Crains Business Detroit is reporting, “The Michigan Court of Appeals Tuesday night dismissed a preliminary injunction approved last week by the Ingham County Court of Claims that blocked implementation of an $879 million contract to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

“The ruling allows the Michigan Department of Management and Budget to schedule a meeting Thursday with the State Administrative Board to grant final approval to the contract, said Patty Russ, DMB’s public information officer.”

A local artist originally found guilty of violating a city ordinance involving a mural he painted on the side of his studio will get a new trial after the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the verdict Tuesday.

The Detroit News is reporting, “Edward Stross, 47, of Roseville was found guilty in 2005 for painting the word “Love” on the side of his Gonzo Fine Arts Studio on Gratiot, as well as the breasts of a nude Eve in a replica of Michelangelo’s ‘Creation of Man.’

“In 2008, Macomb Circuit Judge David Viviano cited the Michigan Court of Appeals decision that found the city’s sign ordinance was unfair because breasts should not be considered genitalia, which would have been a violation of the ordinance.”

“Isabella County officials will honor several former judges today.

As part of the program, six judges – all of whom have served within the past 50 years – will have conference rooms named in their honor,” reports the Morning Sun.

“After 25 years of service, and with no notification, James Dubay was replaced as Riley Township attorney Oct. 3 night. Robert Vickery, township resident and attorney, was approved by the board as his replacement effective immediately,” reports the Armada Times.

“‘I don’t see why we should stop good council,’ Supervisor Dave Rushing said during the debate on whether to replace Dubay. ‘It does not make sense to me.’

“Dubay, who was in attendance at an October meeting when the subject was first broached, but not at Oct. 3 meeting, had been the Riley attorney for over 25 years. He said that he was not even notified that any action was being taken in regard to his position with the township.”

The Detroit News is reporting, “Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox will be deposed next month by the lawyer representing relatives of slain dancer Tamara Greene, although his statements will be sealed until further notice, a federal judge said Tuesday.

“Cox’s deposition in the lawsuit by Greene’s family against the city of Detroit is tentatively planned for Dec. 11.

“Greene, linked to a long-rumored but never proven 2002 party at the Manoogian Mansion, was killed in a Detroit drive-by shooting in 2003. Her family claims city and police officials obstructed the investigation of her murder. The city denies the allegations.

“Cox investigated the rumored party and concluded it was an ‘urban legend.’ State police investigators, who were later deposed by Norman Yatooma, the attorney for Greene’s family, claim Cox quashed their investigation into whether the party ever happened.”

“A former Clinton Township District Court judge was sentenced (Tuesday) to six months in jail. He is accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from the trust fund of a client,” reports the Detroit Free Press.

“William Cannon, 75, who retired from the 41-B District Court in Clinton Township in 2005, also was placed on five years of probation and ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution by Macomb County Circuit Judge Richard Carretti.”

A county prosecutor does not need to initiate a criminal prosecution before obtaining blood alcohol test results from a medical facility treating a driver involved in a traffic accident.

That’s the formal opinion of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, in response to a query from Alger County Prosecuting Attorney Karen A. Bahrman.

Cox, in Opinion No. 7237, phrased Barhman’s question as “whether, under subsection (6)(e) of section 625a of the Michigan Vehicle Code, MCL 257.625a(6)(e), an actual criminal prosecution must be pending before a prosecutor may obtain the results of blood alcohol tests taken by a medical facility in the course of providing medical treatment to a driver involved in a motor vehicle accident.”

Bahrman had “consistently interpreted this section as authorizing a prosecutor to secure blood alcohol test results before seeking a warrant where an accident occurred that involved other evidence of intoxication while driving.”

Cox, in his opinion, said that Bahrman’s interpretation is correct.

Reading the operative words of MCL 257.625a(6)(e) in context, the phrase “for use in a criminal prosecution as provided in this subdivision [subdivision (e) of subsection (6)]” plainly operates as a limitation on the purpose for which the test results may be used by a prosecutor who requests them, but it does not impose a particular time frame within which a request for results must be made or imply the stage of criminal proceedings that must have been reached before results may be requested or disclosed. That is, once requested, the results of a chemical analysis must be disclosed in order for a prosecutor to use them “to show the amount of alcohol or presence of a controlled substance or both in the person’s blood at the time alleged” in a criminal proceeding. Had the Legislature intended the phrase to only apply in connection with a “pending” criminal prosecution, it could have included this qualifier; in the absence of language providing this additional temporal requirement, however, one may not be implied.

“By any objective standard, the new facilities awaiting the users and staff of the soon-to-be-closed Rockford District Court will be superior,” The Grand Rapids Press is reporting.

“But it is not the improved physical amenities of the new 63rd District Court that are first in the minds of those leaving the little white building that has been on Maple Street for 40 years.”

The Bay City Times is reporting, “How does a convicted sex offender comply with the state Sex Offender Registration Act if he’s homeless?

“‘The legislature has us in a quandary,’ Bay City attorney Mark E. Janer said.

“Janer is representing Patrick J. Maher Jr., a 29-year-old man jailed in April for failing to comply with the act that compels sex offenders to register their addresses with state police.

“Offenders charged with misdemeanors must register annually. Felons must register every three months.”

“A judge should decide this month whether to grant a new trial to a Plymouth Township teen convicted of stabbing and beheading an acquaintance,” according to a story in The Detroit News.

“Wayne County Circuit Judge Bruce U. Morrow said today he will decide by Thanksgiving whether Jean Pierre Orlewicz deserves a new trial because psychiatric testimony about his past was excluded during the first trial.

“No matter the ruling, the prosecutor and defense attorney have said they expect more appeals.”