SAGINAW, MI — Here are a few headlines from Saginaw County last week that attracted reader interest.
Dispute over 50 cents leads to gunshots at Old Town Saginaw pub, man facing possible life offense
A dispute over less than a dollar at an Old Town Saginaw bar culminated in gunshots and a patron charged with a life offense.
Around 2 a.m. — closing time — on Friday, Sept. 19, police responded to reports of gunfire outside Steamers Riverfront Pub, 209 N. Hamilton St. Dispatchers advised officers that bar staff had an issue with a male customer over 50 cents. The customer pulled a handgun and pointed it at a male staffer’s head, dispatchers reported.
The gunman pulled the trigger twice, one of the bullets missing the other man by inches, prosecutors allege.
The shooter and a woman fled in a vehicle before police arrived. Steamers staffers provided officers with a description of the assailant. Numerous witnesses also saw the suspect point the gun, prosecutors allege.
Read more here.
Woman shot man 6 times, made fun of him as he whimpered in pain, prosecutors say
A Saginaw woman is charged with trying to kill a man by shooting him six times. If she hadn’t run out of ammunition, she’d have shot him more times, she allegedly told dispatchers.
About 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 21, police responded to the Darnisha M. Sanders’ residence in the 1200 block of Maple Street after she had called 911 to report having shot a 42-year-old man. Prosecutors allege Sanders, 32, could be heard making fun of the victim as he whimpered in the background.
Sanders told dispatchers she shot the man because he was antagonizing her, prosecutors allege. Sanders went on to say she had run out of bullets but if she’d had more, she would have shot off the man’s fingers and toes, prosecutors contend.
Read more here.
Saginaw adds its newest city councilman: Tobias Young
The Saginaw City Council is complete again.
The council appointed Tobias Young, a General Motors electrician and business owner, to the vacant seat on the city’s 9-member board.
During a Monday, Sept. 22, meeting, Young received the five council votes necessary to clinch the seat vacated when Monique Lamar-Silvia was removed from the group last month.
Read more here.
Saginaw-born actress talks about roles in Netflix’s upcoming ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’
Jaeleen Davis says she is too much of a scaredy cat to consider herself a horror junky. But her ability to tap into and portray visceral fear has snagged the Saginaw-born actress a role — two, in fact — in what’s sure to be this autumn’s most disturbing horror series.
Living in Los Angeles, the 30-year-old Davis on Jan. 26 received an email from her agent with Bravo Talent Agency requesting an immediate audition tape for a project simply called “Monsters.” The agent sent Davis a single page of the screenplay, describing the setting as a malt shop or pharmacy in the early 1950s.
“It just said, ‘a teenage girl sits at a counter drinking a milkshake and reading a magazine,’” Davis recalls. “‘She notices an older gentleman staring creepily from the corner of her eye.’”
Read more here.
For the first time, students can sit on the Saginaw Public Schools board of education
A new initiative is aimed at amplifying student perspectives during the policy-making process of Saginaw Public Schools leaders.
Officials announced four district students this month began serving as non-voting members of the 5,000-student district’s board of education.
District officials said the teenagers “will provide critical insights on behalf of their peers and act as a vital link between the board of education and the district’s student body.”
Read more here.
New addition to collection marks ‘meaningful moment’ for Saginaw Art Museum
The Saginaw Art Museum & Gardens has acquired “An Offering to the Great Spirit” by Eanger Irving Couse, marking a significant addition to the museum’s collection with work by an artist who was born just three miles from the institution, officials said.
The museum will celebrate the acquisition with a free public event there at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 2.
Read more here.
Man pleads to abusing bed-ridden dementia patient he was meant to care for
A Saginaw man recorded on camera berating and beating a dementia-afflicted man he was supposed to care for has accepted a plea deal that’ll see him avoid prison.
Steven J. Reinert, 68, on Sept. 9 appeared before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson and pleaded no contest to second-degree vulnerable adult abuse. The conviction is punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Read more here.
