidence.

A nother witness, Alexis Cornish, 17, aid she saw the killing of her boy- riend, Tyler Smith, and his father, ichard Smith, at a car dealership. hey were looking at a pickup truck, but she stayed in their vehicle because i was a cold night. put their hands up and said, are you Cornish told the udge, recalling their encounter with he gunman. A sked how many shots were fired, he replied: not to eparately, four women were killed utside a Cracker Barrel restaurant. A 14-year-old girl survived.

MARK Kalamazoo County Deputies remove Jason Dalton after an outburst during his preliminary examination in district court on Friday. Prosecutors say Dalton gunned down six people and wounded two others in the Kalamazoo area over several hours while driving for Uber that night. Man charged with killing 6in Michigan to face trial Shooting survivor says she sees Dalton time I go to ASSOCIATED PRESS.