Michigan’s first rural residency program to address ‘critical shortage of physicians’ in underserved areas
Central Michigan University Medical Education Partners secured a $750,000 federal grant to develop Michigan’s first rural residency training program, addressing a critical shortage of physicians in the state’s rural communities.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-based Health Resources and Services Administration awarded the competitive Rural Residency Planning and Development Program grant to the Saginaw-based organization, marking the first time a Michigan entity has received this federal recognition aimed at improving rural healthcare access, CMU Medical Education Partners officials said.
Read more here.
Saginaw man federally charged with filming himself sexually assaulting minor girl
A Saginaw man is federally charged with recording himself sexually assaulting a teenage girl half his age.
Carrollton Township police began investigating the alleged crime on Feb. 27, when they learned through a local school that a 15-year-old girl was engaged in an inappropriate relationship with 30-year-old Aaron M. Thomas. The girl’s father gave the school’s resource officer permission to search his daughter’s cellphone, according to an affidavit authored by a special agent with the FBI contained in court files.
The officer searched the device and found two videos of an adult man having sex with the teen, who identified herself. One video depicted a nude Thomas setting up a cellphone in front of a mirror, the affidavit states.
Read more here.
Saginaw probationer heads to prison for leading police on chase that ended in crash
A probationer is heading back to prison for leading police on a high-speed chase that ended in a collision, a misguided attempt to avoid being caught with illicit drugs.
Saginaw County Circuit Judge Andre R. Borrello on Wednesday, Sept. 24, sentenced Devaughntae Q. Woods, 33, to three concurrent prison terms of 18 months to 15 years. Borrello gave Woods credit for 154 days already served in the county jail. The judge further ordered Woods to pay $464 in fines and costs.
Read more here.
Michigan Senate special election: Candidate field grows for May 2026 vote
The field of candidates is expanding in the race for the 35th District state Senate seat.
As of Thursday, Sept. 25, there were three Democrats and two Republicans listed on the state Secretary of State website for the May 2026 election to fill the vacant seat once occupied by Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet.
Democrats Brandell Adams, Martin Blank and Chedrick Greene as well as Republicans Chadwick Twillman and Christian Velasquez were listed on the website.
Pamela Pugh, a Democrat, posted a video of her submitting paperwork to qualify as a candidate for the special election on Wednesday, Sept. 24. As of this report, she was not listed as a candidate on the state website.
Read more here.
Suspect’s girlfriend charged as accessory in alleged revenge killing case
A Saginaw woman is accused of being a parolee’s getaway driver after he allegedly killed a man whose testimony once sent him to prison. The accused killer, meanwhile, continues waiting for his day in court.
The preliminary examination of Deangelo M. “North Side” McNeal, 37, was to begin Friday, Sept. 19. It was adjourned, for the third time, to allow the parties more time to review newly discovered evidence.
Read more here.
Former juvenile lifer pleads to drunkenly crashing into police SUV
The day before his trial was to begin, a Flint man conceded he drunkenly crashed into a Michigan State Police patrol vehicle during a highway traffic stop. He’s likely to return to prison, a place he called home for decades for a murder he committed when he was a teenager.
Trevor T. Relerford, 51, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, appeared before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson and pleaded no contest to all three charges he faced: failing to use due care when passing a stationary emergency vehicle causing injury, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and driving without insurance.
The first charge is colloquially known as Michigan’s Move Over Law.
Read more here.
Saginaw man accused of firing gun in neighborhood while extremely drunk
A Saginaw man is accused of repeatedly firing a gun in his West Side neighborhood while “super drunk.”
Police in the wee hours of Wednesday, Sept. 17, received reports of gunfire in the 1500 block of Greenwich Street. Officers were already in the area and heard three gunshots, prosecutors allege.
No one was struck by the bullets.
Read more here.
Entrepreneurs can sign up now for ‘We Love Saginaw Businesses’ Trunk or Treat
Saginaw business owners are invited to showcase their enterprises at the upcoming “We Love Saginaw Businesses” Trunk or Treat Event, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 22, at Frank N. Andersen Celebration Park.
The free community event, now in its fourth year, will span 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot at 1830 Fordney. It is jointly hosted by the City of Saginaw, the Saginaw Downtown Development Authority, and the Saginaw Economic Development Corp.
Local entrepreneurs can register for a spot in the parking lot where they can park decorated vehicles and distribute candy and promotional materials to attendees, organizers said.
Read more here.
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